At a television studio in Waterloo, /u/bloodycontrary shows up having spent a few hours in a pub in Clapham. His suit is rumpled and he staggers every time he lets out a sonorous belch. Finally, the assistant floor manager shoves him in front of a camera and he begins:

"Fellow liberals.

"Once, you believed in a dream that was liberalism.

"Like you, I was once close to the Classical Liberal party. We talked, laughed, and made fun of the awful authoritarian bell-pieces in the Libertarian Party.

" Those were good times.

"Then it went sour. /u/tommy2boys drank the kool-aid and became enamoured with the Tory - rather than liberal - way of thinking, and his party followed. They accepted awful people like /u/brexitglory into their party, and their slow descent away from liberalism become terminal.

"So, I'm here to tell you that there is a liberal force in politics. A force that believes capitalism is an exceptionally useful tool for ensuring the wellbeing of people. That believes the barriers between nations are mere fictions. That believes all people should be free to pursue the good life.

"The party you all voted for in your not inconsiderable numbers has now chosen to join a party whose aims - not values, for the Tories do not have values - are obviously antithetical. Many of the MPs you once voted for, even /u/duncs11, has chosen to join a side concerned with mere winning, rather than one that wants to do what is right and good.

"But I'm convinced liberals across the country can see through the sophistry of the Tory party. You know your vote lies with the liberal voice in the country.

"And that is why I appeal to you today. The Liberal Democrats is your home."