Party President Ros Scott has emailed members with more news about this Sunday’s Liberal Democrat Special Conference.
Registration has now been extended to all members; however only voting reps are eligible to vote on the motion.
Conference is closed to journalists and media.
Registration for the Liberal Democrats’ special conference is now open to all party members. Every party member has the right to attend conference and participate in the debate (though of course only voting conference reps will have the right to vote on the motion).
You can register now via the special conference website. The website also contains the agenda for the conference, including the motion endorsing the coalition agreement, together with the full text of the agreement itself.
Remember that the motion is still open to amendment; the deadline for submission of amendments is 12 noon on Saturday 15 May.
Please note that all changes to conference reps, including substitutes, must be reported through Membership Data Online by your Data Officer or Membership Development Officer/Membership Secretary by midday Friday. Any subsequent changes must be given in writing (and not by email) to the Membership Desk at conference registration in Birmingham and must be signed by an Officer of your Local Party. Please do not rely on email messages getting through to Membership after this point.
I hope I’ll see as many of you as possible at the conference. It’s very important for our new ministers, the parliamentary party and the Federal Executive to listen to what you think of the coalition agreement, its opportunities and challenges.
Just as importantly, we also need to know what you think the priorities are for further work. The initial agreement doesn’t cover many areas of policy, and further statements will be developed. This is the first opportunity party members will have to input into those discussions about the future direction of the coalition.
I look forward to seeing you in Birmingham.
Baroness Ros Scott
President of the Liberal DemocratsPS. The conference will be closed to journalists, so party members can feel free to say anything they want! It won’t be broadcast on television, so the only way you’ll be able to find out what goes on is by being there.
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12 Comments
Closing to journalists is a bad move.
I support this coalition. I think when push comes to shove the vast majority of members will too. But nobody is going to believe it, because nobody will hear the debate. The specualtion and snide comments about splits and discord within the party from the media will continue.
It’s a shame.
Ryan’s right. Since it will leak anyway, what’s the point?
I wish this would be given a bit of time first, to allow people to come to terms with it. Then I am sure there will be a lot less of a rift and journalists could be allowed in (assuming they’re still interested a week or two from now!).
Just out of interest, what exactly would happen if a majority of members did disagree with a coalition?
Yes Benjamin I was wondering that too. I think it was a bold move to announce this so soon but feel it would be good to allow people to take in the facts a bit first. The PC and FE had been kept up to date throughout the negotiations and thus could make an informed decision, but I do wonder if 4 days will be enough for most of us to take the whole lot in just from the agreement outline etc.
Does anyone know if there are any childcare facilities at this conference?
I agree that it’s the wrong decision in this instance to keep it private. I’d have liked to have gone, but a previous commitment will keep me away, and was hoping that there would be some coverage – instead, all we’re going to get is the guess work of journalists, the spin from the party, and the unconfirmed rumours of revolt from “[senior] Lib Dem sources.”
The Scottish discussion on independence needed to be in camera as the Party hadn’t and wasn’t making a decision. In this case, the Party has made a decision, and is looking for support from its members. We should be doing this in public.
Huge mistake to have it with no media becuae now
– they’ll have a even greater motif to do us over.
– they’ll be more able because they can quote dissenters from the ” secret ” meeting with no compensatory back ground coverage to provide context.
– Nothing is actually off camera anymore so if it is a bloodbath ( which I doubt ) someone somewhere will have camera shot you tube footage which will then have added credibility because it was ” banned”.
– Closed door meetings by any party look awful but for a party with the words “Liberal” and ” Democrat ” in the title they are brand toxifying
– Its also grossly discriminatory. the meeting is theoretically open to all members however in practice its open to members who have time, money, mobility, lifestyle and comitment levels to attend a conference in Birmingham at very short notice.
At least from an access point of view others could have watched clips on the news, watched on TV/On Line etc but now no.
I think this should be reversed at once.
How odd. Surely the only point of having the conference was as a PR exercise. Has the party now decided it might backfire if the media were allowed in?
This is not something that will change under any circumstances. If a scandal does not exist, the media must invent one. It is their purpose, since nobody wants to hear about boring meetings where everybody agrees.
Please let the media in!
Indeed, let the media in. My favourite part of conference is heckling Brillo!