The following emergency motions have been submitted and chosen for ballot by the Federal Conference Committee:

-A Liberal Vision for Digital Rights
-Building a Fair Asylum System
-Standing up for the most vulnerable in society
-Trump’s State Visit

Two motions selected by a ballot of registered conference attendees will be debated at 09:00 on Tuesday 23rd September (F41).

The ballot to select the two motions to be debated is now open and will close at 5pm tomorrow, Saturday 20th September.

The motions in full are:

Emergency Motion 1: A Liberal Vision for Digital Rights
Young Liberals
Conference notes:
I. The recent rollout on 25 July 2025 of Ofcom’s Protection of Children Codes of Practice under the Online Safety Act 2023.
II. The aims of that Act to provide vital safeguards against harmful online content, including child sexual abuse material, intimate image abuse, and sexual exploitation.
III. Theclearevidenceoftheextensiveharmposedtochildrenbyexposureto pornography, suicide promotion, and other damaging online content.
IV. Theconcerningreportsthathavebeenraisedregardingtheimplementationofthe Act, including that:
A. Political, educational or wellbeing-related content and forums are being inappropriately age-gated.
B. Third party age-assurance systems may pose data protection and privacy risks to users.
C. Age-assurance measures could be ineffective, due to circumvention by children and young people using VPNs.
D. End-to-end encryption could be undermined by certain powers within the Act.
V. The number of civil society organisations and political figures that have raised these concerns, including:
A. The Government of Jersey, who have refused to implement the legislation
B. Wikipedia, who have challenged the legislation in court.
C. The Young Liberals, who have passed a motion at their conference opposing the implementation of the legislation.

D. Liberal Democrat Science, Innovation and Technology spokespeople Victoria Collins MP and Lord Clement-Jones who have written to the Secretary of State detailing these concerns and calling for further parliamentary scrutiny of the Act and its legislation.
VI. That women are disproportionately the targets of deepfakes, harassment and other harmful behaviours online.
Conference believes that:
i) Protecting children and vulnerable groups online is imperative and online safety legislation must hold the tech sector accountable for harms they have failed to police.
ii) The current rollout of regulations under the Online Safety Act by Ofcom risks ineffective, disproportionate implementation.
iii) It is critical that when introducing regulation on use of the internet, that we do so with a mind on the disproportionate impact on privacy and digital rights, and on groups such as the LGBT+ community where online support networks exist.
Conference therefore calls for:
1. A full and urgent Parliamentary review, to report within 6 months, examining:
a) Whether the Online Safety Act is meeting its stated aims of keeping children and other vulnerable groups safe online,
b) Whether it is fit for purpose, and
c) What further legislation may be required to ensure that the aims of keeping children and other vulnerable groups safe online are achieved in an effective, proportionate way that preserves privacy.
2. Further Parliamentary scrutiny of Ofcom’s implementation of regulations under the Act, ensuring that it focuses squarely on protecting children and other vulnerable groups from online harms, rather than impeding access to political content, educational resources, or support services.

3. The introduction of a Digital Bill of Rights.
Applicability: Federal

Emergency Motion 2: Building a Fair Asylum System
12 members
Conference notes:
A. The August 2025 surge in protests over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, which according to a senior police chief have placed police forces under ‘chronic pressure’.
B. The rhetoric of Reform and the Conservatives, such as:
i) Repeated calls for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
ii) Nigel Farage’s proposal, on 26th August, to deport people who have fled the Taliban to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
C. Shabana Mahmood’s appointment as Home Secretary on 5th September, reportedly to take a more “uncompromising” stance on immigration.
Conference further notes with disappointment that the Labour Government has responded to this rhetoric with counterproductive policies like immediate suspension of family reunion pathways and reducing the move-on period for new refugees rather than properly challenging Reform and the Conservatives.
Conference believes:
I. All asylum seekers must be treated with dignity and respect, and the UK must uphold a fair, compassionate and efficient asylum system – not one built on delay and distrust.
II. The Conservatives trashed the asylum system, triggering spiralling backlogs and the costly legacy of asylum hotels, while Labour has so far failed to get a grip on the crisis.
III. TheECHRisalargelyBritishcreationthatunderpinsourfundamentalrightsand freedoms, and must be upheld.
IV. Therighttopeacefulprotestisacornerstoneofaliberaldemocracywhichmustbe protected, but no one has the right to intimidate or incite fear.

Conference accordingly calls on the UK Government to reject the division offered by Reform and the Conservatives and instead:
1. End the use of asylum hotels by speeding up application processing so thousands aren’t stuck in limbo and those with valid claims can work, integrate and contribute, while those without a right to remain can be returned swiftly.
2. Lift the ban on employment for asylum seekers who’ve waited over three months for a decision.
3. Immediately restore family reunification pathways for refugees.
4. Increase cross-border cooperation, including through a leadership role for the UK in Europol, to tackle criminal gangs and stop dangerous Channel crossings at their source.
5. Publicly and unequivocally reaffirm the UK’s commitment to the ECHR – and reject any attempt to undermine the legal protections it provides.
Applicability: Federal

Emergency Motion 3: Standing up for the most vulnerable in society
12 members
Conference notes that:
i) Following tireless campaigning by Liberal Democrats, disability groups and others, the Government was forced to significantly water down its initial Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, making a series of U-turns between the Bill’s second reading on July 1st and third reading on July 9th.
ii) According to reports published on September 2nd, the Government is looking to make a second push at welfare cuts in the autumn.
iii) Under the previous Conservative Government, spending on incapacity and disability benefits rose from £34 to £51 billion a year, and it’s forecast to increase to nearly £60 billion a year by the end of the decade.
iv) The rising welfare bill is a result of deeper underlying challenges, including poor physical health, significant increases in mental ill-health, particularly among young people, and a higher number of people not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Conference believes that everyone should be able to live independently and with dignity, and support must be in place to ensure that vulnerable people and their carers can live their best possible lives.
Conference therefore resolves to oppose plans that cut support for disabled people and unpaid carers, and instead calls on ministers to properly tackle the rising welfare bill by:
1. Ending the crisis in our NHS and social care, starting by committing to conclude the social care review by the end of 2025, not in three years’ time.
2. Ensuring that health problems can be addressed early before they become long-term conditions, by investing in public health and primary care and ensuring that everyone can see a GP within seven days.
3. Expanding early access to mental health support, especially for young people, to tackle a key driver of economic inactivity – by establishing mental health hubs for young people in every community and introducing regular mental health check-ups at key points in people’s lives, when they are most vulnerable to mental ill-health.
4. Improving preventative health services, from drug and alcohol services, to children’s health services, to stop chronic conditions from ever developing, by raising the public health grant.
5. Building on Charlie Mayfield’s upcoming review into how government and businesses can work together to support ill and disabled people in employment, working with employers to make the world of work more inclusive.
6. Enabling carers to balance work and caring responsibilities by introducing an earnings taper to end the unfair Carers’ Allowance cliff-edge.
Applicability: Federal

Emergency Motion 4: Trump’s State Visit
12 Party Members
Conference notes President Trump’s State Visit to the UK on 17th-19th September.
Conference further notes that President Trump was invited to the UK for this unprecedented honour, in the context of having proved himself to be an unreliable partner to the UK, including by:
A. On 15th August, rolling out the red carpet for the dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska, a meeting at which the leaders discussed options for a possible carve-up of Ukraine.
B. Implementing and maintaining an arbitrary 10% tariff on UK goods exported to the US, harming UK businesses and our economic growth.
C. On 26th August, raising the prospect of targeting the UK with additional tariffs unless we scrap our Digital Services Tax – generating grave concerns about British legislation potentially being vetoed by a foreign leader.
D. Repeatedly threatening to annex the UK’s allies, including Canada and Denmark’s territory of Greenland.
Conference applauds the decision by the Liberal Democrats’ Leader, Ed Davey, to boycott the state banquet during Trump’s State Visit in order to raise awareness for his direct appeal to the President to help end the war in Gaza.
Conference reaffirms the Spring 2025 Federal Conference Motion The UK’s Response to Trump, and the Liberal Democrats’ position as the only major UK political party willing to stand up to Trump’s bullying tactics.
Conference calls for:
1. The UK to deepen our economic and security ties with our European and Commonwealth partners, insulating us against Trump’s lack of reliability and helping to generate economic growth at home.
2. The UK to strengthen our support for Ukraine, in the absence of a reliable partner in President Trump, by working with our allies in Europe to seize the frozen Russian assets across the continent and use these to support Ukraine.

3. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take every opportunity to pressure President Trump to take the action necessary to end the war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
4. The UK Government to categorically rule out scrapping our Digital Services Tax.
Applicability: Federal