Tag Archives: federal policy committee

Opinion: What price democracy in the Lib Dems?

By Linda Jack | Published 2nd February 2012 - 6:02 pm

Over the past 21 months I have had many moments when I have felt close to despair about the behaviour of our parliamentarians. Sometimes, like voting in favour of tuition fees, they can rightly point to the Coalition Agreement – endorsed overwhelmingly – as Nick Clegg observed at the time – by a North Korean like Special Conference. Other times, like voting against party policy on Legal Aid and Welfare Reform – there is no such defence. Last night calls into question the fundamental values and principles of our party, not just in terms of flying in the face of …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benefits, gareth epps, Joan Walmsley, legal aid, meral ece, ming campbell, paddy ashdown, welfare reform bill | 133 Comments

Should the way members of federal committees vote be public?

By Mark Pack | Published 31st October 2011 - 12:57 pm

At the end of my post on the Federal Executive’s decision that the Liberal Democrats should (mostly) not fight police commissioner elections, a decision at odds with the views of party members we surveyed, I made reference to the fact that the details of such votes are not published and usually remain confidential. Sometimes news of who voted which way seeps out but, for example, you’re not officially meant to know that three members of the FE voted against that decision or who the three were.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged federal conference committee, federal executive | 12 Comments

Opinion: It’s all my fault!

By David Boyle | Published 12th May 2011 - 1:33 pm

For the past half century, the party has been growing steadily in influence and numbers. There have been electoral set-backs (1970, 1989, and now 2011). The question is: is this our nadir?

And what will decide if this is really the low point, or if we are doomed to carry on sinking in the esteem of the public?

Most commentators have talked this question in terms of short term issues, like how the party manages to play the coalition. But actually there is something far more fundamental that requires attention.

It is whether we can …

Posted in Op-eds | 46 Comments

Everything you ever wanted to know about… Policy and the Parliamentary Party (part 3)

By Mark Valladares | Published 3rd March 2011 - 2:43 pm

In the first two parts of this mini-series, I looked at how policy is made, and how its creation is managed. Today, I want to look at its failings, the implications of those failings, and how future policy making might be shaped.

As a party of perpetual opposition, our inclusive but often ponderous policy-making regime allowed members to influence core policy, in the knowledge that it would be a means of attacking the Government, but was unlikely to be applied. Occasionally, that led to somewhat populist ideas being espoused but, if a Government did something in a field where our policy was obsolete, or overtaken by events, our spokespeople had a set of principles to fall back on.

Such an arrangement worked, for the most part, especially in small Parliamentary Parties. However, its weaknesses became more apparent as Labour’s mania for legislation produced a plethora of technical changes in need of detailed scrutiny.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged coalition agreement, danny alexander, digital economy bill, house of lords, special conference | Leave a comment

New Lib Dem councillor representatives elected for party committees

By Mark Pack | Published 20th January 2011 - 12:50 pm

Via the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC) comes the news:

Elections have taken place to elect the principal councillor representative on two Federal Party Committees for 2011-2012:

On the Federal Executive Committee the following have been elected:

Cllr Stan Collins (South Lakeland DC and Cumbria CC)
Cllr Keith House (Eastleigh BC and Hampshire CC)

On the Federal Policy Committee the following have been elected:

Cllr Louise Bloom (Eastleigh BC)
Cllr Stan Collins (South Lakeland DC and Cumbria CC)
Cllr Chris White (St Albans CC and Hertfordshire CC)

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged federal executive | Leave a comment

Federal Policy Committee elects its three Vice-Chairs

By Mark Pack | Published 18th November 2010 - 8:44 pm

Last night Cambridge MP Julian Huppert, former Oxford West and Abingdon MP Evan Harris and Jeremy Hargreaves were elected to be the Federal Policy Committee’s three Vice-Chairs. Evan and Jeremy have long been high-profile figures in the party’s policy-making process and Julian has rapidly joined their ranks as his profile in the party has risen over the last couple of years.

So what is notable about the trio is not any of their presence in it, but that Danny Alexander, former FPC Vice-Chair and in charge of the 2010 manifesto team but now a Cabinet Minister, is no-longer one of the …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged danny alexander, evan harris, jeremy hargreaves, julian huppert | 6 Comments

More results: party committees and interim peers panel

By Helen Duffett | Published 13th November 2010 - 1:20 pm

Liberal Democrat Federal Conference representatives have voted for members of party committees for 2011-2012 and members of the panel from which future Liberal Democrat nominees for the House of Lords will be drawn.

The results are as follows:

Posted in News, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged eldr council delegation, featured, federal conference committee, federal executive, interim peers panel, international relations committee | 6 Comments

Our ministers can’t always follow party policy

By Iain Roberts | Published 18th October 2010 - 8:10 am

The issue of tuition fees has raised a more general challenge the party needs to get its head round. This one’s been bubbling away quietly since the Lib Dems entered the Coalition and we seem no closer to an answer now than we were then.

Are our Government ministers bound by party policy?

When one of our ministers is formulating what the UK Government should do on a specific issue, or setting out the Lib Dem bargaining position to get the best final deal, how far should that minister be reaching for a party policy document rather than using their own …

Posted in News, Op-eds | Also tagged higher education, nick clegg, tuition fees, universities, vince cable | 38 Comments

Federal Policy Committee confirms party’s tuition fee pledge

By Helen Duffett | Published 13th October 2010 - 11:42 pm

From the Liberal Democrats website:

Tonight, Wednesday October 13, the Federal Policy Committee of the Liberal Democrats held their regular meeting.

During the meeting they held a special session to discuss the latest announcements following the Browne Review.

In a statement following the meeting, the committee spokesperson said: “FPC confirms the Liberal Democrat party policy remains to phase out tuition fees.

“We are now in a coalition government and we will continue during the period of discussion and consultation to work with our coalition partners towards achieving a policy that meets our key concerns and is progressive.”

Posted in News | Also tagged browne report, higher education, tuition fees, universities | 17 Comments

How does the party’s policy-making work during coalition?

By Mark Pack | Published 14th August 2010 - 3:20 pm

Here’s what the report to conference from the Federal Policy Committee (FPC) says on the matter:

The FPC has had a number of discussions on the implications for its role and the Party’s policy-making of our new status as a party of government. The FPC is very clear that the Party’s complete independence in policy-making shall continue. The Committee will be developing new ways of working both to ensure the maximum Liberal Democrat policy input into the Coalition Government, and also to continue to ensure a separate Liberal Democrat policy identity. In particular the FPC will developing a close working

…

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 15 Comments

Julian Huppert elected to Federal Policy Committee

By Mark Pack | Published 30th June 2010 - 9:20 am

Julian Huppert, David Howarth’s successor as MP for Cambridge, has been elected to the party’s Federal Policy Committee (FPC). Julian is rather in the Evan Harris mode in that he’s very interested in (and knowledgeable about) scientific issues, keen to see evidence properly scrutinised, likely to be an active participant in the FPC’s work and, in as much as the labels make sense, rather more of a social liberal than an economic one.

You can follow Julian on Twitter at @julianhuppert.

Posted in News, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged julian huppert | 8 Comments

“Ignore us at your peril!” – Linda Jack reports back on the Lib Dems’ first post-coalition Federal Policy Committee

By Linda Jack | Published 15th June 2010 - 10:20 am

The Lib Dems’ Federal Policy Committee (FPC) operates under the Chatham House Rule: you can repeat what was said, but not who said it. But often what happens at FPC goes completely unreported.

In some cases this is understandable, people throwing their toys out of the pram isn’t something we really want to report (oh not that often, honest!), and sometimes it is just because we are discussing issues (such as the manifesto) that we quite rightly want to keep under wraps until it is launched.

But someone (who of course will remain nameless) made the point at last week’s …

Posted in Op-eds, Party policy and internal matters | 26 Comments

Ros Scott writes … Party President’s report to members, January ’10

By Baroness Ros Scott | Published 2nd February 2010 - 8:15 pm

In the two months since my last report, the election campaign has started in all but name.

After a phenomenal amount of work by the manifesto team – led by Danny Alexander, the party’s policy unit headed by Christian Moon, and the Federal Policy Committee – we have now established the broad outlines of our campaign:

Reform of the tax system to create a fairer base,
introducing the pupil premium to give all children a fairer start in life,
creating sustainable housing and jobs and
political reform to bring in a fairer voting system, and

…

Posted in Op-eds, Party Presidency | Also tagged anna werrin, chris fox, christian moon, danny alexander, dave hodgson, featured, john sharkey, jonathan fryer, party reform commission, robert woodthorpe brown, roy thompson | 1 Comment

General election manifesto update

By Mark Pack | Published 21st January 2010 - 12:20 pm

In the three months since I last blogged at length about the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto process, Danny Alexander (chair of the Manifesto Working Group) has won widespread praise for restoring a sense of peace, sense and order after the events around the party’s autumn conference.

On the two major flash points – mansion tax and tuition fees – hostilities have ceased and proposals been modified to win widespread support within the party. Tuition fees are still due to be scrapped, but over a longer timescale, and mansions are still due to be taxed, but with a narrower definition …

Posted in General Election, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged danny alexander, general election manifesto, nick clegg | 5 Comments

The Guardian’s approving verdict on the Lib Dems’ manifesto principles is correct … but for the wrong reasons

By Stephen Tall | Published 12th January 2010 - 10:10 am

Nick Clegg will have enjoyed reading this morning’s Guardian editorial (Nick Clegg: Liberal parenting) over his breakfast porridge today. The paper commends Nick for yesterday’s launch of the principles which will underpin the Lib Dems’ election manifesto.

At the same time it betrays the Guardian’s usual unawareness of the party’s democratic decision-making principles. According to the Grauniad, Nick “ordered his party to drop some of its favourite policies”, issuing “instructions” in order to transform the Lib Dem manifesto from “a third-party wishlist” into “a credible agenda for directing a government”.

Hmmm, not so much.

In fact, all that …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged general election manifesto, higher education, mansion tax, nick clegg, tuition fees, universities, vince cable | 13 Comments

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