Category Archives: Party policy and internal matters

Anything to do with Lib Dem internal business, including policy development, consultations, rules and constitutions.

Chris Northwood

Scrutiny in Federal Council – why we are not there yet

By Chris Northwood | Thu 28th September 2023 - 1:41 pm

Federal Council is not yet a productive committee. In fact, given I’ve had to skip at least one canvassing session to attend it, I might go as far to say that it’s been a net negative in terms of achieving the party’s goals of getting liberals elected.

It has so much promise. In the handy visual diagram of the party’s committees provided in the conference handbook, it’s shown as equal to Federal Board, so is a committee that if effective yields important power. But so far, we have little to show for our time.

Much has been said about our power to call-in and overturn Board decisions, but for me, the call-in power should only be one of last resort—an Emergency Stop to the workings of the federal party only to be used in extreme circumstances. Our other power, that of asking the Board to respond on any issue, has barely been used. We have had Q&As with the president, but if all Federal Council can aspire to be is another forum for Q&As, indistinguishable from those asked of the Board at Conference, then we are failing in the responsibility to Conference when the Federal Council was created as the compromise for a smaller, more agile Federal Board.

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Simon McGrath

If you back our immigration policy, you should vote to keep a housing target

By Simon McGrath | Mon 18th September 2023 - 9:23 am

In 2022, the population of the UK grew by 606,000. In the year ended June 2022, 173,520 new homes were built in England. The mismatch between the two figures is one factor in rising rents.

Our Party – more than any other – is the one which has been happy about immigration. We also have a policy on asylum seekers which would mean we were welcoming more asylum seekers to the country. Given that, it seems quite extraordinary that the Federal Policy Committee is seeking to remove a target for new homes from our policy.

They say that …

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Also posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged | 33 Comments
Mark Valladares

So, you’re thinking about finding a PPC?…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 10th July 2023 - 3:02 pm

One of the quirks of recent General Elections is that, for a lot of constituencies, the process of selecting a candidate has been somewhat truncated. But time is getting on, and the new boundaries are out, so it’s probably time to make a start…

If you haven’t got a candidate in place already, you probably aren’t a target seat, but you almost certainly have some goals that you wish to achieve, and the right PPC can help you to achieve them. So, your first step is to agree to start the process at a meeting of the Local Party’s Executive Committee. …

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Mark Valladares

Federal Council – a body still in search of meaning… or rules, for that matter…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 9th June 2023 - 3:32 pm

I was elected to Federal Council in April, following the resignation of Alison Eden from the Party, so yesterday’s meeting was my first as an official member…

Joining any organisational committee part way through its term of office can be challenging, and I suspected that Federal Council would be no different, given that there is a degree of informational vagueness that currently pervades it. For example, it has currently decided that members may, if they wish, give reasons for their call-in requests and are encouraged to do so, but do not have to. It strikes me that, in order to consider the value of a call-in request, or even to respond to it, that’s exactly the sort of information I’d want.

Federal Council has also somehow managed to get one-sixth of its way through its first term without Standing Orders, a communications plan or a transparency policy, which led to the truly bizarre situation of a member demanding a point of order when no such order exists. Now this is not my first rodeo, as I was the first Secretary of the Federal International Relations Committee when, in 2017, it dealt with all of these things at its first meeting. I am, to put it politely, surprised that this has taken as long as it has.

The main item of business was, in itself, imperfect, as it revolved around a request to “call in” the Federal Board’s decision to appoint six members of the Disciplinary Sub-Group. Imperfect because, whilst thirteen members (the minimum required) had originally called it in, one of them subsequently withdrew their request, making the call in notice inadequate. Nevertheless, as the discussion had been put on our agenda, and the Party President had prepared a presentation, we went ahead with what might have become merely an interesting discussion without purpose.

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Merlene Emerson

Reporting back on the ALDE conference in Stockholm

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 30th May 2023 - 10:46 am

The ALDE Party Congress in Stockholm 26-28 May 2023

Merlene Emerson, one of the 10 LibDem Council delegates to ALDE Party reporting back

Who?
ALDE Party (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe) is an umbrella membership party of liberal leaning and social democratic parties in Europe. There are currently 77 members across 44 countries in Europe, both in EU as well as non-EU countries. Sadly, the LibDems have now fallen into the 2nd category but it remains a lifeline that keeps us connected with others in the liberal and democratic family in Europe.

What?
So what was the recent Congress all about and how do I encapsulate in a short blog the spirit and substance of the annual gathering? There were Policy resolutions passed (ranging from Restoration of a pro-active Trade Policy, to supporting Introduction of Civil Partnerships in Ukraine), election of new Bureau members and important amendments to internal regulations, but it was the first session, a fireside chat with Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner Vera Jourova that I found hugely inspiring.

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged | 20 Comments
Richard Gadsden

Self-identification, a Returning Officer’s Perspective

By Richard Gadsden | Mon 27th March 2023 - 4:45 pm

There was a constitutional amendment on the agenda for the recent York conference (item F15 on the agenda) that sought to amend the rules for ensuring gender diversity on the party’s committees (clause 2.5 of the constitution). The part of the amendment that has attracted most attention was the removal of non-binary people from the text, but the other proposed change was much more concerning from a practical point of view as a returning officer. This was the removal of the words “self-identification” as the means of determining whether a candidate is a man or a woman.

I’ve conducted internal elections within the party for more than twenty years for a variety of bodies – affiliated organisations, state parties, local parties. I’ve never conducted federal elections, but the vast majority of bodies within the party incorporate the federal rules on diversity into their own elections so I’m very familiar with how these rules are operated in practice.

On the most basic practical level, each candidate submits a nomination form, either on paper or online, and there are tick boxes on the form for each of the four diversity criteria, that is sex/gender, ethnicity, disability and LGBT+. The way that the sex/gender rules are implemented in practice is that there are three boxes, “man”, “woman” and “non-binary”. If you tick one then you are treated as being in that category for the purposes of applying the rules in clause 2.5. If you don’t tick any or you tick more than one, then, rather than invalidating your nomination, you are treated as being of a fourth category (ie of unspecified gender), where you would always be disadvantaged by the application of the rules. That is: there must be 40% women/non-binary, and 40% men/non-binary; you would have to get into the other 20% if you didn’t validly designate yourself.

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 12 Comments
Michael Kilpatrick

How not to write Standing Orders?

By Michael Kilpatrick | Tue 21st March 2023 - 5:30 pm

Having been called to speak in over half of the Lib Dem conferences I have attended since my first in 2015, I can’t complain about missing out at Spring Conference 2023, especially as the one item I submitted a Speaker’s Card for – F7: Selection of policy motions for debate – was resolved satisfactorily and with a clear majority vote. However, I wanted to approach the problems of F7 from a particular angle and to prompt members to consider something when putting their mind to future amendments to the Constitution or Standing Orders.

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Alisdair Calder McGregor

Under new management – Federal International Relations Committee report

By Alisdair Calder McGregor | Fri 10th February 2023 - 12:40 pm

On Monday 6th of February, the Federal International Relations Committee (FIRC) met for its first formal session of the new year, and of the newly elected committee.

In a two hour meeting which was kept very nearly to time (an almost unheard of state of affairs in Liberal Democrat committees, in my experience), we dealt with a stack of both policy and procedural issues.

We formally approved the continuance of, and received reports from, our sub-committees on China and Ukraine; we also received reports from several other bodies where FIRC has either oversight or coordinating responsibilities, and from the Federal Party’s International …

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

Do you want to work for the Liberal Democrats?

By Paul Walter | Tue 24th January 2023 - 6:05 pm

Photo by Jon Ball Photo by Jon BallThere’s a special page on the party website which lists “all of the open work and volunteering opportunities with the Liberal Democrats”.

Current opportunities are include the role of Federal HR adviser (part time), a host of paid opportunities with constituency parties such as Campaign Officer with Twickenham and Richmond, to help re-elect Sarah Olney MP.

There are a swathe of volunteer roles that need filling including for Disciplinary sub-group members, volunteers to phone local party officers and Campaign for Gender Balance chairs and vice-chairs.

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Greg Foster

Internal party elections – revised timetable

By Greg Foster | Tue 13th September 2022 - 4:14 pm

Given the tragic news of Her Majesty the Queen’s death, the Returning Officer has decided to alter the planned timetable for our Internal Elections.

The original timetable was based on the idea that it would enable candidates to collect nominations as part of the planned Conference in Brighton. Now that this has been cancelled, we are faced with both an increased workload for the staff team, as well as there being no conference at which to collect nominations.

Consequently, the Returning Officer has decided to delay the opening of nominations by 1 week, to the 20th September at 5pm.

In addition, the period in which candidates can collect nominations has been extended by 1 week.

Candidates now have until 6pm on Monday 10th October to collect the necessary nominations for roles they wish to stand for.

The new timetable is as follows:

  • Publication of the notice of elections: Monday 29th August, 17:00
  • Opening of nominations: Tuesday 20th September, 17:00
  • Close of nominations: Monday 10th October, 18:00
  • Deadline for submission of candidates’ manifestos: Friday 7th October, 17:00
  • Dispatch of ballot papers: Tuesday 25th October c13:00
  • Deadline for return of ballot papers: Tuesday 15th November, 17:00
  • Counting of votes and declaration of results: Wednesday 16th November 14:00

The remainder of the relevant information can be found in our Internal Elections hub here: https://beta.libdems.org.uk/internal-elections

People wishing to stand for election can submit their consent to nominations form in advance of the opening of nominations here: https://beta.libdems.org.uk/consent

Ed – Note that the following places are up for election: 

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Sarah Olney

Conference: the right decision even if it’s a regrettable one

By Sarah Olney | Mon 12th September 2022 - 10:05 am

I very much share everyone’s upset and frustration about the cancellation of our Autumn Conference. I’m set to lose a great deal of money on my non-refundable, fully-paid in advance hotel booking, and I’ve spent many hours and a great deal of angst on a speech that I’m not going to deliver. And, above all, I very much wanted to attend conference in person for the first time since my re-election in 2019 – now nearly three years ago!

But I fully support the decision. The death of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II last Thursday isn’t just the death of an individual. We haven’t cancelled conference just out of deference to the feelings of her family, or the many other people up and down the country who feel a personal sense of loss. This is the death of a Head of State, which demands a different level of response. It’s right that as a party, we respond at an institutional level, and pay respects to the long years of service Her Majesty gave to this country.

But more importantly than that, this is a period in which the powers of the Head of State transfer from one person another, and it’s a sensitive constitutional moment. Even more so, because it hasn’t happened in this country in most people’s memory. Of the six former prime ministers present at the Accession Council on Saturday, only one of them – John Major – would have had any memory of the previous accession, and even he was only nine years old at the time.

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Also posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged | 8 Comments
Callum Robertson

Federal Board is the election, forward planning is the watchword

By Callum Robertson | Tue 23rd August 2022 - 8:56 am

Our party has elections to 67 positions on 6 different committees and two directly elected positions coming up. Conference will be awash with the people vying for our votes. But we can’t lose focus of the need for experience, good governance and forward planning.

The committees up for election are admittedly an odd mix, from the fairly obvious Federal Board (to provide strategic overview to our party), to the opaque Federal International Relations Committee.

However, a running theme throughout these elections must be a steadfast focus on what we want to achieve as a party and how we achieve it.

With that in mind, it is important to note that the opinion polls are increasingly pointing toward a hung parliament with us as potential kingmakers. Don’t just take my word for it, Ian King agreed in his recent Times writeup about our conference.

It goes without saying that this would be a fantastic position to be in. As a party we exist to win elections then use that power to improve people’s lives. Any opportunity we have to do so should be carefully planned for.

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Phil Bennion

Federal Policy Committee launches Food and Farming Policy Working Group

By Phil Bennion | Mon 18th April 2022 - 12:47 pm

The decision by Federal Policy Committee to launch a Food and Farming Policy Working Group comes at a time when food security is back on the global agenda for the first time in maybe three decades. The Russian invasion of Ukraine came at a point where grain prices were already causing problems in lower income importing countries. Last week WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the conflict could cause widespread hunger. Countries such as Egypt and Sudan are already struggling for supplies. With Russia also the world’s main exporter of nitrogen fertiliser, input costs have risen even faster than …

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Prue Bray

Federal Board reform – structures are nothing without good people

By Prue Bray | Tue 15th March 2022 - 1:44 pm

I am here to support option 3, because I think it is the least worst option of those offered. It has guaranteed local government representation. Councillors need a louder voice in the party. They are used to doing scrutiny, and will be able to use that to our benefit.

My lack of enthusiasm is not due to being resistant to change. It’s that this is not the change I am looking for.

Consider how professionally we approach campaigning – the training, the use of data, the effort that we put in. Consider how diligently we approach our policies – the use of evidence, the attention to detail. And then look at how we approach running the party – largely as an inconvenience that gets in the way of the campaigning and policy-making. But all the campaigns and policy in the world are useless without a party that can deliver them.

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The Voice

Federal Board reformed in “peak Lib Dem” debate

By The Voice | Sat 12th March 2022 - 8:48 am

Chair Duncan Brack remarked late yesterday evening as he opened the debate on reforming the party’s Federal Board, we had reached “peak Lib Dem” as before us we had 4 options, constitutional amendments, standing order amendments, 3 requests for a reference back and 7 votes.

The Federal Board put forward those 4 options – 3 for reform, 1 to keep roughly the same arrangements in response to the Thornhill Review’s criticism of party governance in the 2019 General Election.

The option passed was to have a slimmed down board of 16 people who are:

The President, who shall act as its Chair;

B. The Leader;

C. The Chair of the English Party, the Convenor of the Scottish Party and the President of the Welsh Party;

D. The Vice President responsible for working with ethnic minority communities;

E. Three people who shall be party members elected by all members of the Party except that persons who, at the date of the close of nominations for election under this paragraph, are members of Parliamentary Parties set out in Article 17 shall not be eligible to be candidates for election under this paragraph. Casual vacancies amongst this group shall be filled in accordance with the election regulations;

F. A Vice-Chair of the Federal Policy Committee;

G. The Chairs of the Federal Conference Committee, the Federal Communications and Elections Committee, the Federal Finance and Resources Committee and the Federal People Development Committee;

H. The Chair of the Young Liberals; and

I. A principal local authority councillor, elected Mayor or Police and Crime Commissioner, elected by the principal local authority councillors, elected Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners of the Party.

This is controversial as it reduces the number of directly elected members of the Board from 15 to just 3.

A request for a reference back made by Board Member Simon McGrath, who criticised the plans here was defeated by a handful of votes.

Conference chose the option to create a Federal Council to scrutinise the work o the Board. Amendments were passed to give it some teeth – eg the ability to call in and overturn some Board decisions. The Federal Council will be made up of:

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Lisa Smart

I’d rather be delivering leaflets

By Lisa Smart | Mon 7th March 2022 - 1:01 pm

If you know me at all, you’ll know I never wanted to be on the Federal Board. But…

In the wake of 2019 I dusted myself down from my Westminster campaign in Hazel Grove (you would be very welcome to get involved this time!) and decided that enough was enough. We need to do more winning.

Dorothy Thornhill agreed with me, and I got stuck-in to reform efforts by taking on the role of Chair of the Federal Communications and Elections Committee (and therefore a member of the Board).

We’ve come some way in the last few years, but it’s …

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Also posted in Op-eds | 31 Comments
Cameron Greer

What is LDFU and how will we help Ukraine?

By Cameron Greer | Thu 3rd March 2022 - 12:42 pm

On 26th February, I tweeted “who would help me set up a Liberal Democrats Friends of Ukraine?” thinking I might get one or two people to help me set up a small Associated Organisation. What I got was multiple volunteers, a larger than expected interest and, very quickly, an organisation with nearly 100 members.

Myself, Jake Stevenson, Leo Dempster and Euan Davidson became the founding members, and first executive, of Liberal Democrats Friends of Ukraine (or LDFU). We launched a basic website, Twitter account and a sign-up sheet on Google Forms, and within 14 hours we had 70 members and over 100 followers. What we were most surprised at is the amount of members that said they would like to volunteer: as it stands, about 70% of members said they want to volunteer for LDFU.

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Dorothy Thornhill

Dorothy Thornhill writes: What we must do next to learn the lessons of 2019

By Dorothy Thornhill | Tue 18th January 2022 - 7:41 pm

The headline “two new MPs so far in this Parliament” is a welcome one. Winning, especially winning with record swings, is what we all want. 

Underneath the headline is a lot of hard work, plenty of tough decisions, and a drive to improve. We should all be thankful to our activists, staff and supporters. 

It is clear to me that the diagnosis and recommendations my team and I set out after the 2019 disaster were right, and that they are being taken seriously. Not least among them was that a Federal Board of 41 members cannot, and should not, be the clear leadership team we need to steer our party and help us all win elections. Something of that size is a talking shop, and talking shops are neither democratic nor effective. 

I therefore welcome the Federal Board’s motion to Spring Conference setting out options for reforming the structure of the Board.

My thanks to those who took part in the supporting consultation, collectively you have been clear that it is time for change. The feedback was crucial in helping the Board refine our options to a sensible number for consideration. With limited time, not all ideas could be brought to the floor. 

Conference is being asked to choose between three options for change, and then finally between reform and the status quo. 

As you can see (below) from the proposed set-up of a new Board, the options deliberately ensure key voices from across the party – geographically, demographically and in other respects – are built in. 

I am pleased that the reform options presented address the concerns highlighted in my review. The options provide for a smaller, more nimble leadership team.

They also retain the democratic selection we cherish while clarifying responsibilities, individual and collective. 

I see in these options a chance to better encourage cooperation. To build a real leadership team. Only when we have that team can our leaders be held collectively accountable by members: currently a missing ingredient. 

That accountability makes for a better democracy for members. Too much power, now, is wielded outside of our official structures, and so outside of accountability. 

I look forward to a rigorous, healthy debate at Conference. This is a complex question and I will be listening hard to colleagues and friends to help make my own decision. My principles will be democracy, accountability, electability, and not letting the best be the enemy of the good.

Organisational change is not easy. For us, though, it is necessary. 

Do see below for a quick summary of the options coming, in more detail, to Spring Conference.

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Merlene Emerson

Cllr Sarah Cheung-Johnson takes the helm of Chinese LibDems

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 30th November 2021 - 3:00 pm

At a virtual AGM last Sunday, South Cambridgeshire Councillor Sarah Cheung-Johnson (pictured) was unanimously elected as the new Chair Chinese LibDems (CLD) for 2022. The meeting was well attended including by members from the Korean and Vietnamese diaspora communities.

This has of course been the vision of CLDs. – To be a network representing not just Chinese people but those of East and SE Asian heritage as well. In fact CLDs attempted a name change to BESEA (British East/South-East Asian) or CESEA in the past year, but the resolution did not pass.

During the formal part of the meeting, attendees received reports on the activities of CLDs over the past year including a virtual Chinese New Year celebration in February with Sir Vince Cable as guest speaker.  Members of the CLD executive Linda Chung, Victoria Collins and Dr Yeow Poon have also been active in the anti-racism campaign (CARG – Covid19 Anti Racism Group) including participation in rallies in London and Birmingham.

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Mary Regnier-Wilson

How should we behave in the party? – have your say this Thursday at 6pm

By Mary Regnier-Wilson | Tue 30th November 2021 - 1:30 pm

There are some fantastic examples of supportive behaviour towards each other within our party, but we don’t always get it right.  So the Federal People and Development Committee is reviewing our Members’ Code of Conduct, and we want to hear from you what should be in it.

The current version can be found at Members’ Code of Conduct, and we also have an Online Code of Conduct and a Candidates Code of Conduct for Parliamentary candidates.  Fortunately they all say similar things.

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Paul Walter

Ed Davey replies robustly to a Tory MP’s enquiry about our selection procedures

By Paul Walter | Tue 26th October 2021 - 11:10 am

Philip Davies MP recently wrote to Ed Davey enquiring about the Liberal Democrats’ internal selection procedures.

Ed’s reply is a joy to behold! It is worth reading the correspondence in full.

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Mark Valladares

The Young Liberals need you (terms and conditions apply)!

By Mark Valladares | Tue 28th September 2021 - 6:52 pm

This year’s Young Liberals elections are up and running, with nominations open until 4 October and the winners being decided by 25 October.

Naturally, here at Liberal Democrat Voice, we not only don’t endorse candidates, but maintain strict neutrality, working with Returning Officers to ensure that, as far as the pages of this organ are concerned, we don’t tilt the electoral playing field towards, or away from, individual candidates.

However, we do want to encourage all eligible members to take part in these upcoming elections, be it as a candidate or a voter. Many of us have worked with, or held positions in, the Young Liberals over the years and, as an opportunity to contribute to the success of the wider party, but also to take an active role and learn new skills, they offer a space for anyone to get engaged.

There are seventy positions up for grabs, at Federal, State and Regional levels, each with a different skillset required, from policy roles to representation, from organisation to leadership, from design to communication, and all will be key to building up the campaigning capacity and strength of the organisation as a potential General Election nears.

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Martin Dickson

Democracy and Public Debate

By Martin Dickson | Mon 13th September 2021 - 4:17 pm

Fake news and hate speech online – much of it spread via the giant tech platforms. Government ministers brazenly lying. Threats to the integrity of our elections through the dissemination of misinformation on social media. National newspapers that are increasingly partisan, and a local press too financially enfeebled to hold politicians to account.

In recent years, the quality of public debate in Britain has deteriorated sharply, thanks to all these factors and the increasing rejection of traditionally accepted norms of behaviour. And this threatens the very fabric of our democracy. We have lost a set of shared truths and facts around which we can base political debate. What can be done to reverse the decline?

A policy paper prepared by an FPC working group, to be debated at Autumn Conference, proposes a bold and distinctly liberal set of initiatives that carefully balance our rights and freedoms, especially the right to free speech, with the need to combat online harms and allow misinformation to be challenged.

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The Voice

Volunteers needed to set the party’s strategic direction on Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

By The Voice | Tue 6th July 2021 - 11:05 am

This opportunity has appeared on the Liberal Democrat website:

Hours: 4 hours a month, this may vary.
Location: working from home, occasional meetings in London.

The Party is seeking committed volunteers to help set our EEDI strategic direction. The working group’s inaugural Chair will be the Party’s Chief Operating Officer and will work on actioning the delivery plan that has already been created. This action plan is wide ranging but includes fundamental tasks such as:

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The Voice

And the new chair of Federal Conference Committee is…..

By The Voice | Sat 12th June 2021 - 12:39 pm

… Cllr Nick Da Costa.

Nick was one of the Committee’s Vice-Chairs and is also a Councillor in Haringey.

In a post on Facebook, he said:

I am delighted to have been elected as Chair of the Federal Conference Committee taking over from the brilliant Geoff Payne who stood down as Chair at the end of May.

Firstly, a massive thanks to Geoff for his hard work for this party as member, Vice Chair and then Chair of the Federal Conference Committee. He has always championed the importance and sovereignty of Conference in our party and will be sorely missed as he moves onto his next exciting work.

My previous position as Vice Chair of FCC will be filled at the next meeting of the Federal Conference Committee on 11th July, which will also be the agenda setting meeting for Autumn Conference.

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Paul Noblet

Help shape our new Universal Basic Income policy

By Paul Noblet | Mon 24th May 2021 - 2:03 pm

At our 2020 Autumn Federal Conference members voted to commit the party to campaign for a universal basic income and called on the Federal Policy Committee to work on the details of the implementation.

For the past three months a working group, including members from England, Scotland and Wales, has heard from external experts and campaigners on how a UBI could be implemented and paid for in a socially just and equitable manner.

In our discussions the working group has tried to discern what members may have had in mind in voting for UBI as a broad policy whilst balancing the impact of a basic income on the party’s ability to fund other policy priorities in a future general election manifesto.

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Geoff Payne

Federal Conference Committee – Autumn Conference to be online again

By Geoff Payne | Sat 1st May 2021 - 8:55 am

Federal Conference Committee met on 28th April 2021 to make some preliminary decisions about the format of Autumn Conference 2021.

We have decided that Autumn Conference will take place from 17th to 20th September. It will be held online. That was a very difficult decision to take and we had a very lengthy discussion about it.

We recognise that a lot of people would like to meet again in person – believe me, so we would we – but the question is whether, at this time, we can absolutely guarantee that conference could go ahead in the format that we know and love. Having consulted a range of others, FCC considered, with some reluctance, that it was not possible at this time to give such a guarantee. Although things are now a lot better in terms of the pandemic, we do not know if there are any final bumps in the road still to come. Medical experts say they expect a third wave in the Autumn but the extent is not yet clear. Of course, things seemed better in the early Autumn of 2020 but then took a marked turn for the worst a few months later. We do not, at this stage, know what social distancing requirements there will be or how many people will be able to attend the venue. We therefore cannot make meaningful plans and set any meaningful budget for the event. The risk of going ahead in person but having to cancel or heavily restrict the event such that it is not inclusive, is just too great. In the same way, we take any risk to the personal safety of party members very seriously. That is why we cancelled Spring 2020. We would not want to expose anyone to any unnecessary risk of catching this dreadful virus in a close setting.

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Nick Da Costa

Federal Conference Committee – pre-Conference report

By Nick Da Costa | Mon 15th March 2021 - 6:05 pm

On Saturday, 13th March the Federal Conference Committee met to review the amendments, late motions, emergency motions, questions to reports and appeals for this weekend’s next Spring Conference which commences on Friday.

You can still register for conference. We also have a claimants’ rate, and provide support for those who require it through the Conference Access Fund. You can also donate to the Conference Access Fund as part of your registration.

This will be our second online Conference with our partners at Hopin. As always, we would like to thank the Conference Office and wider HQ team for their support and hard work in bringing together our online conference.

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Mark Valladares

The Party’s disciplinary processes – justice delayed is justice denied?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 8th March 2021 - 12:46 pm

It sometimes seems as though the Party has been adjusting its internal conduct and discipline system since its foundation. And, of course, you have to have one because not everyone is reasonable, and people don’t always behave reasonably towards each other in an organisation where the idea is to convince people of the rightness of your views, to win the argument, if you like.

The problem is that, with any process, you have to supply the resources to make it work, and if the experiences of too many people are to be believed, that simply isn’t the case currently. It would be very easy to blame the professional staff responsible for managing the system but, from painful personal experience, I can vouch that they are too few in number to manage the flow of complaints, and too dependent on volunteers to fill all of the roles that the process requires.

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News Meerkat

Despite Covid, the Guardian predicts “no escape” from the Lib Dem disco

By News Meerkat | Tue 23rd February 2021 - 9:48 am

The Guardian sketch writer, John Crace, gives a witty mention to our beloved disco in his parliamentary sketch this morning:

A return to normal: 21 June. There would be no escape for those hoping to avoid the disco night at the Lib Dem party conference.

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    @ Joe "Foreigners need to lend us the money to buy more than we sell so that we can live beyond our means...." No one is forcing them to. It's...
  • Joe Bourke
    Dieter Helm is professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford who has been writing about the issues of nationalisation of public utilities for years. ...
  • Maureen Treadwell
    I am not altogether sure we haven't already got enough homes. It is just that the empty homes are all a long way north of the M4! We need more investment in the...