We are delighted to announce that members’ registration will open shortly for Autumn 2013 Federal Conference in Glasgow. We very excited that Conference is making a return to Scotland after many years’ absence.
The event will take place at the SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre), Exhibition Way, Glasgow, from 10am on Saturday 14th September to around 3:30pm on Wednesday 18th September. The conference hotel will be the Crowne Plaza.
In order to cut down on costs and be more environmentally friendly, there is a discount available for those who are content not to receive any papers through the post and are happy to work electronically instead (the conference app makes that very easy indeed) or print out what they need themselves. Please note, there will be free Wi-Fi in the SECC and we are making some key improvements to the app to improve its functionality. There is a surcharge for those who do want a full set of papers and no charge or discount at all for those needing just the agenda, directory and training guide.
Following negotiations with the party and a full assessment of the threats and the risks the recommendation of the police and security services is that accreditation will not be required for any person who was a party member prior to 1st January 2013. Anyone who has recently joined the party or non party members will have to go through accreditation.
Importantly, that means that no-one who has been elected as a Conference Representative at a Local Party Annual General Meeting in 2012 will need to go through accreditation. This arrangement was the least onerous one that FCC could agree to in the light of a comprehensive risk assessment carried out with the circumstances of this conference in mind. For this reason, registration for members will open slightly later than our commercial categories this year as we make some technical changes to our database to accommodate this.
Conference offers a wonderful opportunity to meet other members and activists, to debate and decide policy, hear speeches, question Government ministers, attend training sessions, participate in fringe meetings and spend time relaxing until late at night in the bars. Already we have agreed to have speeches from Ed Davey and Danny Alexander and there will be others.
We are the only party where our members decide our policy which, given that preparations are now underway for our next General Election Manifesto, makes this a crucial time. We will also be continuing our tradition of Ministerial Question and Answer Sessions, which allow members to get answers to their questions directly from Liberal Democrats in Government.
The agenda for this Conference is not set yet. As ever, the FCC wants to put on a diverse and radical programme of policy motions and speeches, as well as the usual reports. The more motions we have submitted, the better. For those wanting to submit motions, the deadline is 26th June (1pm) and members of the committee are available to offer drafting advice until 12th June 2013. Please send them to [email protected]
You can book your accommodation through the Party website.
See Glasgow has negotiated specially discounted rates across a wide range of hotels in the City.
We hope very much to see you in Glasgow in September.
* Andrew Wiseman is Chair of the Liberal Democrats' Federal Conference Committee.
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9 Comments
Being the only party where our members decide our policy must surely mean that Conference decisions need to be upheld at every level in the party !
Please note registration for party members will open in mid May.
Conference offers a wonderful opportunity … to debate and decide policy,
How exciting. Can we talk about secret courts? Can we? Can we huh?
Congratulations to Andrew and the Conference Committee on the successful negotiations to exempt from the accreditation requirement all but new and very recent party members
Why is the conference hotel not available to book through the link provided above? Indeed the closest hotel on there is over a mile away.
I do love the fact that our members still make Party policy through our Conference. But much less than I used to before I knew our Leader would ignore it, and that most of our MPs would follow him and do the same.
Just at the time Conference policy debates ought to matter more than ever – we are in Government so can put some of our policies into practice and get serious publicity for others the Cons won’t agree to – it turns out to matter much less as the Leader pays no attention to it.
Without wishing to speak on behalf of the marginalised groups who were most concerned about accreditation, this sounds to me like a big step in the right direction. Are we to take it that a similarly recent cut-off point will be the norm for accreditation at future conferences? Or will it be 1st Jan 2013 for ever more now?
Anyway, well done and thank you for all the work which I’m sure has gone into finding a better (if imperfect) solution than the one we had at previous conferences.
Better if imperfect is right, Andy. I suspect we couldn’t have done better.
I remain totally opposed to accreditation on principle on the basis that it is State interference with the internal workings of a political party. However, this is probably the minimum interference we can get. There will still be a facility to deal with anyone who for reasons of identity is concerned about the accreditation process, and I hope Conference Committee will be able to publish details shortly.
I welcome Duncan’s comments, with ironic eyebrow raised at them coming from a former Chair of FFAC.
In terms of the future, who knows? I shall continue to ask Parliamentary colleagues for details of the outcome of Ministerial reviews that should result in the state interference coming to an end.
I have discovered that there is a metro link between Glasgow Central Station and SECC. It runs till nearly midnight every day except Sunday, when it stops just after 18.00 Hotels near the station are much cheaper than near SECC. Also NOT using the Lib Dem link gets you to a whole range of cheaper hotels!