Tag Archives: 2024 autumn conference

Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 23 September – so much for the first hundred days…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 23rd September 2024 - 7:30 am

What a difference a week makes. From the almost unbridled joy of a Liberal Democrat Conference where we celebrated a huge infusion of new MPs and a sense that, after more than a decade of pain and struggle to be seen as relevant, we’re bystanders at a Labour Conference where, rather than celebrated a glorious victory, there’s a sense of defensiveness already.

Caron has already covered the rather bizarre mess that Keir Starmer has gotten into over the £100,000 worth of gifts that he has received and declared in recent years. And I entirely understand that there is a perceived political advantage to getting the bad news out of the way early – most keen observers of the last year of the Sunak administration will have already concluded that the sheer scale of unfunded commitments they made would make the task of an incoming administration a difficult one.

But instead of one hundred days of action, it all gives an impression of a leadership rather spinning their wheels even if they are, in reality, possibly doing quite a lot. The media won’t help that – their unfriendliness towards a Labour government can be taken as read. We’ll see if they can do something about changing the narrative over the next couple of days…

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
The Voice

WATCH: Conference fringe on Falkland Islands

By The Voice | Sun 22nd September 2024 - 2:30 pm

A couple of weeks ago, new MP for Surrey Heath Al Pinkerton wrote for us about a Conference fringe meeting he was chairing about the Falklands.

In that article, he said:

In so many ways we Liberal Democrats find ourselves in common cause with Falkland Islanders. Socially liberal, protective of the natural environment, committed to the UK and yet proudly and avowedly international in outlook. As Liberal Democrats we champion and defend the right to self-determination at home and around the world. What greater example of that than a community of 3,500 people in the South Atlantic who, like so many

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Meet our party award winners

By Mark Pack | Sun 22nd September 2024 - 12:30 pm

As we do each year at both the Spring and Autumn Conferences, we take a moment to celebrate and recognise the inspiring individuals or groups who have provided outstanding service and commitment to the party over the past year.

These awards serve as a small token of our immense gratitude for the hard work, dedication, and passion each has shown.

The award winners this time were:

Belinda Eyre-Brook Award – Lucy Lennon

Lucy Lennon was recognised for her impressive local campaign efforts in Hull. In her first role after graduating from university, Lucy has been instrumental in helping us make strides against Labour in northern England, particularly by retaining control of the local council.

Over the past two years, Lucy has served as the local organiser, managing two local elections and two by-elections. During the General Election, she took on the task of running three Westminster constituencies and acted as agent for all of them.

In addition to her exceptional people skills, Lucy has mastered various technologies, including Fleet, Connect, Lighthouse, and Typeform.

She has even managed with aplomb the tough task of having our Director of Campaigns, Dave McCobb, as one of her candidates!

Her dedication and hard work made her a deserving recipient of this year’s award.

Dadabhai Naoroji Award – West Hertfordshire Local Party and Dacorum Council group

The overlapping West Hertfordshire Local Party and Dacorum Council group has achieved remarkable electoral success by engaging with all areas of their local community. They have assembled a diverse team of councillors and candidates, representing a range of ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities.

Their hard work has demonstrated that minority communities not only want to join the Liberal Democrats but are also eager to further serve their local areas.

This dedication culminated in the election of the first Liberal Democrat MP of East and South East Asian descent.

The efforts of the group and Local Party show that focusing on improving our ethnic diversity is not something just for large urban areas.

The award was collected by Councillor Simy Dhyani and Victoria Collins MP.

Harriet Smith Award – Rosemary McCrum

Rosemary has been the cornerstone of her Local Party for decades. She has guided them through challenging times, taken on nearly every activist role imaginable, filled in when needed, and often juggled multiple responsibilities at once. Rosemary provided the foundation upon which their success has been built.

Her dedication and commitment were crucial in keeping the Local Party running and played a key role in their achievements this year, including an overwhelming victory in the local elections and the election of the area’s first Liberal Democrat MP.

The Woking party triumphed electorally this year, and nominating Rosemary for this award was a small way of recognising the immense contribution of this modest individual in helping them get there.

Patsy Calton Award – Julia Cambridge

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Leave a comment
The Voice

WATCH: Ed Davey’s speech to Conference

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2024 - 8:01 pm

You’ve got to feel sorry for poor Max Wilkinson, our MP for Cheltenham. He confessed at the rally to having no love for Abba, and he had to sit through Dancing Queen as Ed came on.

Here is the text.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
The Voice

WATCH: Jane Dodds’ speech to Lib Dem Conference

By The Voice | Tue 17th September 2024 - 8:15 pm

Here is Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds’ speech to Lib Dem Conference.

Enjoy!

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

In Full: Daisy Cooper’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 16th September 2024 - 2:57 pm

BBC Politics has a clip of  that incredibly moving part of Daisy Cooper’s speech in which she describes the moment she was told she needed major surgery or she had four days to live. And then the further blow that she was so ill that she would likely never work again.

Watch the whole thing:

Here’s the text of her speech in full:

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Wendy Chamberlain’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 16th September 2024 - 10:25 am

Wendy Chamberlain gave her keynote speech to Conference on Saturday. Enjoy:

Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged | Leave a comment
The Voice

Monday at Conference: What’s on?

By The Voice | Mon 16th September 2024 - 7:30 am

Here’s Monday’s events in the main hall. We have keynote speeches from Daisy Cooper and Welsh Leader Jane Dodds, policy motions on bereavement support, supporting musicians, the Israel Gaza conflict, prisons and international development and a consultation session on the General Election Review.

You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

09.00-09.45 F29 Policy motion: Fair Votes Now

09.45-11.05 F30 Consultative session: General Election Review

11.05-11.20 F31 Speech: Daisy …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

The reality of the crisis in our NHS

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 9:12 pm

Today Lib Dem Conference debated health and social care and passed an 11 point plan to deal with the crisis the NHS faces.

The debate was unsurprisingly one of the most heavily subscribed at Conference.

Regular readers will know that Leicestershire Lib Dem Mathew Hulbert’s lovely mum Jackie passed away in 2022 two days after an eleven hour wait for an ambulance.

He had written a speech for the debate today but was one of many who were not called.

He sent us his speech and you can read it below.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Caling all trans allies in Brighton – show support at 1pm today

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 10:58 am

Jude Parker spent two days this week sewing a huge trans Pride flag with the help of Douglas, her much loved sewing machine. It’s pretty massive 15 metres and weighs 4.5 kg. She carried it to Brighton along with the rest of the merch for the LGBT+ Lib Dems stall. It was a real labour of love in response to the blow of hearing that an anti trans group had been allowed to have a stall at Liberal Democrat conference.

This flag will be unfurled outside the Brighton Centre at 1pm today in a show of solidarity with trans people in our country and in our party. Everyone who supports trans rights is welcome to show support.

We are proud of our history as a party that has always stood up for LGBT+ rights, as we’ve stood up for women’s rights, for racial equality and human rights generally. It’s in our core.  So what on earth are we thinking allowing in a group that does not align with our values?

This group have been wanting to have a stall for some years and we have turned them down. In fact, the Federal Conference Committee turned them down again for this Conference. Unfortunately, the legal advice the party sought was apparently clear that we could be liable for significant costs and damages if, as was considered likely,  this group sued us.  They seem to have the resources to do so, and, unfortunately, LGBT+ people in the party do not have access to such deep pockets. So, FCC was over-ruled and they were given a stall.

There is surely an issue around access to justice in all of this. If only the rich can take action which sets legal precedents, there is a clear power imbalance which should worry us.

Some would argue that the party should have said, as Harry Willcock famously did in 1950 when asked to show his ID card “We’re liberals and we’re against this sort of thing.”

I can definitely see the logic in that and a bit of me wishes we had the courage to stand up against an unfair and illiberal law, even if the sums involved in defending a legal action makes me, as a recovering state party treasurer, wince with pain. Even if you win your case, you rarely get all your costs back and it’s expensive and time consuming.

Our conference exhibition is our shop window to the world. A law which compels us to include people who do not share our values on the grounds that they have a “protected belief” seems ridiculous. As a political party, we surely should have the right to choose who sits in our shop window.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Sunday at Conference: What’s on?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th September 2024 - 7:30 am

So what’s on at Conference today? You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

One of the highlights is Ed’s question and answer session. He’s generally very good at these, better I would say than his big keynote speech.

There’s a keynote speech from Munira Wilson.

There are big policy debates on the NHS and national parks and a discussion on our policy in the future.

Here’s how the day unfolds:

09.00-09.30 F16 Policy motion: National Nature Parks

09.30-10.25 F17 Policy motion: Our Plan to Save The NHS< 10.25-11.05 F18 Topical issue discussion 11.05-11.20 F19 Speech: Munira Wilson MP Lunch break and fringe

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

Breaking: that Lib Dem Disco set list

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 10:28 pm

It’s nearly time for the Lib Dem Disco and, in accordance with tradition, we are publishing the set list.

Ed Davey dropped a fairly big hint at the rally tonight that he might put in an appearance. Could we hear Sweet Caroline? If so I am manifesting video.

UPDATE: I do not need to manifest after a wonderful friend Vita sent me this:

Sweet Caroline at Lib Dem Disci

 

 

Anyway, here are the DJ set lists. Good luck to them all.

David Chadwick MP:

Murder on the dancefloor, (Sophie-Ellis Bextor),
Blue Da Ba Dee (Eiffel 65, ft – Gabry Ponte)
Alors on danse, Stromae
El Merengue – Marshmello
Europopa – Joost.

DJ Smartie (Lisa Smart MP):

Don’t stop me now, Queen
Shake It Off, Taylor Swift
Crazy In Love, Beyonce
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Arctic Monkeys
Mr Brightside, The Killers

Susan Murray MP:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

Conference Day 1 highlights

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 7:39 pm

I’m usually in the pub during the rally and catch up on You Tube later. Tonight I listened to Al Pinkerton open the event while I was chopping coriander stalks to go in a chlli. So far, after Al, we’ve had Max Wilkinson’s shocking admission that he doesn’t like Abba, Pippa Heylings describing some doorstep encounters and  Josh Babarinde describing the experience of having his mother and Ed Davey critique his bungee jump and Sarah Olney talking about her terror on that rollercoaster.

I am missing Conference terribly. The livestream is fine, but it’s nothing compared to being in the auditorium …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Saturday at Conference: What’s on?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 14th September 2024 - 7:30 am

Lib Dems are gathering in Brighton and there’s a mood of optimism and celebration. Our spectacular General Election result has given us 74 reasons to be cheerful – 72 MPs, an adorable guide dog and the restoration of our third party status.

We have had to deal with a fair few lean years so we might be forgiven a bit of shameless gloating.

There will come a time when we have to make decisions about our strategy to deal with the new political environment. Conversations will take place in earnest in bars and fringe meetings. There is a feeling that we were very lucky. We managed to combine an upbeat campaign with a few key messages and we succeeded.  We were a bit light on overall vision and that’s not going to be enough the next time round.  We need to have answers that will work to prevent the country falling back into the grip of populists. We need to show our distinctive liberal colours and show ourselves as a credible alternative to populists, Conservatives and Labour.

So what’s on at Conference today? You can find full details in the agenda here. Don’t forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store.

If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here.

We don’t have to wait too long for the first of many chances to cheer a new MP. Alison Bennett, our MP for Mid Sussex opens Conference.

We have keynote speeches from Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain, 9 years after she first joined the Party and 8 and a half years after her first Conference in York and from Cotswold District Council leader Joe Harris.

We start the day with a bit of Lib Dem procedural nerdery, changes to the reference back procedure to ensure that requests for references back must be submitted at the same time as amendments.

There are some good policy debates. The official organisation representing women in the party, Lib Dem Women, has submitted a motion on supporting women and anyone giving birth through pregnancy and the neonatal period. There are motions on supporting free movement of young people around Europe, liberalising  the Sunday trading laws (they are already much more liberal up here in Scotland and the universe has not imploded), supporting disadvantaged children and consumer law.

After a day of debate, there’s all the razzle of the Conference rally. Plenty room for a bit of well earned self indulgent celebration there. If I were there, I’d probably spend it in the pub with my friends, though, and watch it back later.

Here is how the day unfolds:

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Michael Bukola

Sunday Trading Reform: Open All Hours or Keep Sunday Special

By Michael Bukola | Fri 13th September 2024 - 5:27 pm

Party conference this year will be a moment of celebration, after our stunning General Election results – but it will also be the occasion where we look forward, and develop our responses to the host of massive challenges facing the nation.

Yet, reading through the agenda, as we prepare to gather in Brighton, I see that the first policy motion is to further reform Sunday trading laws. Should this really be a key priority?

The motion describes Sunday, the traditional day of rest, as ‘outdated social norms’, a reference to cultural norms that have largely faded from public consciousness as the country evolves towards patterns of lifestyle where consumerism, overindulgence, and social media are more evident. That feels far removed from the collective fellowship, reflective contemplation and communion enjoyed by millions seeking direction and salvation – at least where I live, in the London Borough of Southwark, along the Old Kent Road, where these values still very much matter today.

We should not forget why Sunday trading laws were introduced in the first place: the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ campaign was introduced in part to protect the Sabbath. Epitomised by the Parliamentary Tory rebellion, when 72 backbenchers defied a three-line whip and defeated Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980’s. Liberal MP, David Alton, led the charge of Mrs Thatcher’s only parliamentary defeat on the Shops Bill of 1986.

Look, it is fairly obvious that there are millions of people who do shop on Sunday. So, on exactly what basis should they be prevented from doing so?

In fact, there are a host of non-religious reasons for limiting Sunday retail trade – a point highlighted by the breadth of the broad coalition behind the famous 1986 campaign to oppose liberalisation.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 13 Comments
Brandon Masih

VAT cuts – is it really a fair deal for musicians?

By Brandon Masih | Fri 13th September 2024 - 11:55 am

Cast your minds back to the pandemic, it was a time, would you believe it now, where Rishi Sunak was a very popular Chancellor. This was a period, where at the time, Sunak had introduced “eat out to help out” to public praise for wanting to stimulate the economy after the end of the first Covid lockdown. Even with doubt of its effectiveness in those two summer months alongside the potential contribution towards rise in Covid infections afterwards, it remains in the minds of people as a move to get things to bounce back.

Less talked about from that time is the VAT cut on hospitality, tourism and other attractions, from the standard rate of 20% to the reduced rate of 5%; first from July 2020, to January 2021, then to end of March then up to end of September. Then Rishi created a special rate of 12.5% up until end of March 2022. Much like the chopping and changing of corporation tax, this is emblematic of the previous Conservative government not giving long term certainty on what they intended to do with tax. I would suspect* that this VAT cut, as opposed to many single type of product VAT reclassifications like with sanitary products and e-books, would have had an effect on price cuts to consumers and demand stimulation, owing to the not insignificant share of public consumption going towards the industries benefiting from the cut in VAT, and the fact it would last for nearly two years.

Then you must wonder what further analysis the Culture, Media and Sport Committee considered when they released their report of May this year on Grassroot Music Venues (GMVs), calling for a temporary VAT cut… only on GMVs, which are venues with capacity below 1000 people.  The evidence, in fact, is simply the assertion that a VAT reduction would have saved events cancelled last year, and that the Covid era VAT cut meant that there were 100 more shows coming out of the pandemic, and that success can therefore be targeted to GMVs.

Within the statements given from industry we do however see a recurring theme, that being the VAT threshold distorting decisions on whether to go through events at GMVs. The problem of UK’s high VAT registration threshold, now at a turnover of £90,000 per year, means that small businesses hold off on taking on additional sales, events etc. to avoid needing to be VAT registered. Dan Neidle, Institute for Fiscal Studies and Adam Smith Institute have all at various points, called for action on lowering the VAT threshold, to alleviate these distortions in business decision making. Yet, the evidence provided to the committee, and the subsequent recommendations, have been to just do a targeted and temporary VAT cut.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | Leave a comment

The Newbies Pint returns to Conference

By Lib Dem Newbies Admins | Thu 12th September 2024 - 9:53 am

Nine years ago, Nick Clegg’s resignation speech prompted a surge of new members to join the party as it reeled from the 2015 general election.  Many of those new members, who by then had formed a Facebook group to welcome new members to the party, attended the autumn conference in Bournemouth and met for an informal drink the night before it started.

At every in-person autumn conference since (except for last year), the Lib Dem Newbies Pint has been a fixture, the evening before Conference opens.  It’s been attended by hundreds of members, by MPs, peers, and has even been addressed by party leaders.

We’re pleased to announce that the Newbies Pint is back for a special edition this year, marking how far we’ve come since those dark days of 2015 when the surge of new members gave us hope amid the crushing blow of the election result.  Of the thousands of new members the group has welcomed to the party online, many have gone on to become councillors, MPs, and even MEPs.

We’ll be hearing from two fantastic newbie MPs, Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) and Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne).  We first met in 2015 in the aftermath of our worst election result ever; this year we’ll be celebrating our best.

Come and join us in the Steinbeck & Shaw bar at Pryzm, near the conference centre, from 7pm on Friday the 13th of September.  Entry costs only £2 and all proceeds will go to the Newbies Fighting Fund supporting first-time candidates.  Newbie-ness is a state of mind, not a joining date: all members are welcome.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Brighton!

Yours,

The Lib Dem Newbies admins

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Caron’s guide to the craziness of Conference, updated for Brighton 2024

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 11th September 2024 - 7:47 pm

In just 2 days’ time, Liberal Democrats will be gathering in Brighton for our annual Conference.  Sadly, for the first time since 2011, I won’t be there.  I was only going to be able to come for 24 hours, but, unfortunately, my husband is ill. He’ll be fine, but now is not the time to leave him.

I’m still scarred by my trip to the Witney by-election in 2016. He hadn’t been well just before but seemed to be on the mend. To cut a long story short, within hours of my return the next evening, he was spirited away to hospital in a blue light ambulance and he was there for 51 nights. The virus we thought he had was in fact an infection in his heart which ate one of his heart valves. Vegetation on a leaflet they called it.  An ironic affliction for a Lib Dem.

However, I have revamped my Guide to the Craziness of Conference for this year. Enjoy. And if you have any questions, ask away in the comments.

Federal Conference is probably the best fun that you will ever have in your life. You will thoroughly enjoy every exhausting moment. If you’re new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I had a long break from going to them and when I returned, in 2011, I spent the first day wandering round in a state of wide-eyed amazement,  like a child in a toy shop.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy. If you have any other Conference survival tips, let me know.

If you have any questions, there are lots of places to get answers. There’s Federal Conference Committee helpdesk in the Brighton Centre. And if they can’t help, ask someone on one of the party organisation stalls in the exhibition – if they don’t know the answer, they’ll probably be able to point you in the right direction.

1. Plan your days

The Conference day has a huge variety of things to do. As well as the debates in the hall,  there’s a comprehensive training programme and a massive fringe.  There are spokespeople Q & As. There are competing fringe choices to be made.  You can guarantee that you will never be bored and that several things you want to see will be on at the same time.  Spend some time now poring over the Agenda (which gives details of the policy motions) and Directory (which has details of the exhibition, fringe and training) to work out what you don’t want to miss. Conference Extra, which has details of amendments will be published shortly.

Don’t forget to pick up the Conference Daily which has news and important information.

Be aware as well that you can eat quite well for free by choosing the right fringe meetings – look for the refreshments symbol in the directory.

Believe me, it’s much easier if you sort out your diary in advance. The best laid plans will always be subject to a better offer or meeting someone you haven’t seen for years randomly in a corridor, but it’s best to at least try to get some order into the proceedings. The Conference App is a real help for this. You can download it from whichever App store you use on your phone (search for Lib Dem Conf). Fully updated now for Brighton, it allows you to add events to your schedule and has all the papers loaded on to it.

2. Make time to do the Exhibition properly

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Roderick Lynch

Alderdice 6 years on: Where are we now? Join LDCRE at Conference

By Roderick Lynch | Tue 10th September 2024 - 2:06 pm

The Liberal Democrat Campaign for Racial Equality will be holding a very important fringe meeting  on Sunday 15th September at 7:45 pm in room 1D in the Brighton Centre.

We will be discussing progress on implementing the Alderdice Review, six years after it was published.

The event is being held in association with Liberator and the Social Liberal Forum.

The speakers are:

Dr Mark Pack, Party President

Meral Hussein Ece, Lib Dem member of the House of Lords

Rt Hon Sir Vincent Cable , former Lib Dem Leader

Janice Turner

Victoria Collins MP

As a young black man born and raised in the London Borough of Southwark. I came to the Liberal Democrats via Jonathon & Veronica Hunt and Sir Simon Hughes. I had issues around my business. My company was a a victim of alleged fraud. My company the third largest employer in my borough behind Southwark council and Kings College Health Care Trust  employing 800 people and completing 10,000 trips for disabled people every day across 26 London Boroughs.

Those remarkable Lib Dem MPs councillors and activist took up my case and I won back my contract that my company had won in a bonafide OJEU tender process which had been illegally removed.

I was hooked, those Lib Dem people I came in to contact with I believed spoke for me. I joined the Lib Dems in Southwark over 22 years ago.

As time went on I got involved in an  equality SAO / AO because our local party  did not look like the people the party wished to represent.

I was determined to do something about it. I spoke with former Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg in 2009. He told me that we will do something about the lack of race equality in this party. We need to be quick as we could be seen to be “worse than the Tories.”

Well we have seen the Cameron A list in all their glory at dizzying heights in the Conservative Party and in government.

In 2018 I had my arm twisted by Merlene Toh Emerson to do something on race equality within the party. I became the founding Chair of LDCRE along with Vice Chairs Janice Turner and Dr Mohsin Khan.

We welcomed a review that was being carried out Lord John Alderdice. A lot of my colleagues did not have any faith in the process whatsoever. I persuaded my then colleagues to give the man a chance.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Your last chance to question Federal Committees

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2024 - 7:10 pm

It’s your last chance to submit questions to Federal Committees!

This is an important part of scrutinising those we party members entrust to run the party.

The deadline is 1300 hours tomorrow, Monday 9 September – which is the same as the deadline for amendments and emergency motions.

So if you have a question on, say, the direction the party is taking, ask the Federal Board, what we are doing on diversity, menbers and training, ask the Federal People Development Committee, how Conference is run, ask Federal Conference Committee, how the party is approaching future elections, ask Federal Communications Committee. …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Leave a comment

So many turns

By Glee Club Comperes | Sun 8th September 2024 - 2:28 pm

For around 50 years, the Glee Club has been a highlight of Conference for many people. (There’s no specific anniversary; Glee evolved out of various informal singing traditions but is around 50 years old now). The stage has welcomed leaders, candidates, Ministers and even the occasional broadcaster or two.

One of the enduring traditions is that newly elected MPs ‘do a turn’ and sing or otherwise entertain those present. After a period of no new MPs, followed by a period of no Conferences for them to honour the tradition, this year our cup is overflowing as we welcome our biggest ever new intake.

Some will get up and sing their favourite song from the Liberator Songbook. (Risking a record number of renditions of “The Land”).

Some will tell jokes. Some have done sketches. It has been known (though not always recommended) for them to write their own songs. Others will attempt to emulate the late Paddy Ashdown’s unique shaggy dog story about two tribes. Leaders were sometimes “more singed against than singing”. There may be other talents as yet unearthed; we have musicians, child actors and who knows what else?

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Geoffrey Payne

SLF pre-conference dinner – A New Era for the Liberal Democrats

By Geoffrey Payne | Thu 29th August 2024 - 3:24 pm

The Lib Dem conference starts in Brighton on the Saturday 14th September.

Not in the conference programme – because conference hasn’t started yet – is the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) pre-conference dinner on the Friday evening, 13th September. Details are on our website: Pre-conference dinner 2024 – Social Liberal Forum.

If you have decided to arrive in Brighton on the Friday so that you can attend conference when it opens on Saturday at 9am, then you might want to consider going along. But you need to book around now (the early bird rate expires on the 1st September). You can’t turn up on the day without pre-booking. Already over 50 people have booked – this is a great way to start making new friends before conference starts.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Mary Reid

Conference papers now published

By Mary Reid | Fri 23rd August 2024 - 3:34 pm

Not long now to what promises to be our best ever Conference, with 72 MPs to celebrate!  Thousands of members will be gathering in Brighton from 14th to 17th September.

If you are going then you need access to two documents, which have now been published:

  1. Conference Agenda. This gives the timetable for all the debates and speeches in the Main Auditorium. It has just been published today and you can read it online or download it here.
  2. Conference Directory. This lists all the fringe meetings, the training sessions and the exhibition stalls. You can read it online or download it here.

Plain text and clear print versions are also offered.

The contents of both will also be accessible through the Conference App, which will become available nearer the time.

If you can’t get along to Brighton then the good news is that you can follow all the main action for free. Each day the Conference proceedings will be streamed on the Liberal Democrats YouTube channel, while you can follow the debates in the Conference Agenda.

However if you would like to join in by voting on motions remotely then you need to register as an online member, which costs just £20. I did that last time and it worked very well.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 1 Comment
Nick Da Costa

FCC report following agenda selection meeting

By Nick Da Costa | Thu 8th August 2024 - 9:05 am

The Federal Conference Committee met on Saturday to run through a number of items leading up to Autumn Conference in Brighton, which is being held from 14 to 17 September 2024.

We are looking at a very different conference to recent years, having had the most successful election of our party in over a century; and I am certain there will be lots of celebrate in Brighton. 

The general election has really constrained all of our deadlines, so the agenda selection meeting was almost a month later than usual. Furthermore, the election has impacted all of our planning. The amazing Conference Team are delivering a conference, which usually takes 5 months of intense work in less than two months. 

Because all deadlines have been pushed back, we will not be producing a paper agenda; instead it will be available online and we will inform members when it has been uploaded. We will still produce printed version of Conference Extra and Daily in the Conference Centre. 

Furthermore, we have set a later deadline for submission of amendments, which will be Monday, 9 September at 13:00. 

We are hoping to publish the full text of the motions shortly, so that you can start planning amendments, questions to reports and emergency motions. 

Conference is an excellent opportunity to engage with members from all across the country, to influence the party policy and strategy, and to a huge array of fringe and training events, which I recommend those attending to take full advantage of. 

Our amazing election result has meant that we’ve had an increase in interest in events at Conference; we’ve seen a great upsurge in fringe bookings and exhibitions – and both of these were sold out pretty much the day after the General Election. Please do visit as many exhibitors and fringes as you can. 

Understandably, many members, AOs and other party groups have been busy on the General Election, so we have seen a reduction in motions submitted from across the party – therefore, the FCC has also made time in the auditorium for some different types of sessions; including a panel discussion on Defence and Veterans, the General Election Review, and a consultation on our New Policy Agenda. 

We received a large number of motions from across the party, and are extremely grateful for the time and effort that members make in formulating policy motions and ideas for debate at Conference. We really wish that we could select so many more that ended up on the final list, but as always time at conference is at a premium and a large number of motions, although selected in the first round, did not make it through the second round when we then started to look at reducing timings. 

As regularly mentioned, time is tight at conference, and we are unable to take all motions submitted to Conference. Regarding the motions which were not selected, we have provided a summary of reasons why motions have not been submitted, and have provided further information to those people whose motions were not selected. I have tried to keep this succinct for the purposes of the list of motions. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment
The Voice

Nominations open for ALDC’s Campaigner Awards

By The Voice | Sun 28th July 2024 - 12:30 pm

We’ve not been short of electoral success this year and the best of our campaigning will be recognised at Conference in September.

ALDC has opened nominations for its annual Local Campaigner awards.  You don’t have to be an ALDC member to nominate, though everyone should be an ALDC member because you get access to the very best in campaigning support.

The categories are:

Best literature – We’re looking for local parties’ examples of well-designed literature with strong messaging, photos and layout. We want to see your best.

Best local election campaign – We’re looking for local parties that have fought effective and strong 2024 local election campaigns. Tell us about your winning strategy. What innovative new ideas did you use? What great literature did you deliver? Did you develop a digital strategy and run a successful online campaign? How did you raise the funds to support your campaign?

Best by-election campaign – We want to hear from teams that have helped us have another great year of by-election gains. Tell us about your winning strategy. What innovative new ideas did you use? What great literature did you deliver? Did you develop a digital strategy run a successful online campaign? How did you raise the funds to support your campaign?

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Mary Reid

Early Bird registration for Conference extended to 31st July

By Mary Reid | Thu 18th July 2024 - 10:00 am

Planning for the Autumn Federal Conference this year has been fraught with difficulties. First, there was a real worry that it would coincide with an intensive General Election campaign, and arrangements were made for a shorter version of the event. Then, when the July election was announced, planning was put on hold until after polling day.

It is now back to normal and running for its full length from 14th to 17th September in Brighton.

Registration finally opened last Friday. Since then members have been complaining about the short period for the Early Bird rates, ending on 23rd July, some noting that it did not cover a payday. It was also causing problems for people who were on holiday this month. So we are pleased to learn that the Early Bird deadline has now been extended to 31st July.

You can see all the rates and deadlines here. In summary, the Early Bird full rate is £90 (concessions £20), with a weekend pass at £60 (concessions £15). Concessions include full-time students, plus people on a range of benefits and allowances. Day passes are also available but do not give you the right to speak or vote in debates.  Register here.

Anyone can watch the proceedings in the Main Auditorium on the party’s YouTube channel for free. But there is also the option of online voting (pass costs £20) which I used last time and found worked well.

When registration was finally opened last week technical problems emerged, which is why it only really got underway last Friday. Members were still reporting errors when they tried to register over the weekend, and we have been given this advice: when you are asked for your address select Great Britain NOT United Kingdom. Apparently Northern Ireland is not included because of the presence of our sister party, Alliance. (I’m not quite sure what any Lib Dem members in Northern Ireland have to do – maybe contact HQ).

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

A special request to Federal Conference Committee

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th July 2024 - 11:14 am

My goodness, Conference is going to be an absolute blast this year. Our annual jaunt to the seaside takes place from 14-17 September in Brighton will be so much sweeter after our spectacular General Election result.

I wasn’t going to go because of caring responsibilities, but I’ve managed to book a flying visit for 24 hours as I can’t bear the thought of not being with the Lib Dem family in such a special year. I mean who wouldn’t want to be around to congratulate 72 MPs and maybe get  a cuddle with Jennie if she’s off duty? And I can vouch for the fact that she does love a cuddle. If you think I am talking about Jennie Rigg, well, her too.

Before I say anything else, I should make the point very strongly that Federal Conference Committee have even more of a challenge than usual this year because someone decided to go outside on a wet Wednesday and call an election round about the time we’d normally have our motion submission deadlines.  Whether you agree with every decision FCC makes or not, I think it is important to acknowledge the huge amount of work that they do.

So, this request to them comes from a place of love. Registration for Conference opened earlier this week. The Early Bird discount is only available for around two weeks. Until 23 July, a members’ pass to the Conference costs £90. After that, until 13th August, it goes up to £130.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 7 Comments
Mark Valladares

It’s official – Autumn Conference has been reinstated*

By Mark Valladares | Mon 27th May 2024 - 4:22 pm

At a meeting of the Federal Board last night, it was decided to reinstate September’s Autumn Conference to its normal length.

As Party President, Mark Pack, stated this morning on Facebook:

The Federal Board met last night and agreed to rescind the cancellation of Autumn Conference in the light of the General Election.

This means we return to the original dates and venue for the event.

As both the key staff and key volunteers who prepare a conference will be working flat out on the campaign, the Board also ask Federal Conference Committee (FCC) to consider using its powers to set later deadlines for

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Autumn Conference: What did Federal Board decide?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 21st May 2024 - 8:32 pm

We have known for some months that the Federal Board was going to decide at its May meeting what to do with Federal Conference in Brighton this Autumn. Last night they discussed the matter looking at feedback from party committees and staff as well as a consultation exercise carried out in March.

They had a lot to consider. What if Rishi Sunak called the General Election and we ended up having our Conference in the short campaign? What opportunities were there from having Conference just before the General Election if he didn’t? And what damage could it inflict on our campaign if we did not take the opportunity to set out our stall when the other parties would at their own events? What impact would two major events in quick succession, a conference and a General Election, have on staff?

So what did they decide?  Well, Conference is going to happen – sort of. It’s going to be shorter. It will now only run from Saturday 14 to Monday 16th September and technically will be a special Conference.

Party President Mark Pack explained on the party website:

After extensive feedback from members, the Federal Board has agreed a plan for our Autumn Federal Conference.

We agreed that it would be in the best interests of the party to hold such an event if possible, and that due to the unusually close proximity between the event and the next Westminster general election, the maximum benefit would come from amending our normal conference plans so that it can be tailored to the requirements, opportunities and risks of an event so close to a general election.

These include making it a 2.5 day event (14-16 September 2024 in Brighton), providing the best trade-off between a shorter conference lowering costs and staff time while also preserving enough time to maximise the benefits of conference, including commercial income. The Tuesday rather than the Saturday would be dropped in order to maximise the chances for members to participate.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • Craig Levene
    No amount of money can compensate for policies that resonate with voters and address their concerns . Harris had the ground game and the financial backing , but...
  • Nigel Jones
    Both sides in ths middle east confict is to blame. Hamas and Hebollah of course but Israel also in its revenge and dtermination to control all areas near but ou...
  • David Raw
    @ Mark Frankel According to the Vatican news in November, there have been 44,300 deaths in Palestine since that terrible 7 October day - 70% were women and chi...
  • Pamela Manning
    Mark Frankel if you look at facts you will find that Israel is the one not to be trusted. Israel signed up to Oslo accords which prohibited the creation of or e...
  • Nigel Jones
    Looks to me Elon Musk's financial support for Reform is good reason for our party to talk to other parties about urgent reform of party donations, something we ...