Over at Next Left, Stuart White is promoting what looks like an excellent initiative bringing Compass, the Lib Dems and Oxford Libertarians together to see what common ground can be reached on topics of interest to liberals.

The discussion is open to all and takes place Wednesday February 3rd 7.30pm at the Oxford Union. Unfortunately, OK's man in Oxford, Tom Ash, is otherwise engaged but if you're in the area why not head down - it looks set to be a fascinating discussion. The first event will discuss drugs policy in light of the sacking of Professor Nutt.

The full details, posted by Stuart, are as follows:

What do members of Compass, the Liberal Democrats and philosophical libertarians have in common?

A new initiative in Oxford looks set to find out.

This coming Wednesday, February 3, will see the next meeting of a new political discussion group in Oxford, The Speak Easy.

The Speak Easy is open to anyone and everyone, but it is hosted by three groups: Compass Oxford, the Oxford University Liberal Democrats, and the Oxford Libertarian Society. The aim is to share a discussion 'of topics of interest to liberals of all kinds'.

Wednesday's meeting, which appropriately for a pan-liberal gathering is in the Gladstone Room at the Oxford Union, and which starts at 7.30 pm, is on the legalization of drugs. The event is free. Snacks will be provided. (And you don't have to be a member of the Oxford Union to attend: which is just as well for me, as I have never joined and never will.)

As the flyer puts it:

'The controversial sacking of Professor David Nutt, the government's chief drugs adviser, begs the question of where pharmacology ends and politics begins in the debate on the legal status of drugs. This discussion will consider the state of drugs policy in the UK and elsewhere, and ask how far the legalisation of drugs should be extended. Should 'soft' drugs be decriminalised? If so, what about hard drugs? And if such substances are to be permitted, should that be in the name of public health or individual liberty?'

The Speak Easy strikes me as a fascinating and very welcome development. Next Left has raised a number of concerns about the Labour government's record on civil liberties. The renewal of the left requires a much stronger, principled commitment to civil liberties.

Initiatives like The Speak Easy promise to help build a stronger cross-party culture of liberalism which, in turn, might help to resensitise the left - and hopefully Labour in particular - to the importance of civil liberties.