The Federal Policy Committee (FPC) is presently in the process of a major review exercise called ‘Agenda 2020’ to consider,
- The challenges that the United Kingdom will face over the coming years, (economic, social, environmental, political), and, in the light of it, to prepare,
- A statement of the distinctively Liberal Democrat approach and,
- A map of the policy development that the FPC needs to carry out in order to achieve it.
Given what happened to the party in May, it is now more important than ever that we assert our own identity and project to the electorate what it means to be a Liberal Democrat and why the country needs Liberal Democrats.
The Agenda 2020 group (of which I am a member) has put together a paper for discussion. It was the subject of two very lively sessions at conference and now it is out for wider consultation from members of the party. We really want to hear your views.
A webpage has been set up here.
On that page, you can read our consultation paper and submit your ideas using the form provided. It is a very easy way to feed in what you think. The deadline is 9th November 2015 so there is plenty of time.
We are also running an essay competition. The question is “What does it mean to be a Liberal Democrat today?” and we are looking for submissions of up to 1,000 words. There is a shortlisting committee and the shortlisted entries will be voted on by party members. The winner will have their essay published on the party website and receive a copy of ‘On Liberty’ by John Stuart Mill, signed by Tim Farron. The deadline for essays is 2nd November 2015.
After every meeting of FPC and FCC, I produce a short report about what was discussed. If you are a party member and would like to join that mailing list, drop me a line at [email protected]. The next FPC meeting is next week.
* Geoff Payne is the Chair of Federal Conference Committee.
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3 Comments
“Liberal Democrats trust individuals to make their own decisions about how they live their lives ; no one else, whether politicians, clerics or bureaucrats, can do so as effectively. The good society is therefore one in which each individual has the freedom to follow their own paths as they judge best.”
Please try to use accurate language to obviate unnecessary debate. The use of a plural word in place of the singular is widespread, but sloppy. Even ‘his/her’ would get objections from people who are neither or prefer not to say, as we experinced at conference when there were proposals for committees to be 50% female.
And thine proposal is what? IMAO “their” is a perfectly good gender neutral third person singular pronoun. Like “your” is for second person. “Its” is widely considered offensive when applied to human beings.
Richard, if you’d like to comment on FPC’s Agenda 2020 consultation, this is the place to do it.
If you’d like to campaign against the use of “they” and “their” as a gender neutral third person singular pronoun (thank you Jenny – how magnificently precise and unsloppy you are), I’m sure there’s a website for it.