Lib Dems get a blue rinse

Underlining the party's differences with their Conservative coalition colleagues has been the leitmotif of this year's Liberal Democrat conference.

Curiously, though, the main foyer at Birmingham's International Convention Centre was draped not only with large yellow banners but a matching set in a fetching shade of blue.

And in the very conference hall itself - where delegates were treated to a five-day feast of Tory-bashing - the Lib Dems' trademark (and ordinarily yellow) bird spread its wings across the wall... sporting a blue rinse.