Rennie urges 'hope not despair' at Lib Dem conference

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie invoked the spirit of Robert the Bruce by urging members at the party's autumn conference to "try, try again".

The party is holding a one-day event in Dunfermline to discuss recent political events and policy positions.

Mr Rennie urged members to embrace hope rather than "despair" over Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.

He pledged not to give up on "open and progressive" values in America, Europe or the UK.

The Scottish Lib Dems were holding their autumn conference at the Vine Venue in Dunfermline.

• Follow the BBC's political reporter Philip Sim who is at the conference

Policy areas scheduled for debate included fracking, the gender pay gap, the local planning system, the coming council elections and Scotland's position in Europe.

Party leader Mr Rennie underlined his "grief" at recent electoral results, such as the UK's vote to leave the European Union and the US choosing Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton as its next president.

'Liberals are not quitters'

He said: "The grief this week has been palpable. Not just the fear of what a President Trump could bring, but the sense of loss of what could have been - the first woman president, committed to expanding healthcare, internationalism, equal rights, tolerance.

"It was the same sense of loss, even of bereavement, that so many people felt after the Brexit vote. The result was the opposite of everything we have worked for over the decades - it made many wonder if they even recognise the country we live in any more.

"So what do we do? How do we respond?

"Of course we could turn our backs, cut the ties, walk away. We could partition the country and hope we live in the best bit. But Liberals are not quitters. I refuse to give up on America, I refuse to give up on Europe, I refuse to give up on the United Kingdom."

Mr Rennie said there was "palpable grief" among liberals about the election of Donald Trump

Mr Rennie urged members to take inspiration from historical figure Robert the Bruce, "who refused to give up in the face of adversity".

He said: "No matter how disturbed by the results in June and this week, as liberals, our response must be one of hope, not despair. A mile from this venue is the Abbey Church, the final resting place of Robert the Bruce.

"Perhaps we should be inspired by his relationship with that famous spider. If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. This is a Robert the Bruce moment for us.

"Just because the progressives have failed on Europe and the United States does not mean that we give up on the USA, EU and UK. We don't give up on people. We must try, try and try again."

Bruce's Bones

by Philip Sim

BBC Scotland political reporter

The Lib Dems gathered in Fife, a mile away from the abbey where the bones of Robert the Bruce are buried. So the theme of the day, inspired by a certain spider, was perseverance.

This extended beyond Willie Rennie's central message of keeping faith in liberal values in the wake of the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump.

The party leader also had to ward off a fresh insurrection on the topic of fracking, having overruled a pro-fracking resolution in the wake of the Spring conference.

Mr Rennie persevered - and after a feisty debate, won out.

He also got his way on the topic of Scottish independence, after another lively session.

Before the conference even started, opposition parties had seized on another motion calling for "all options" to be examined to maintain Scotland's place in Europe.

Did this somehow indicate support for independence, they wondered?

Well, here are some clues. At the conference, the Lib Dems were re-using old Better Together lanyards. A Scotland In Union stall was positioned in the middle of the venue, yards from a stall selling old No Thanks t-shirts.

Perhaps this was a message to any lurking pro-independence factions; in any case Mr Rennie left no doubt in his speech. He hit out at the SNP's "obsession" with independence and said he'd oppose it "in all circumstances".

And he again won out comfortably in the final vote, cutting all even slightly controversial passages out of the motion.

Mr Rennie will now be hoping this kind of winning form translates to the electorate at large in May's Council elections.