The latest issue of Liberator magazine (issue no.354 – July 2012) was mailed to subscribers last week. If by chance you have not yet got round to taking out a subscription, here’s a summary of the contents:
- The editorial column Commentary calls for tougher bank regulation in the wake of the Barclays scandal. It also calls on the party’s Federal Finance and Administration Committee to produce the evidence for its decision to defy both the conference and the Federal Conference Committee and persist with police accreditation for conference representatives.
- The insider gossip column Radical Bulletin begins with the background story behind the decision to stick with police accreditation for conference representatives.
- ‘Luck not judgement’ – Bill Le Breton (former chair and president of ALDC) says that, where Liberals see the flag of austerity unfurled, they should attack it.
- ‘Selling the pass’ – David Grace (who tabled last year’s party conference motion against police accreditation) asks why the party’s committees have ignored last year’s conference decision and caved in to pressure on dubious pretexts.
- ‘Confidence trick’ – Chris Bailey (a former City economist and now treasurer of Rochford and Southend Liberal Democrats) says that, to revive the economy, the coalition needs more optimism and flair, and less of the damaging gloom.
- ‘Going for gold?’ – Dee Doocey (a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, who until May chaired the London Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Sport Committee, responsible for scrutinising the 2012 Olympics) asks whether London will honour its promise to leave a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.
- ‘Peering into the unknown’ – Tony Greaves (a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords) says that reform of the House of Lords faces enough hurdles without Liberal Democrat MPs making things worse.
- ‘Feeding the crocodile’ – Becky Tinsley (founder of the human rights group Waging Peace, which has provided evidence on war crimes in Sudan to the International Criminal Court) says that the carnage in South Sudan is not just a humanitarian disaster ; its causes are ideological and need a political response.
- ‘The party’s over’ – The rise and fall of the middle class dinner party mirrors the rise and fall of Thatcherism. Simon Titley (a member of the Liberator Collective) argues that this is no coincidence.
- ‘Transport of delight’ – Julian Huppert (Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge) says that investment in trains, buses, cycling and walking is a Liberal Democrat success story.
- ‘Daddy knows best’ – Dinti Batstone (a member of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee) wonders why the coalition’s social mobility trackers recognise only fathers’ attainments.
- Book reviews.
- Lord Bonkers’ Diary – Lord Bonkers (Liberal MP for Rutland South West 1906-10) recounts another busy week at Bonkers Hall.
If you missed any of our previous editions, they are available online here.
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2 Comments
The Liberator editors will I hope agree to publish in their next Conference edition an article from me addressing the seriously misleading coverage of the Conference Accreditation decision contained in the current edition’s Editorial,Gossip Column and “Selling the pass” article.
Duncan Greenland,Chair FFAC
(writing in a personal capacity)
@Duncan – No problem. Your reply is more than welcome!