Liberalism is a political philoshopy that attracts parties from around the world and the family of parties works together as Liberal International  and in the EU as ALDE. Obviously here in the UK we had a bad experience at the polls in May but then other parties around the world have had similar experiences and bounced back. So the Fringe meetings had speakers from VVD (Netherlands), D66 (Netherlands), FDP (Germany) and from Georgia the Republican Party . It was really invigorating to sit in an international forum and here how Liberals across Europe have responded to the challenges of their countries. What united them was a philosophy of belief in the individual and the value of freedom and a committment to social justice and fairness. To a speaker they all urged us to work hard for a YES to the EU in the Conservative referendum scheduled for next year. They also gave us their tips for overcoming the electoral difficulties we have just experienced.