Author Archives: Greg Simpson

Lib Dems Trident decision – stick or twist

By Greg Simpson | Fri 19th August 2016 - 5:07 pm

Members of the Nuclear Weapons Working Group are presenting their personal views as part of a wider consultation process into the party’s future policy on nuclear weapons. The full consultation paper can be found at www.libdems.org.uk/autumn-conference-16-policypapers and the consultation window runs until 28 October. Party members are invited to attend the consultation session at party conference in Brighton, to be held on Saturday 17 September at 1pm in the Balmoral Room of the Hilton.

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It’s great to be able to speak with my own voice for a change. I’m more used to putting words in other people’s mouths. As Ming Campbell’s foreign affairs adviser, Charles Kennedy’s speechwriter, and then Nick Clegg’s policy chief, I played a small part in the Lib Dems evolving policy on nuclear weapons for over a decade.

When I joined the Ministry of Defence in 2009 as a politically restricted civil servant, I thought my involvement would end. No such luck! From my berth in the MOD, I found myself supporting Nick Harvey as he out-foxed the steely men with cold eyes to set up the Trident Alternatives Review. I wrote Danny Alexander’s speech launching the review, helping him frame the options so as to fulfil the Lib Dems’ pledge of ‘no like-for-like replacement’.

Now, as an ordinary party member, free from any encumbrance, I’m able to contribute in my own name, as part of the policy working group bringing a consultation paper on nuclear disarmament to conference in September.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged nuclear weapons | 39 Comments

How do policy working groups work?

By Greg Simpson | Wed 3rd December 2008 - 12:25 pm

In response to an article on Lib Dem Voice inviting members to join the Party’s Policy Panel – from which members of formal party working groups are chosen – I agreed to write an article here on how these working groups work and what role members play.

Policy working groups are appointed by the Federal Policy Committee (FPC) to develop policy proposals against a remit agreed by the FPC.

The FPC considers carefully what policy development it believes is needed over a parliament and sets its schedule accordingly. As a rule of thumb, each major portfolio area (such as Education, Health or Environment) tends to be overhauled at least once in a Parliament.

The FPC will set the remit of a working group and selects the chair and the membership from a proposed list drawn from the Policy Panel. Working groups will usually be a dozen strong and include the relevant spokespeople in the Commons and Lords, state party representatives where applicable, and the relevant MEP where there is an important European dimension. The rest of the membership is made up of party members from the Policy Panel who have expressed an interest in the issues the working group is focussing on, or have a background that would be helpful.