Tag Archives: international relations committee

Mark Valladares

Federal International Relations Committee and the Paperwork of Doom

By Mark Valladares | Wed 22nd November 2017 - 3:19 pm

Yes, it was time for FIRC to meet again, our fifth meeting of the year, and we had a packed agenda, notable really for a general lack of policy discussion. Again.

For those Committee members who had joined the Committee in anticipation of debating the burning foreign affairs issues of the day, this will have come as a disappointment. For former bureaucrats like myself, it’s just as frustrating, because if there’s one thing worse than bureaucracy, it’s bureaucracy done inelegantly.

The bright spot on the agenda was the visit of Andrew Hames, who burbled happily enough whilst his mother, and the Party’s …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 2 Comments
Mark Valladares

Here, there and everywhere – a report back from Federal International Relations Committee…

By Mark Valladares | Thu 20th July 2017 - 11:16 am

So, (some of) you very kindly voted for me last year to serve for three years as a member of Federal International Relations Committee. And, as promised, I am reporting back on what I’ve done, as well as making a few comments on our recent meeting on 13 July.

I’ve spent much of the first half of 2017 bringing the Committee up to constitutional speed. I produced our first Standing Orders in January, and have since amended them to create some formal process for selecting our candidates for positions on the Bureaux of Liberal International and the ALDE Party, following …

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Posted in Europe / International, News and Party policy and internal matters | Leave a comment
Mark Valladares

Let the trumpets sound, the banners fly, Federal International Relations Committee has met…

By Mark Valladares | Wed 8th February 2017 - 2:55 pm

The Federal International Relations Committee held its inaugural meeting in central London on 28 January which, for those of us living beyond the M25, meant a rather early start, albeit for a good cause. And we had much to do, not all of it entirely political.

For, with any new body comes a panoply of administration which, although rather dull, is essential to making sure that, when decisions are taken, they are valid. We had, fortunately, elected a Chair in advance, as only one of the directly elected members, Robert Woodthorpe Browne, applied for the post. Standing Orders have been adopted, a secretary elected, and a communications plan initiated.

The bureaucracy dealt with, the Committee looked at forthcoming business. Liberal International is currently drafting a new manifesto, timed for release during its Congress in Andorra in mid-May. 2017 sees the Liberal International reach its seventieth birthday, and the new document is intended to be a reboot of the original “Oxford Manifesto”, written in the shadow of World War 2, which espoused a liberal platform for the rebuilding of peace and democracy after such a calamity. But time moves on, and global liberalism faces new challenges. I’ll report more on this in the coming weeks.

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | 3 Comments
Mark Valladares

The end of an era as International Relations Committee faces a new dawn…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 25th November 2016 - 11:07 am

irc-meetingYes, this week saw the last meeting of the International Relations Committee in its current form, as the Governance Review has renamed it the ‘Federal International Relations Committee’ and given it a perhaps sharper focus than hitherto. And, whilst the agenda wasn’t exactly a full one, there were matters of import to discuss.

International Office have been, as usual, busy, with work being done in Kenya, Georgia, Morocco and South Africa. Our International officer, Harriet Shone, has been busy, focussing particularly on improving campaigning techniques, engaging under-represented groups and more effective voter outreach. …

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Mark Valladares

International Relations Committee report

By Mark Valladares | Wed 21st September 2016 - 5:30 pm

Editor’s Note: This report was actually filed just after the meeting ended at Conference but we waited until we were all home to put it up.

Amidst the talk of Brexit and of our future place on the world as a nation, International Relations Committee met in a spirit of determination to do our part.

At the top of the agenda were opportunities to discuss the impact of Brexit beyond our shores, courtesy of Kerstin Lundgren, the Foreign Affairs spokesperson for Sweden’s Centerpartiet, and Joseph Garcia, Deputy Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Liberal Party. It was apparent that, whilst our Government is attempting to work out what its negotiating stance might be, there are parallel processes going on already within other national governments.

Naturally, from the Gibraltarian perspective, concerns about the border with Spain, crossed by 12,000 Spanish workers onto the Rock each day, are uppermost, along with the implications for the flourishing financial services industry. Indeed, there has been talk of entry into Schengen for Gibraltar.

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Posted in Europe / International | 1 Comment
Helen Duffett

Federal Committee Election results 2012

By Helen Duffett | Sat 10th November 2012 - 9:43 am

Postal ballot paper being postedLiberal Democrat Federal Conference reps have voted for members of party committees for 2013-2014; the results are as follows:

Federal Executive committee
Places: 15
Candidates elected:

Qassim Afzal
Elaine Bagshaw

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , and | 20 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems’ internal elections: your guide to where we’re at (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th October 2012 - 4:50 pm

Every couple of years the Lib Dems hold internal elections in which conference representatives choose members of key party committees. As one of the seemingly few Lib Dems neither standing for election nor with a vote, I thought our readers might like an update on where we’re at…

Federal Executive

What does it do?
The formal answer: ‘The Federal Executive is an elected committee responsible for directing, co-ordinating and implementing the work of the Federal Party.’ (From the party website.)
The informal answer: What does the Federal Executive do? by Alison Goldsworthy
Who’s standing?
There are 36 candidates (26 men, 10 women) competing for …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Helen Duffett

More results: party committees and interim peers panel

By Helen Duffett | Sat 13th November 2010 - 1:20 pm

Liberal Democrat Federal Conference representatives have voted for members of party committees for 2011-2012 and members of the panel from which future Liberal Democrat nominees for the House of Lords will be drawn.

The results are as follows:

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , , and | 6 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

Ros Scott writes… Party President’s report to members, October ‘09

By Baroness Ros Scott | Wed 4th November 2009 - 5:15 pm

October was a month which began for me in India and ended in Cairo. I had been invited to India by the Indian High Commission along with a small delegation of Parliamentarians who are “Liberal Democrat Friends of India”. We were led by Lord John Alderdice through a week’s visit which was split between Delhi and Pune and included a number of meeting and visits to reflect India today, politically, socially and economically.

I was in Cairo for three days to attend the Congress of Liberal International, which is held every 18 months. The Lib Dem delegation is led by the Party President, but all the work is done by the Chair of the International Relations Committee, who is Robert Woodthorpe Brown. It’s a pretty humbling experience to hear from campaigners who risk their life and liberty for working to make democratic change in oppressive regimes, and certainly puts domestic politics into perspective.

In between the two, Parliament resumed after the summer recess, and I’ve been busy in the Lords with voting, select committee work and a few speeches. The expenses issue continues to rumble.

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Posted in Op-eds and Party Presidency | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
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