SHOULD fans be allowed to stand to watch football matches? The question is a poignant one here on Merseyside, for reasons we are all familiar with.

The issue had a full airing in the main debating hall of the Liberal Democrats’ conference in Bournemouth last night.

Lib-Dems take policy making at their gatherings seriously. The football debate was preceded by a spat between Liverpool councillor Richard Kemp and the party leadership over the issue of electing police boards. "These ideas come from people who don’t deliver services. They will lead to loss of cohesion and increased bureaucracy," railed the one-time contender for the leadership of his group on Liverpool Council.

And before they headed for the bars last night, conference delegates developed policy on a motion with the title "Deportation to States which Persecute on the Grounds of Sexuality and Gender Identity."

I am only gently mocking this sort of thing because, if you ask me where I stand between the vacuousness of the recent American Conventions and this detailed policy making, I’m with the Lib-Dems every time.

With the conference season just under way, it’s a good time to ponder the purpose of these annual events. I was going to say seaside events, but only the Lib- Dems will be able to dip their toes in the briny this year. The big cities of Manchester and Liverpool are becoming increasingly popular at the expense of the Blackpool landladies or Brighton rock. It won’t be too long before Liverpool gets its first full political conference in our great new Arena.

Many years ago, I heard Tony Benn forecast that, under New Labour (a party he says he never joined), all you would be required to do at conference was turn up, wave a balloon and cheer the leader.

I kept thinking of that as I watched the procession of set speeches and videos from Denver and St Paul. There appeared to be no speakers from the floor at all, just a procession of safe senators. Only Bill and Hillary added a frisson of political tension at the Democrats’ gathering.

I first went to party conferences in the mid-seventies when the Labour left were mobilising against Huyton Harold and then Canny Callaghan. Those were the days when the poor Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, got three minutes from the floor to explain why he’d sold out to the International Monetary Fund.

Labour did have real debates in those days, when in theory the conference made the policy.

New Labour ended all that. Policy-making is now in the hands of respectful forums. They’ll have their work cut out in Manchester next week, though, to silence the critics.

Over a century ago, the former Tory Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, said he’d rather take advice from his valet than the Conservative conference. Things haven’t changed much. The Tories are comfortable cheering their leaders at such gatherings. This year, the sycophancy will be worse than ever.