Monday, March 10, 2008
SPRING CONFERENCE 08 – Anne Crook
Liverpool, European City of Culture 2008, proved to be an excellent venue for the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. Liverpool has more listed buildings than any city outside London and as I walked from my hotel to the new Arena on Friday evening I was struck by the grandeur of the architecture: The Liver Building, the Cunard Building, the beautifully preserved Albert Dock, home to Tate Liverpool and the Maritime Museum and in the distance Liverpool Cathedral the largest Cathedral in the UK with the world’s highest Gothic arches and the modern distinctive shape of the Roman Catholic Cathedral before finally arriving at the impressive and newly opened Arena.
The Conference agenda was packed with important debates on Health, Affordable Housing, Support for Children with Special Educational Needs and Ballistic Missile Defence and enticing fringe meetings, making it hard to choose where to go.
The health debate was well attended and Conference backed plans to transform the NHS into a ‘people’s health service’ free from central government control and answerable to people through locally elected health boards. A ‘Patients Contract’ would guarantee every citizen access to a high standard of core healthcare entitlements within maximum waiting times, giving patients the right to receive private treatment, paid for by the NHS, if waiting times were not met. A Care Guarantee would provide £2billion for personal care payments for all elderly people based on need and not on the ability to pay.
Conference backed plans to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years aiming to reduce the waiting list for social housing which has grown from 1 million in 1997 to 1.6 million today.
As a Special Educational Needs teacher I was glad to see Conference backing measures to improve the support for children with special educational needs. The plans include the inclusion in teacher training courses of training in all types of special educational needs and the intention to work towards achieving and then reducing the six month target for assessment of special educational needs. It is salutary to note that 87% of primary school children and 60% of children who are excluded from secondary school have autism, behavioural, emotional or other special educational needs.
It is encouraging to see the Liberal Democrats bringing important subjects to public debate which the other parties choose to ignore. Conference called for the Government to deny America the use of British bases for a unilateral ballistic missile defence system and condemned the way the Government’s decision, to allow the US to use RAF Menwith Hill for the system, was announced on the last day of the parliamentary session in an attempt to avoid public attention.
Vince Cable in his speech listed Gordon Brown’s failings: Northern Rock, lost data on 15 million families, mismanaged reforms to Capital Gains Tax and non –dom taxation, Metronet and the London Underground PPP, tax credit overpayments - the list went on and on and I almost began to feel sorry for Gordon, well almost.
Vince Cable said that he had warned Gordon Brown almost 5 years ago that there was a growing problem of personal debt and criticised banks for their ‘binge lending’ which led to the house price boon. He warned of the aftermath of ‘unsustainably cheap credit’ namely, debt arrears, repossession orders and negative equity. He said that the lenders must accept some responsibility for the plight now facing borrowers and that no one should face repossession until there has been independent financial advice and that the bank must be required to offer a range of alternative properly regulated options including shared ownership.
Nick Clegg in his first major conference speech as party leader made it clear that the price for co-operation with either of the two main parties would be significant constitutional reform. He asked, ‘Will I ever join a Conservative government? No. Will I ever join a Labour government? No. I will never allow the Liberal Democrats to be a mere annex to another party’s agenda’. He said that he wanted a new system that empowers people not parties. He argued for fairer, greener and in a new departure for the Liberal Democrats, if possible, lower taxation. He called for a £25,000 limit on donations to political parties and argued that voters should have the right to sack MPs who were suspended for serious misconduct. He pledged to continue to take a stand on matters of principle.
Liverpool provided delegates with a warm welcome. The action packed Conference left little time to explore the city so a return visit will be necessary. All that was missing was some Beatles’ music. We could have started the Conference with a rendition of the Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ and ended with John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, maybe next time.
Liverpool, European City of Culture 2008, proved to be an excellent venue for the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. Liverpool has more listed buildings than any city outside London and as I walked from my hotel to the new Arena on Friday evening I was struck by the grandeur of the architecture: The Liver Building, the Cunard Building, the beautifully preserved Albert Dock, home to Tate Liverpool and the Maritime Museum and in the distance Liverpool Cathedral the largest Cathedral in the UK with the world’s highest Gothic arches and the modern distinctive shape of the Roman Catholic Cathedral before finally arriving at the impressive and newly opened Arena.
The Conference agenda was packed with important debates on Health, Affordable Housing, Support for Children with Special Educational Needs and Ballistic Missile Defence and enticing fringe meetings, making it hard to choose where to go.
The health debate was well attended and Conference backed plans to transform the NHS into a ‘people’s health service’ free from central government control and answerable to people through locally elected health boards. A ‘Patients Contract’ would guarantee every citizen access to a high standard of core healthcare entitlements within maximum waiting times, giving patients the right to receive private treatment, paid for by the NHS, if waiting times were not met. A Care Guarantee would provide £2billion for personal care payments for all elderly people based on need and not on the ability to pay.
Conference backed plans to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years aiming to reduce the waiting list for social housing which has grown from 1 million in 1997 to 1.6 million today.
As a Special Educational Needs teacher I was glad to see Conference backing measures to improve the support for children with special educational needs. The plans include the inclusion in teacher training courses of training in all types of special educational needs and the intention to work towards achieving and then reducing the six month target for assessment of special educational needs. It is salutary to note that 87% of primary school children and 60% of children who are excluded from secondary school have autism, behavioural, emotional or other special educational needs.
It is encouraging to see the Liberal Democrats bringing important subjects to public debate which the other parties choose to ignore. Conference called for the Government to deny America the use of British bases for a unilateral ballistic missile defence system and condemned the way the Government’s decision, to allow the US to use RAF Menwith Hill for the system, was announced on the last day of the parliamentary session in an attempt to avoid public attention.
Vince Cable in his speech listed Gordon Brown’s failings: Northern Rock, lost data on 15 million families, mismanaged reforms to Capital Gains Tax and non –dom taxation, Metronet and the London Underground PPP, tax credit overpayments - the list went on and on and I almost began to feel sorry for Gordon, well almost.
Vince Cable said that he had warned Gordon Brown almost 5 years ago that there was a growing problem of personal debt and criticised banks for their ‘binge lending’ which led to the house price boon. He warned of the aftermath of ‘unsustainably cheap credit’ namely, debt arrears, repossession orders and negative equity. He said that the lenders must accept some responsibility for the plight now facing borrowers and that no one should face repossession until there has been independent financial advice and that the bank must be required to offer a range of alternative properly regulated options including shared ownership.
Nick Clegg in his first major conference speech as party leader made it clear that the price for co-operation with either of the two main parties would be significant constitutional reform. He asked, ‘Will I ever join a Conservative government? No. Will I ever join a Labour government? No. I will never allow the Liberal Democrats to be a mere annex to another party’s agenda’. He said that he wanted a new system that empowers people not parties. He argued for fairer, greener and in a new departure for the Liberal Democrats, if possible, lower taxation. He called for a £25,000 limit on donations to political parties and argued that voters should have the right to sack MPs who were suspended for serious misconduct. He pledged to continue to take a stand on matters of principle.
Liverpool provided delegates with a warm welcome. The action packed Conference left little time to explore the city so a return visit will be necessary. All that was missing was some Beatles’ music. We could have started the Conference with a rendition of the Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ and ended with John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, maybe next time.
# posted by John Beanse @ 8:26 AM 
