Tag Archives: 2018 Brighton Conference

Paul Walter

Conference motion: Reforming our party’s disciplinary processes

By Paul Walter | Thu 20th September 2018 - 10:25 am

Embed from Getty Images

There is now a superb summary of all the conference motions on the Liberal Democrat website. This allows you to see, at a glance, the final passed motions, incorporating any passed amendments.

One really important motion was that on the party disciplinary process.

This process was initiated by a motion at 2016 conference to review the party’s disciplinary processes. There have been reviews conducted by Helena Morrissey, Ken MacDonald and Isabelle Parasram. The review was delayed by the 2017 general election. The process was debated at the 2018 Spring Conference, where it was referred back for further work.

The Federal Board has appointed a steering group on Sexual Impropriety Complaints, as recommended by Isabelle Parasram.

The motion at the Brighton conference seeks to set up an independent disciplinary mechanism with trained adjudicators and investigators. There will be a strict logging process for complaints, with time limits for resolution.

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Michael Kilpatrick

Why I tried to amend devolution policy -and how I was misrepresented

By Michael Kilpatrick | Wed 19th September 2018 - 6:30 pm

At Autumn Conference I moved an amendment to F8 “Power to People and Communities”. Our amendment, concentrating solely on English regional devolution was opposed not by a rebuttal of its text and my speech but, sadly, by means of mischaracterisation and misrepresentation of what was written and said.

Since attending the Agenda 2020 session at Autumn Conference 2015 and then the East of England Regional Conference (which near-unanimously passed my motion “Fair Devolution for the East of England”) I have proposed additional criteria to the policy of “devolution on demand” – three little words encapsulating a seemingly straightforward and liberal approach but in fact opening a can of worms.

Quoting from my speech: “Civil Servants drawing lines on the map in dark rooms in Whitehall is a dreadful prospect. An entirely locally-led permissive solution, without additional qualification, is equally flawed because it implies self-selective, first-come-first-served devolution. Those first off the blocks will form regions within no framework and with no obligation to consider the ability of other neighboring districts to form viable regions themselves. We can have neither a top-down imposed solution nor an unmanaged, unfettered free-for-all. This is all about process, not about lines on the map. There must be a clear direction and goals: no areas disenfranchised or disadvantaged by the prior actions of others”.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | 15 Comments
Paul Walter

Jo Swinson’s speech to conference – in full

By Paul Walter | Wed 19th September 2018 - 4:48 pm

Posted in Conference | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Cara Jenkinson

2018 Brighton Conference – Reporting by Journalist

By Cara Jenkinson | Wed 19th September 2018 - 10:30 am

John Crace of the Guardian made a snide comment on Monday – in his piece about Gina Miller’s speech he said we took a “two-and-a-half-hour lunch break. Presumably, because there wasn’t much more business to discuss.”

I couldn’t disagree with him more – and that’s not just because I’m a member of the Federal Conference Committee. Of course, there was plenty to say on Brexit, where Tories and Labour are tearing themselves apart. However, we debated so many other important issues – how we enable people to thrive in a world of rapid technological change, how we address increasing inequality through wealth …

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Tahir Maher

2018 Brighton Conference – Affordable Housing

By Tahir Maher | Wed 19th September 2018 - 7:40 am

This was my second conference as a member of the Federal Conference Committee (FCC). I had just joined FCC for the Spring conference and was really an observer. For the Autumn conference, I was involved from the start. The whole thing was well organised, and the team work well together (you have to give credit where credit is due). There were approximately 2400 members – more or less in line with previous year.

One note of sadness, I learned about, was the passing of Robert Adamson (Chair of the Liberal Democrat Disability Association).  My Condolences to the bereaved family. Rest in Peace Robert.

Other than the sad news about Robert I enjoyed the conference. I enjoyed the interaction with the members, late-night meals and the different parts of the conference I was involved in. Outside the hall, I did see a lot of homeless people which I found distressing. Listening to a journalist on the TV talking about the Lib Dems he speculated that our policies need to reflect the concerns people talk about in pubs. One of the examples he gave was affordable housing, interesting he didn’t mention Brexit. I had the opportunity to speak to Gina Miller, we discussed why she had launched her new website “end the chaos”, she said she did this after listening to thousands of people and was surprised to learn that majority of them didn’t even know what Brexit was. The website was set up to provide core facts.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Paul Walter

Vince Cable’s speech today to the party conference in Brighton – in full

By Paul Walter | Tue 18th September 2018 - 10:21 pm

Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 47 Comments
Paul Walter

Gina Miller, the next leader of the Liberal Democrats – not

By Paul Walter | Mon 17th September 2018 - 11:50 am

Embed from Getty Images
Gina Miller, businessperson and Brexit campaigner, just received a long and strong standing ovation, after delivering a spirited speech at the party conference in Brighton.

Ms Miller was quick to quash media reports that she might be angling to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats. Those rumours have presumably been spread by people who know absolutely nothing about our party.

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 25 Comments
Michael Taylor

We need fair devolution

By Michael Taylor | Thu 23rd August 2018 - 11:12 am

Wales and Scotland have a devolved assembly/parliament and a single tier of local government. Northern Ireland could have if their politicians would sit down and agree a programme of government instead of playing yahoo politics.

In England there is no serious devolution and the system of local government is a dog’s breakfast with elected mayors, police commissioners, the London assembly and a wide range of councils with different powers.

Yet a working party in the Liberal Democrats has managed to come up with an even bigger mess than currently exists because they won’t argue for radical change.

‘Devolution on demand’ is a recipe for years of argument, disagreement and no action. Does anyone seriously believe that holding referenda on whether an area wants devolution will lead to a successful vote? Of course not. The anti politician brigade will be in full cry and the claim that it’s just another obstacle to people doing what they want will be pushed to stop it. No! If we want devolution, we should say so and legislate for it once we get the chance. Look at any country with a proper federal system (and our brave working party don’t even utter that word) and you will see that their devolved governmental units have common powers and that they are entrenched in the constitution.

Now I accept that there needs to be discussion about the boundaries of the devolved government for England, even though I personally favour a parliament for Yorkshire. What is wholly undesirable is different powers in different regions, because that is a recipe for total confusion.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 42 Comments
Tahir Maher

Miscellaneous Announcements

By Tahir Maher | Wed 1st August 2018 - 1:40 pm

I wanted to take the opportunity on a Wednesday to make some small and varied points/announcements that I feel will be of interest. My announcement for this week is about the:

Autumn Conference

The Agenda for the autumn conference launched online today. HO staff should be thanked for the hard work they have done to get this ready. The Agenda and the Directory can be found at https://www.libdems.org.uk/autumn_conference_2018

To help promote the autumn conference there is a Local Party Conference Challenge

Challenge Criteria:– Between the dates of 1 August and 31 August FCC would like to challenge all local

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference, News and Op-eds | 3 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • Roland
    @Mick Taylor - whilst what happened on Oct 7th 2023 was unacceptable, subsequent actions authorised by the Israeli government are also wholly unacceptable takin...
  • Michael BG
    Peter Msrtin, I am glad we agree that guaranteed jobs should be voluntary. I am not convinced that those of a particular age should be a priority, I would...
  • Roland
    @Michael BG “ Unemployed people need some time to look for work. Job Centres used to say that looking for a job is a full-time job.” From my experience, ...
  • Simon R
    @Michael; You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about how a guaranteed job scheme would work, which don't match anything either I or Peter have claimed. T...
  • David Sheppard
    Well said Manuela so pleased to have helped you during the election. Wonderful to have a Liberal MP in Stratford !...