For a while now I’ve held an ambition to take the Libertarian drinks in Southwark out of the pub and out into the sunshine, and I don’t mean the beer garden.

Can you imagine the scene… A relaxed Sunday morning. London’s Hyde Park. A picnic, shared amoungst friends, and then – if you feel like it – a chance to practice your arguments on the public, in public, at Speakers Corner.

I visited today to check out the scene and can confirm it is as mad as a box of frogs. Most of the people there seemed to have a problem with some religion or other, or wanted Atheists to read a book to help them understand what will happen to them on Monday. A couple of teenagers were distributing free hugs and two or three groups, each about fifteen strong were having stand up arguments about the evils of Islam/Christiantity/Sex Addiction while a veiled lady smiled and took photos. One socialist, pictured, wanted free education on demand from cradle to grave and stayed out in the hail and wind to tell everyone exactly why (while refusing to give a straight answer about who pays for it).

Seriously, we can do better than that! The only problem is it’s April and it was bloody freezing.

So, until things warm up a bit I suggest we get a bit of practice in with the usual friendly crowd at the Rose and Crown. I propose to run one session of three to five speakers on Thursday  May 3rd. Each speaker will have a few minutes each to talk about whatever they like.

There will be no Q&A but heckling will be strongly encouraged. I’d like to run it from around 8ish, until people look like they are getting bored, then we can get on with some proper drinking.

UPDATE: RSVPing is optional, but helpful, and happens on meetup.com.