On Monday at Liberal Democrat conference, party members will have the chance to debate policy motion F31 which endorses a new Liberal Democrat welfare policy paper, Mending the safety net. However, as one of the members of the working group which wrote the paper, I strongly urge all members at conference to vote against the motion.
Members of the Nuclear Weapons Working Group are presenting their personal views as part of a wider consultation process into the party's future policy on nuclear weapons. The full consultation paper can be found at www.libdems.org.uk/autumn-conference-16-policypapers and the consultation window runs until 28 October. Party members are invited to attend the consultation session at party conference in Brighton, to be held on Saturday 17 September at 1pm in the Balmoral Room of the Hilton. The UK's options for the successor to Trident are (boiled down to essentials):
If you read any other paper than the Guardian, you will have noted some days ago a generously-covered story about the enormous 'lifetime tax bill' faced by British families. The 'average UK household' in 2014-15 was estimated to pay £826,000 in direct and indirect taxes over their working life, while the top 20% 'will pay £1,686,970' - a curiously exact figure for an estimate, and a claimed rise of 4.3% over the previous year. The story had no reference to any benefits that flowed back to taxpayers in return for this drain on their income: education for children (£180,000 per child or more in the private sector between 3 and 18), health care (say £100,000 per person, incurred most heavily in the last two years of life), and post-retirement benefits (state pensions of £6-9000 a year over 10-20 years, bus passes, etc.), not to mention contributions to all the public goods that make civilised living comfortable: policing, roads and railways, external security, welfare, market support and regulation. The reader i
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Sunday morning at Brighton will see one of the most important debates at conference. It probably won't be terribly controversial (though one never knows …), but it is party members' chance to say what they think - not about specific policies the party should adopt, but about what the party stands for: its basic philosophy. This is the final stage in the Federal Policy Committee's 'Agenda 2020' process, which has featured many times before in the pages of Lib Dem Voice. Over the past year we have published two consultation papers, organised two consultative sessions at federal conferences, commissioned a set of essays and organised an essay competition within the party (all available here at http://www.libdems.org.uk/agenda2020).
Tim Farron launched an audacious raid on Jeremy Corbyn's divided party today by pledging to give Labour defectors roles in a "plausible alternative" to the Conservatives. In an exclusive interview ahead of the Liberal Democrats Conference, he aimed to encourage former shadow cabinet ministers to jump ship by saying they could hold Theresa May to account more effectively in his party.
I cannot recall a political issue since I joined the party in 1998 that has engaged public interest so deeply and for so long as the EU referendum and its aftermath. Almost 3 months after polling day, you can still hear people you pass at the bus stop, in pubs and cafes and other public places talking about it. I agree with the analysis of David Allen Green of the FT that Brexit is not inevitable and will be with us as a political issue for a very long time.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to rebuilding the trust and compassion that the UK was once known for. We believe that our country has a responsibility to support those in need, no matter where they are in the world.
For too long, years of neglect and mismanagement by the previous Conservative Government have pushed our prison system into a deep crisis.
The Liberal Democrats have long championed proportional representation, advocating for a voting system where every vote truly counts. We believe that reforming our electoral system is crucial for a fairer democracy and better governance.
