Tag Archives: radical association

What IS the point of the LibDems?

By April Preston | Thu 18th March 2021 - 6:20 pm

This Saturday we ask the question that many of us have heard, whether it’s the opposition to our social values or people who feel forgotten by the party after our 2005 heights – “What IS the point of the LibDems?” – at the Radical Association’s first fringe.

It is vital that we have a frank discussion about the party- what it has been and achieved in the past, and how best it can be a vehicle for change and improving people’s lives in the future. (Radical association co-chair Natasha Chapman)

We encourage all to query, despite how basic it may feel – as we often see this question is posed by bad faith actors, many of whom sideline fundamental liberal issues as “niche” or not credible to the voters at large.

We saw this with Iraq, Brexit, we see it currently with LGBT+ rights, as transphobia attempts the mainstream. We as Liberals are right on these issues – and without us who else will oppose authoritarian parties which who refuse evidence, compassion and even basic reason?

Posted in Op-eds | 18 Comments

Organised, radical liberalism is winning liberalism

By April Preston | Mon 3rd June 2019 - 5:12 pm

Big, radical messaging works and when we do it, we win.

That’s the message we should all be taking away from our stunning successes in recent weeks, where saying “bollocks to Brexit” and focusing on the result we want rather than on process and detail has won us MEPs in numbers we could never have dreamed of in January, including an amazing two wins in my own North West seat.

This didn’t happen by accident though. Many of us within the party have been campaigning for the clearest possible anti-Brexit line since 2016, and helped get policy and message in the place …

Posted in Lib Dem organisations | Also tagged policy making | 11 Comments

Conference Success for Radical Association

By Luke Graham | Fri 21st September 2018 - 11:55 am

Members of the Radical Association Executive have had a significant impact at this year’s Autumn Conference. I’m extremely pleased with the work that the Executive and our supporters have put into this Conference and thankful for all the time that you have given. Thanks to those efforts we managed to pass a significant policy amendment on each day of the Conference.

Our Director, April Preston, managed to significantly strengthen the party’s new disciplinary processes, with the addition of a proposed AIR (Anonymised Incident Reporting) system. This will allow encrypted initial reports to be made in which both the complainant and accused would be anonymous. The party can then inform the anonymous complainant what actions would be needed and who would need to be de-anonymised in order to turn the report into a formal complaint, and what support might be available to the complainant.

Similar systems in the US have greatly increased reporting rates and we’re proud to say that this will make the Liberal Democrats a forward-looking beacon of best practice when it comes to building a welcoming movement that can take effective action against those who drag our movement down. We are extremely grateful to Becca Plenderleith, Chair of Scottish Young Liberals, for bravely sharing her own experience of being let down by the current system and making a strong case for AIR.