There’s a joke amongst ‘moon nuts’ – people like me who are obsessed with the Apollo Moon missions of the 1960s. It’s actually more of a now widespread observation, funny because it’s true.

‘Neil Armstrong was at one point humankind’s most famous man. The second man on the Moon Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin had a nickname that was stuck to the star of a huge and enduring movie franchise. But for a two days in 1969, alone in the command module of Apollo 11, hoping not to slip out into certain death for all three, stuck in ‘infinity and beyond’, was Michael Collins. And he isn’t even the most famous person called Michael Collins.’

What then has this to do with the Liberal Democrats?

Almost nothing. The endeavour, achievement, and scale of man’s mission to land “on the moon and return him safely to earth” has only one connection I can think of: Kennedy.

But the days of the genuinely impressive yet very flawed Charles, are long gone.

No, I thought of this story when looking at the newspapers for a story about the Liberal Democrat Conference. I searched for “Davey”, ultimate successor via Ming, and Silicon Valley’s unlikeliest defender, ‘I agree with’ Nick.

The Sun had nothing on Ed.

It popped up this weekend’s offering from the great Editor David Wooding, who I’ve never thgought of as a ‘Davey’ a story about twelve year old Oliver Davey who had somehow – and you are going to wince – had impaled his arm on a door handle. Gruesome pictures included.

Nothing at all on the Liberal Democrat leader or the disciples of the golden parrot, who are currently gathered in Brighton. Nothing much in any of the other papers either – which is a pretty gruesome picture for them.

Long standing Liberal Democrats are, I suppose, used to this. Their Conferences were always smaller, and slightly less significant. Many readers will have spent more of their life in that zone when the Lib Dems hadn’t been near government for 90 years. The Coalition of 2010-2015 putting an end to that.

One of the legendary cartoonist Matt’s best offerings was in 2001 as US troops hunted Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains, he sketched two armed Taliban fighters standing in the entrance to a cave, one reading a copy of the Telegraph, the other saying:

“It’s awful, we can’t get any news here about the Liberal Democrat conference.”

That is how I found myself googling “Davey” on a Sunday night.

So what is the latest?

Well, for a party which for much of my adult life advocated for tax increases to pay for public services as an act of general citizenship Ed Davey as eschewed a paddle board, log flume, or marching band to grab some headlines and plumbed for an immediate 10p cut to fuel duty, and the hint that his Party will be “increasingly talking about tax cuts”

It’s good politics but as ever with the Liberal Democrats it’s poor economics. As IEA fellow Julian Jessop  posted online: petrol prices are not particularly high in real terms, higher prices are the least bad way to manage demand in response to a supply shock (Iran/Hormuz) and not obvious why motorists should be a priority for tax cuts.

As a driver you, I, might feel much closer to Davey than Jessop but economically the latter is smarter.

Ed Davey has tried everything – – to break the malaise of ‘meh’ that lingers about Lib Demery. That feeling that it’s very essence is fence sitting, not quite sure what it’s for and more identifiable by what it isn’t. It’s just that they’ve started thinking it too.

Davey has lots to say on Trump and Farage who he seems to think are living embodiments of washing machines for iffy cash, and morally unfit to hold any office at all. Sanctimony is like hypocrisy in politics, best avoided even if occiassionally justified.  But quite apart from the fact Trump has just two more years left in office – possibly two years longer than Davey as leader – it’s all part of the same self-delusion that has crashed in on itself with Labour: that deep seated belief that they’re the nice, decent, good guys, and their opponents are inherently not.

This of course is nonsense as any Conservative who has had to campaign on the ground with them will know.

But gathered in Brighton two years on from the best result they’ve had with 72 MPs those same MPs and local councillors are starting to ask the question that has been in the minds of most of their opponents for decades and a question that’s dogged all parties in the last two years:

What the point of the Liberal Democrats, what they for? And has it become time to look elsewhere for leadership of their party?

On the latter point apart from asking Daisy, Daisy to give us her answer – do – strength in depth is not the orange pigeon fancier’s strong suit.

There is a sense, increasingly but always been present, that Lib Dem’s have a habit of picking a topic to focus on and going all out for the opposite of where public opinion is moving. They have debated whether to scrap the guidance issued after the Supreme Court Ruling on biological sex and gender defined spaces, at a time when more and more people are saying they are happy with the decision, and the guidance was needed to check a movement that had gone too far.

The Lib Dems have majored on maternity services and god knows if you read the results of recent inquiries into certain hospitals and the sector as a whole it does need reforming and made much better, but it’s so niche.

Putin threatens Europe whilst fighting the first land war on European soil since 1945. We are staring down the barrel of a debt crisis that will cripple those not yet born, that it just somehow seems too narrow to say “we liberal democrats think maternity services is the top priority”

Charles Kennedy had at least some geniality and charisma, Davey . Like Polanski there’s too much performance going on but you can see the scaffolding. Exhibit for the prosecution: the over long ‘Paddington hard stare’ he gave Kemi Badenoch whilst in the midst of admonishing her, and carefully aligning with Labour.

And that’s the point really isn’t it. That search for identity, and doubts about their leader and the political reality of the times. The Tories aren’t beset by a bunch of secret Lib Dems who are agents waiting to pounce – it really is one of Reform’s worst attack lines – the Lib Dems are full of Lib Dems, who’d be perfectly happy in Coalition with Labour.

What’s the news from Brighton? ‘Meh’ – but don’t take your eyes off them for a minute.