The FreeThink blog has been rather distracted by goings off in the American sphere as of late.  Nick Clegg's first conference speech as Lib Dem leader is therefore a welcome opportunity to return our gaze to the British political scene.

Most of the papers' news coverage centres on Clegg's references to coalition deals - see "No power-sharing deals unless constitution is reformed, warns Clegg" in The Independent, "Clegg's terms for deal in hung parliament" in The Guardian and "Lib Dem leader vows to end politics as usual" in The Times. 

The Telegraph concentrates on proposals to control naughty MPs ("Nick Clegg calls for disgraced MPs to be sacked"), whilst it is left to the FT  to pick out the interesting potential of tax cuts as part of the next Lib Dem manifesto ("Clegg dangles tax cuts in high risk strategy") Credit also should go to the BBC for picking up on this part of the speech.

The commentators are more interesting and differ in their interpretations.  Tim Hames, The Times' cheerleader-in-chief for Clegg during the leadership election, has some more critical words in "If only Nick were more of a McClegg" (don't let the headline put you off - the suggestion that he should emulate the tactics of John McCain are quite interesting)

Matthew Norman in The Independent ("Nick Clegg and the art of self destruction") and Quentin Letts in The Mail ("Like a five quid Rolex, Clegg's delivery was a blatant rip-off") are quite dismissive of both the speech and its delivery.

The Guardian Leader ("Clegg's comeback") is kinder.  Whilst it starts suggesting it wasn't that impressed by the presentation ("a thoughtful text, an old-fashioned lectern and a dispassionate tone may yet come to look refreshingly modern" it goes on to conclude that "Yesterday he showed that he has the resilience to hit back."

Last week's European rebellion wasn't pretty. But as long as the treaty's passage through the Lords is handled better, the coverage that he has had last week and this weekend might well lead to a modest increase in the party's poll ratings when they are next published.