Last week, Ethnic Minorities Liberal Democrats held a very good hustings event in London where Tim Farron and Norman Lamb were put through their paces.
You can listen to the whole thing here on Soundcloud.
You can also read Lester Holloway’s report of for The Voice here.
TWO MEN hoping to become leader of the Liberal Democrats have both backed affirmative action to fast-track race equality as they made a last-ditch bid to win over black party activists.
Tim Farron and Norman Lamb, the contenders to replace Nick Clegg who resigned after his party suffered humiliating losses at the general election, both backed a race inquiry to root out racism in the party.
Their pledges follow the Morrissey inquiry into the treatment of women members following the Lord Chris Rennard scandal when he was accused of sexually harassing several female activists.
Lamb and Farron backed what they called ‘Morrissey 2’ looking into race equality and moves are already underway to pick an expert to chair the inquiry.
Speaking to a leadership hustings organised by the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats group in Elephant and Castle last Tuesday, the pair also promised to introduce “positive action and positive discrimination” for candidates in the 2020 election.
Farron had already pledged that if he was leader he would introduce a quota to ensure ten per cent of all candidates in safe or winnable were from an ethnic minority, and half were women.
If you haven’t posted your ballot paper yet, you really need to as Wednesday’s deadline is rapidly approaching. If you post after today, you might be well advised to put a first class stamp on it.
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4 Comments
Both Norman and Tim explicitly agreed to undertake Morrissey II. Also, developing a Race Strategy in consultation must be seen as LibDems at their best – open and fair consultations! We can be proud to talk about our openess to progress. I personally thank both Tim and Norman for demonstrating leadership skills during our EMLD Husings and I for1 am committed to supporting our leader through that process. Lets get those votes in now!
Are ethnic minorities socially conservative?
Maidstone Liberal Democrats are well aware of Ghurkas and so is Paddy Ashdown who spoke to them, but large numbers turned up to register to vote on the last day and were turned away. We must do better.
Reference is made to the Morrissey inquiry. The conclusion of Helena Morrissey’s second report in relation to me was as follows: “At this point, December 2014, every investigation has concluded with no further action to be taken against Lord Rennard. The process over the past nearly two years – conducted according to the prevailing rules – has run its course and although the outcome is a source of great frustration to some, I believe that the Party can only move on if that outcome is accepted. At this stage, given that the Party applied its own processes, there is no justification for it remaining ambivalent towards Lord Rennard – he should be just as welcome a participant or guest at Party events as any other.”