Welcome aboard International Relations Committee flight 2016 to everywhere. My name is Mark, and I’ll be taking care of you today. On the flight deck is Harriet Shone, our International Officer, and our Chair, Robert Woodthorpe Browne, welcomes you aboard today’s flight.
Alright, clichéd opening written, let’s get serious. We’ve just recruited vast numbers of new, pro-European, members, and there’s a governance review underway. What better time than now to refocus the work of the International Relations Committee?
It would be fair to say that International Relations Committee has been a bit semi-detached from the mainstream Party in the past. That hasn’t been intentional by any means, but in the search for electoral success, our pro-European, internationalist message has often been lost under an avalanche of jobs, schools and localism. Under the new proposed Party structure, IRC will have a more defined role and set of responsibilities. We are also expected to be less reliant on the professional staff who, in a leaner organisation, are expected to focus on delivery rather than committee servicing.
And so, as a first step, we’ve appointed a Committee Secretary. That would be me. My role is to service the Committee and… well, we haven’t got much further than that. That’s where you come in. I have some ideas of my own, but I’m not exactly a stakeholder, more a participant, so there is a risk of not seeing the possibilities.
My aim is to broaden our reach, increase engagement, diversify our participants, educate, inform, entertain… the possibilities are limited only by our resources. I might be getting carried away here…
So, let me have your thoughts via the comments section below. Think of it as an informal consultation, albeit not a binding one.
Kind regards to all.
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6 Comments
I would want the International Relations committee to promote a new global economic (operating) system that delivers freedom and justice and reduces income inequality. The CPS, founded by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher has successfully fulfilled its Mission Statement of propagating its disastrous neoliberal economic ideology. The Liberal Democrats and its International Relations committee need to campaign for a new economic system that would be the foundation for a society where no-one is enslaved by poverty or ignorance.
A fair society cannot be built on an inherently unfair and unjust economic system. A strong economy cannot be built on such a system either because it will alway be liable to a financial meltdown. Political policies to try and solve these problems are mere bug fixes and patches which in the end are bound to be ineffective.
The most important think is to share more on how it fits in with structure of the party , for example , the international department , or Liberal International and the Liberal International British Group.
For those who want to get involved on these issues and care deeply , Roberts comments above are a good opening .
I agree with Lorenzo. Most people want to be involved if they join a political party. It is essential to provide the opportunities for involvement they are looking for. The idea of an internationalist outlook on life is very much alive. We live in a time when foreign travel is common place. It is a question of making sure that opportunities for participation are well publicised. Things like international working parties using Skype or Skype like platforms would be brilliant. I only wish I understood how to organise such things. However I am convinced that this is the future, and would lead to a wish to actually see what was being talked about. Although Iraq or Somalia or Syria or Lybia might be a challenge.
Count me in, at least for any mailing. At 77, I must not over-commit, being over-committed already in religion and politics, but I am with you in spirit, being also a language graduate, having helped to wind down the empire in Northern Rhodesia, having a son with family in Paris and a wife who was president of the (worldwide) Fellowship of the Least Coin, which took us to India and Tonga a year or two ago.
All the best to your project.
The UK did not vote to leave the customs union, David Davis is over the top.
There are big political risks in the USA in November, plus sharp competition, litigation and rival powerful lobbyists.
Some of these points relate more to ALDE than to International Relations Committee, so maybe an outline of what the committee does Mark would be helpful in the first instance.