The Party’s Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel the Spring Conference due to take place this weekend.
In a joint statement, Party President Mark Pack, Chief Executive Mike Dixon and Federal Conference Committee Chair Geoff Payne said:
Following careful consideration of the latest health advice and risks, the Federal Board has tonight decided to cancel our federal conference this weekend.
It’s not a decision that was taken lightly as conference plays a key role in our democratic party as well as being an important training and information exchange event. However, the health of our members and supporters, the staff who work on conference and the wider public is far more important.
We have noted today’s announcement from the WHO, treating this as a pandemic and calling for “urgent and aggressive action”, and also how other organisations have started cancelling events, such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists stopping all meetings with over 100 people. We have also paid close attention to the public health advice from the NHS, and note that some of the advice, such as around keeping distant from people who are ill, is in practice very hard to follow given the format of our conference involves large numbers of strangers sitting close to each other for extended periods of time.
We are aware that many people, particularly those in high-risk groups, have said in the last few days that they are not coming to conference. Conference operates on the principle of ‘one member, one vote’. We very much want to avoid a situation where people feel unable to particulate in our democratic decision-making because of fears over their health.
It’s a matter of regret that for many people coming to the conference it will not be possible to cancel travel and accommodation arrangements and recover the costs. The party itself will also have to incur significant costs and refunds. We hope though people will understand the priority being given to people’s health.
We will offer refunds on conference registration, though we hope that given the costs the party will have to pay anyway that members who can afford it will be willing to waive the refund and make it a donation to the party instead. Details of how to reclaim registration fees will follow in the next few days.
It is the Federal Board, not the Federal Conference Committee that has the constitutional power to make this decision. Article 6.3 of the Federal constitution states:
The Conference shall normally meet twice a year, for a week in the early autumn and a weekend in the early spring; additional meetings may be summoned upon the requisition of the Federal Board or the Federal Policy Committee or the Conference itself or 2% of members, in not less than 10% of local parties. A meeting may be cancelled by the Federal Board in exceptional circumstances.
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21 Comments
A very difficult decision, but the right one. This is the second conference I have had cancelled.
I do not want my refund.
What about all the hotel bookings that can’t be reimbursed?
As I keep saying, these are decisions that are going to be made far and wide, good to see the party take a lead and not merely follow.
We really have to wake yes, wake up this country to the extent of the danger, Italy unfathomable, the UK needs to avoid the level of that suffering country of my father’s!
@Chris Thomas
I hardly think you can expect the party to refund peoples hotel bookings.
It seems to me that the party is acting wholly responsible for cancelling this event. I just wish the Government would take a leaf out of the same boat.
If people really do not want to waste their hotel bookings, I am sure they can still go for a mini-break, or you could do something charitable like donating the room to a homeless person for the night if the hotel is a non-refundable booking and the hotel would allow such a thing
Excellent decision. The first of many good decisions we are going to make this year, I predict.
With every day that passes, this will be more confirmed as the correct decision. Respect to the party for making it.
A very sensible and responsible decision.
Now might be the right time to consider, in an electronically connected world, whether a physical conference is also sensible and responsible.
By its nature it is an exclusive event, not an inclusive one.
In 2021 (and onwards) there have to be more inclusive and less expensive methods of meeting, discussing and deciding on matters crucial to the party’s management and policies.
Ken: actually I think now is the time to consider how we are going to cope with the financial fallout from this for the party and individuals, what is going to hapen about the various practical matters that need to be sorted out, etc.
Blue skies thinking can come after the emergency has been dealt with, not in the middle of it. Rarely are sound longterm decisions taken in the midst of a crisis.
I have no doubt that this is the right decision.
I fear that if the conference had gone ahead, our only media coverage over the weekend would have been that we were out of touch with reality, debating some relatively minor issues while a national emergency was unfolding.
Being aware of not only what we are doing, but also how it will be presented, by a not very supportive media, is one lesson we are slowly learning.
While I do also strongly believe that the health of the nation could be improved in many ways that could reduce the annual amount of deaths more than might be experienced because of the present crisis. Such as reducing the number of smoking, alcohol and obesity related deaths and other avoidable problems. Those discussions might be advanced in the months ahead, rather than being forgotten because of the corona virus pandemic.
I now have to decide what to do with my prepaid hotel room.
Good call. Well done!
For those unable to get refunds for accommodation etc I urge you still go to visit York. It’s a wonderful city and will be facing tough times if this crisis continues.
@ Chris Thomas
‘What about all the hotel bookings that can’t be reimbursed?’
My wife is looking up our annual travel insurance for the non-refundable hotel costs and rail fare, to see if it is worth making a claim.
James
Yes I remember making a stopover there on my way back from the Hartlepool bye-election.
Interesting that the decision to cancel is getting hardly any news coverage.
Quite a number of us will have made non-refundable hotel bookings. At least one hotel (Hilton) is apparently prepared to refund anyway – if you’ve booked with them, give them a call and ask.
Covid-19 is a disaster for the hospitality industry generally – bookings are falling off a cliff everywhere, for individual and business stays as well as conferences. Not to mention all the restaurant meals and extra cups of coffee that aren’t being consumed. If you don’t actually need a refund it might be considerate not to ask for one.
Why not give us the option to roll the registration fee over to the autumn? Less drastic than a refund, and I’m not sure the party should simply trouser the money…
@Brian Edmonds
Trousering the money is a disgraceful comment. There will be costs associated with cancelling. Whose trouser are they coming from?
I thought the party didn’t make a profit on the York conference anyway – hence, unless covered by insurance for the costs incurred – venue hire, security staff, the people who set everything up etc. – there must be a significant loss.
The only press comment I’ve seen was a very small inside-page note in the Evening Standard, accompanied by the observation from some comedian or other that they’d thought gatherings of up to 100 people were still OK.
It’s nice to be loved.
Tbf, we’re a party with just 11 MPs and we’re cancelling our spring conference which struggles for coverage as it is. How much coverage were you expecting?
@Margaret: No, we are not loved, and worse, we don’t even seem to be hated anymore. The verdict the party must accept is that if we cannot inspire interest we have no right to expect it, and unless those at the top wake up, the future looks bleak.
The first consideration is the leadership election. The notion that we have anyone with the political authority to go up against Starmer and Johnson is delusional. I suggested elsewhere that the best idea would be to appoint a caretaker leader, charged with a fundamental re-examination of our values and policy objectives. The response – that it would undermine the authority of the new leader – presumed, fancifully, that the new leader would have any authority in the new political order. As with the Corbyn faction of Labour, the denial is plain – we were on the right lines, but luck/the media/dark forces conspired against us. It’s so much more comfortable to carry on pretending we are a major party… just give Ed a chance and we’ll be right back up there.
The reality is much starker – remain was our one political bolt, and we shot it. What endures is a hollowed-out shell, our agendas reduced to worthy niche causes and fashionable identity issues. We have time to allow for real change, for new leaders with strong ideas to grow into their roles, but first we must have the humility to accept that it needs to happen.