We’re keeping under close review our plans for the York conference in the light of the spread of coronavirus. Based on the health advice from the NHS and government, along with that from York Council, there are no current plans to cancel the conference.
We will, however, be ensuring that those coming to conference are reminded of health advice, such as the need for regular hand washing and the circumstances under which people should self-isolate. Hand sanitizers will also be made widely available.
Obviously if the advice we receive changes, we may have to revisit these decisions as the health of our colleagues and our suppliers must come first. It would be a decision for the Federal Board to take.
The latest NHS advice is available here.
This post originally appeared on Mark’s blog
* Mark Pack is Party President and is the editor of Liberal Democrat Newswire.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Row brewing over repairs to wall beside Bridgnorth Cliff Railway
Shropshire Council Liberal Democrats call for dedicated active travel budget
My tweets
The damage caused by Brexit
Dundee Creative Writing Group at Blackness Library #dundeewestend
Peter Davies
Peter Watson
Michael BG
17 Comments
It’s time we thought about what the purpose of Conference is. The large majority of members don’t attend it, so that any motion passed there doesn’t necessarily represent the views of the membership. Just as companies are moving away from physical travel towards teleconferencing, we should be thinking about holding virtual conferences using technology such as online voting, as we already do for Party elections.
@Laurence Cox quite. Not to mention the carbon footprint. And the disenfranchisement of 98% of members.
The primary purpose of conference is the gathering.
Spring conference is 13-15 March 2020 – today is the 5th…
Given current advice and the rate at which the number of cases is increasing in the UK, commonsense says cancel.
Go ahead and expect to garner negative publicity…
For a member who lives in an area with little LibDem support, and perhaps with a rather overwhelmed local party, getting together with fellow members nationwide, discussing issues from a liberal perspective, ready access to training and AOs/SAOs and just networking opportunities are invaluable.
Doing things remotely, whether telephoning, telex (showing my age), fax, email, electronic conferencing or social media has its limits. Actually meeting someone face to face and going to places are often an essential pre-requisite of a succesful remoter relationship.
While I accept that the full impact coronavirus is as yet unknown, it is worth bearing in mind what the present impact of other causes of death in the UK are, before it is the reason for cancelling the conference next week.
Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK. Every year around 100,000 people in the UK die from smoking related problems. People at conference are free to smoke (outside the hall).
The number of deaths each year due to alcohol use is around 20,000. Drinking is a major part of the social side of conference. It would not be conference without the social side of things.
Obesity kills many hundreds of thousands of people each year yet over 50% of people at conference will probably be overweight or obese. Eating meals out and socialising is a significant part of the social side of conference.
Looking at the bigger picture, there are many things everyone could do to live a much healthier life which would have a much bigger impact than the coronavirus in the UK this month, yet many people choose not to do so.
Many years ago I ran a campaign to increase hand washing, as it was estimated that one in five people globally wash their hands after going to the toilet. An estimated 289,000 children under five die each year of diarrheal diseases directly caused by dirty water, poor sanitation and the inability to wash hands with soap. In the UK a significant proportion of people do not wash their hands after going to the toilet.
The above examples do not in any way underestimate the impact of corona virus, but it is worth taking a look at the wider picture as well.
“using technology such as online voting, as we already do for Party elections.”
I think the jury may be out a little on how well this works!
One of the problems with hand sanitizers – apart from the difficulty that they work on bacteria not viruses – is that you have to touch the bottle to release its contents. That means that in a situation where they are shared, lots of people will be touching the bottle before using the contents.
@Laurence Cox
I agree a conference of those willing and able to spend hundreds of pounds and give up a week of holiday may not be representative.
And while some votes are well-attended, with others, policy is passed by as few as a hundred members.
However, I fear a technological solution may be even worse. Will the kind of people who engage in an online debate be any more representative of the membership than conference? How will debate work across the internet? Will we end up with a virtual conference that has some of the less desirable trappings of social media?
I think we’ll have to stick with conference much as we have it. But those of us who attend should be a little more self-aware about how unrepresentative we are.
Unless government advice regarding large gatherings changes in the next few days it seems reasonable to proceed. However it will be important to wash/ sanitise hands regularly and avoid hand shakes and other close contact.Perhaps those over 70 and particularly those with chronic respiratory conditions need to consider staying away. You are not much good to the cause of liberal democracy in a box!
I wonder when Conference Extra will be coming out. I thought it would be out today with only a few days to go before the Conference starts.
Can the Conference.
It doesn’t seem sensible to go ahead with this conference in COVID-19 times. Putting hundreds of our most committed activists, from all corners of the country, in one place at one time is high-risk. These are people we can ill-afford to lose.
Can the Conference. Show the public that we have a sense of responsibility. Don’t look selfish, it’s not a good look.
I really think that we should cancel this conference. While the opportunity to get together with fellow Lib Dems is wonderful, on this occasion, as we have been in the past, we need show that we are ahead of the curve.
Almost every other country in Europe is taking this problem much, much more seriously than Boris Johnson and the British establishment. We need to show once again that the Lib Dems are the adults in the room.
Just as we were shown to be right on the 2008 Crash (Thanks Vince), and as more things go wrong are starting to be seen as being right on Brexit (if sadly electorally totally misguided), we can show ourselves to be right on this one as well.
You never know, it might even become part of a strategy.
I take a packed tube and train to work you more likely to get ill that way , than at the conference and more likely a pollution related illness before you get the virus.
However, I do think the responsible thing to do is to cancel the event, but people will be out of pocket in regards train tickets and hotel stays and any other expenses.
Read this Twitter thread about the Italian situation, and shudder.
https://twitter.com/jasonvanschoor/status/1237142891077697538?s=12
I agree it seems irresponsible to go ahead with this conference in COVID-19 times. Putting hundreds of our most committed activists, from all corners of the country, in one place at one time is high-risk and makes the Lib-Dems look foolhardy and irresponsible. Also, delaying until the last possible minute makes it less likely that members will be able to get any kind of refunds on accommodation/travel/registration. I’ve cancelled my air&b now, as I have an injury from being pushed down a tube escalator, which makes it impossible to travel now, but I find it really odd that Federal Committee still cogitating. For self-employed and freelancers which may account for a good number of us, losing money like this is harsh especially in present times when work is getting cancelled left right and centre and we have no pay protection to fall back on.