Conference called for the US to drop plans for the National Missile Defence System.

An emergency motion warned that the plan could threaten the existing Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and called on the government to reject any formal demand from the US for the use of UK sites to help get the proposed defence system in place.

Lib Dem defence spokesman Paul Keetch said Britain did have a "special relationship" with the US on defence matters, "But being close friends doesn't mean you always have to say yes."

He said that the real threat came from terrorists not a nuclear assault from a "rogue state".

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Health spokesman Nick Harvey demanded a major spending boost to tackle "under-investment" in the NHS.

Mr Harvey said the proportion of the nation's GDP spent on health must be increased to at least that of other European countries.

"Only then can we start to address the problems created by 17,000 nurse vacancies and a rate of 1.7 doctors to every 1,000 head of population compared to a rate of 3.1 in the rest of Europe," he said.