Liberal Democrat Party Conference Report

Six members of the Lib Dem team here in Bury have just returned from the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Liverpool.

What a busy week it’s been. It’s the first time (since the 1930s) where the Liberal Democrats have been a Party of Government, and as a result there was more media interest, and interest from “lobbyists” and pressure groups. As a result this was by far the largest Lib Dem (or Liberal) conference in living memory – apparently over 7000 delegates, guests, press, lobbyists and staff!

Conference is a busy mix of debates, speeches, training and “fringe” events. So there was no shortage of events to keep the six delegates from Bury busy throughout the week.

Conference kicked off on Saturday with a Conference “rally” with Nick Clegg MP launching the Liberal Democrat support for the “Fairer Votes” referendum next May (when voters decide whether to switch to the fairer Alternative Vote (AV) system of electing MPs). Some of the team went on to the 2010 Campaigner Awards organised by the Association of Lib Dem Councillors recognising Lib Dem campaign success in the last year.

Sunday saw Q&A with the Deputy Prime Minister, where ordinary Party members got an opportunity to ask Nick about his role in Government. (Listen to a podcast (recording) of the Q&A here.) Debates in the main conference hall included an important debate on International Development where Lib Dems re-affirmed our long standing commitment to richer countries donating 0.7% of their GDP to the developing world.

Monday was dominated by the Leader’s speech. Normally we have this at the end of Conference, but Nick Clegg had to go to address the United Nations! You can read the full text here, of the speech here where the Leader sets out how the Liberal Democrats are delivering on our manifesto commitments in Government. The main debate in the hall was on “Free” Schools but also a busy day for delegates training – everything from being a better councillor to communicating well with local people.

Tuesday’s main speech was from Deputy Leader Simon Hughes MP. Delegates passed a resolution calling for equality in the laws around marrage (for mixed-sex and same-sex couples). On Wednesday the main speech for the media was Vince Cable (read here), and delegates reaffirmed Party policy that the replacement of Trident missiles should be reconsidered.

Some in the media probably expected this first conference “in Government” to be a difficult one for the Liberal Democrats. Our experience was the exact opposite:

At long last Liberal Democrats are delivering on our promises for a fairer Britain, a fair start for children, sorting out the economy and cleaning up politics.

Thousands of new members have joined the Liberal Democrats this year. There was a real “buzz” that this is a Party which is up to the challenge of Government and clearing up the mess left by Labour.

And Liberal Democrats are succeeding in real elections. Since the General Election Liberal Democrats have been making gains in the many local council by-elections that happen every week – including seven gains from the Conservatives!

There is more information on Conference on the national Party website www.libdems.org.uk. You can read our very own Councillor Vic D’Albert’s take on the leader’s speech here and Councillor Richard Baum’s write up on changes to local government here.

Statement on Council Chief Executive and Budget Savings

Following the announcement of the early retirement of Bury Council’s Chief Executive, and the need to make up to £24 million of savings over the next four years Liberal Democrat Group Leader Tim Pickstone said:

“We will be extremely sorry to lose Mark Sanders from Bury Council. Mark has been a key part of some significant progress in Bury over the last nine years and will be a great loss to the Borough.

“Even in the timing of his retirement shows leadership around the significant savings that the Council has to make over the coming years.”

On the £7 Million a year budget cuts:

“Everyone knows that significant savings need to be made across all areas of public spending after the deficit built up under the last Labour Government. Bury’s share of this will be a huge challenge”

“We believe that all parties need to work together on finding a way through these savings. We need to ask the people of Bury what they think so that the future services provided by the Council best meet what local people need and want”.

Statement on Local Area Grant Funding

Following the decision by Bury Council, supported by all three parties to support moves to restore the Local Area Partnership Grants, Liberal Democrat Group Resource Spokesperson Councillor Richard Baum said:

“When we heard that the Local Area Partnership (LAP) Grants were to end following the grant cut by the last Labour Government we were devastated.”

“LAP Grants have provided much needed funds to improve our local area. In Prestwich, where I am a Councillor, grants have seen projects like Prestwich Festival, the Farmers Market and the Graffiti Clean Up – to lose all of this would be a disaster”.

“It is great that there is cross party support, facilitated by a Lib Dem amendment in Council, to finding a solution to restoring grants both this year and in the future”.