Author Archives: Norman Fraser

Opinion: Vote for Emergency Motion 3 on the Lobbying Bill

By Norman Fraser | Wed 11th September 2013 - 2:29 pm

The lobbying bill is either cock-up or conspiracy

is the verdict of Robert Barrington, the executive director of Transparency International UK.

Glasgow North Local Party has submitted an emergency motion on the Bill to Federal Conference.  If you are a conference delegate please vote for our motion in Sunday’s ballot to choose the three emergency or topical motions which will actually be debated later in the week.

The Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill  to give it its full title, was sneaked out just as MPs went on holiday.  An unusually tight timetable has been set and the …

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Social Liberal Forum Scotland gets outside its comfort zone

By Norman Fraser | Wed 3rd July 2013 - 11:29 am

SLF Scotland 2013 Robert and NormanThe Social Liberal Forum Scottish Conference took place in Glasgow last Saturday, 29 June.  This was our third conference since the Scottish organisation was set up in 2010.  In previous years we have mainly relied on our own resources, inviting as speakers politicians and academics from the Liberal Democrat membership in the West of Scotland.  This year we moved out of our comfort zone and invited speakers from outside organisations, most notably from The Poverty Alliance and YesScotland, together with the Scottish Convener Craig Harrow.  The …

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Social liberal values and the tyranny of spin doctors – the Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) Conference

By Norman Fraser | Wed 27th June 2012 - 7:58 pm

Partick Burgh Halls in Glasgow was the venue for the Social Liberal Forum’s first Scottish Conference last weekend. Members came from as far away as England to participate in what turned out to be a lively and stimulating meeting.

The highlights of the event were:

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Opinion: Brown and Carmichael debate Coalition at lively Social Liberal Forum fringe

By Norman Fraser | Wed 7th March 2012 - 7:55 pm

The problem with Conference fringe meetings is that there are usually several that you want to go to and they’re all on at the same time. That was the case with the fringe run jointly by Liberal Futures and the Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) on Friday past at the Scottish Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Inverness. The meeting attracted a respectable crowd but those who attended the Scottish Women’s Liberal Democrats and Liberal International meetings missed a lively debate on Liberal Democrats and the Coalition. The speakers were Robert Brown, the …

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Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) plans busy year

By Norman Fraser | Wed 25th January 2012 - 5:55 pm

On Saturday 21 January,  a dozen or so members of the Scottish arm of the Social Liberal Forum, including former parliamentarians Robert Brown and Elspeth Attwooll,  braved a bright but raw Scottish morning to meet in Partick Burgh Hall in the heart of Glasgow’s West End.  This steering committee’s job was to plan the advance of the Forum’s work in Scotland in the coming year and beyond.

Two hours of lively discussion ensued.  Discontent with some aspects of coalition policy was taken as a given.  A number of speakers gave examples from across the country of the loss of members from …

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