Comments on: Compass want Lib Dems at its conference

By: Tinter

Tinter — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:37:43 +0000

Gavin, you still only allow people to join if they are Labour party members or non-members. Members of other parties are not allowed to have a say in its running. Thus we can be sure you will always support Labour electorally.

You may be an internal group that is happy to talk with people from other parties and put them on platforms. But as long as we can’t vote why should we view it as anything other than a labour run talking shop for us? Call a spade a spade.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:21:06 +0000

Hello – yes we will be organising events at Lib Dem conference, so it’s not just a one-way street, we’re up for an open dialogue as the article suggests. We’re not purely an internal party grouping either – we’re wider than that, we work both outside and inside Labour – increasingly we’re reaching outside. Greens, SNP, Plaid, Respect and yes Labour people will also be attending/speaking.

By: burkesworks

burkesworks — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:01:26 +0000

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

By: Tinter

Tinter — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:26 +0000

We shouldn’t just ignore ideas because they come from an organisation that leands towards one party or another- its not like we don’t share any ideas with anyone else.

But a group that only attends Labour conferences, run by labour party members and that only labour party members can join. Well, its just an internal party group under another name, and theres no point pretending otherwise. Its hard to see why attending its conferences would be useful for liberal democrats.

Now, thats not to say we should completly ignore them- we can support nationalist motions, ALTER can work with Labour Land Tax campaigners, and I’m sure there are places where we might want to work with compass- but only in a limited, issue based fashion, not with them “leading the liberal-left”.

If they want more, perhaps they could ask us to join up and properly participate, and maybe come to our conferences as they expect us to do to theirs?

By: MBoy

MBoy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:00:20 +0000

This looks well dodgy to me. Labour are about to get slaughtered and suddenly their think-tanks start trying to resurrect the Blair-Ashdown days. I hope the LDs dont fall for that one again…

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:29:12 +0000

You don’t want me as a member, as I am a member of a political party that is not the Labour party. So why do you want me at your conference? Is it just more registration fees?

By: Robson

Robson — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:12:35 +0000

“The key purpose of the event will be to make the case that there can be No Turning Back to the failed ideas of the free market consensus.”

The trouble is that it’s also “No Turning Back” to a Tory govt i.e. keeping Labour in power. For an organisation seeking to give “direction to the democratic left” it’s remarkably bi-polar.

It’s still heavily Labour-populated in terms of who’s going. I’m not sure at all that Liberal Democrats should give credence to the idea of a coalition with Labour to keep the Tories out by attending…

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:46:45 +0000

I wonder if Plaid Cymru and the SNP will be welcome as well.

By: Oranjepan

Oranjepan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:46:38 +0000

Will Compass be organising fringe events at future LibDem conferences, or is cooperation a one-way street only?

By: Hmmm

Hmmm — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:20:15 +0000

Wasn’t PR in Labour’s electoral programme back in 1997, or am I mistaken? And if I’m not, why didn’t they implement it during these 12 years?

By: asquith

asquith — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:19:49 +0000

Yes, but New Labour’s policies don’t accord with public opinion. Even when they think it does, as on their authoritarian schemes, the public change their minds fairly quickly once the full horrors start unveiling.

By: RichardJ

RichardJ — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:57:06 +0000

“For too long the ideas and energy of progressives have been trapped in an archaic first-past-the-post system.”

We’ve just had 12 years of supposedly progressive government under FPTP. The fact that they failed to live up to some peoples’ hopes has more to do with public opinion (which isn’t as progressive as you’d like it to be) than the electoral system.

By: Teek

Teek — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:39:16 +0000

Funny that – I just registered for this event the other day and then nearly penned (typed? iPhone mashed?) a blog post wondering about just how many Lib Dems will be attending.

Does this post exhorting Lib Dems to attend signal a switch in party allegiance…? Gavin, I’ll be there to discuss this in more detail…!

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:55:54 +0000

Sounds like an interesting event.