In this short post, Adrian reflects on the contrast in approach between Ed Vaizey MP Shadow Minister for Culture Media and Sport (who spoke at the NextGen09 conference on Monday, and Stephen Timms MP, Treasury Minister and Minister for Digital Britain.

Now the conference is over and I've had a little head room to reflect, its interesting to contrast the two keynote speeches from the politicians - looks like there is clear water between the two parties with the current government's 50p tax and 2Mbps USC, and the Conservative approach of reforming the rules for local governments freeing them to raise funds on the bond market for major investments like broadband. 

 In a refreshing approach, Lorne interviewed Amy and it was interesting and went well.  It avoided the tendency for the audience to 'throw buns' at Openreach which is always a bit tedious.  Once Lorne had asked a few questions, not all of which were answered (!) he threw it open to the audience and people were told that they could ask a question but not 'moan or make a statement'.

At the beginning of the session, while the stage was re-arranged, Lorne asked all participants to stand up and introduce themselves to someone they didn't know and have a bit of a chat.  This worked!  And helped to make the energy in the room more positive.  

Here's the liveblog: