SATURDAY AT CONFERENCE - part 2

An interesting Q and A session  with our business team, headed up by Vince Cable.  We hear so much doom and gloom in the press, but there are encouraging signs, particularly in green sustainable industries, and that should help the North East.  Ed Davey told us about ideas to revamp the Post Office Network, and the pilot in Lib Dem run Sheffield.  A campaign for all banks to work with the Post Office, apparently 80 % of banks do, but not Santander.

Simon Hughes told us about his hopes for replacement of the Education Maintenance Allowance, and how important it was for students to be funded for Further Education as well as Higher Education, and called for Year 9 students to have much better information on their real options – along with the costs and help available.  The replacement of EMA is to cover travel costs, free school meals as they would if at secondary school, and support for those with special needs, are living on their own, are carers etc.

YOUTH JUSTICE

Young people in the party had put forward a motion on Youth Justice.  We heard that it costs £185,000 a year to keep a young person in a secure unit – which would buy 6 years at Eton!  Labour’s emphasis on ASBO’s has not worked and 55% of them are broken.  They are not based on real evidence, and that is why so few are not granted and no cases are lost on appeal.    I know from experience here how they have been hailed as the solution to problems, and just created more.  Money has just been wasted when it could have been used positively.  You need to read the motion but it was all about preventing youth crime, better ways of dealing with it in the community, more appropriate treatment of children in the justice system, promoting effective treatments, putting rehabilitation into the heart of custodial provision and assisting those who leave custody to rebuild lives.

An excellent debate and we heard from Milo – aged just 11, who gave us an excellent speech from a young person’s perspective.  She pointed out how strange it was that she was seen differently when seen with her mother and seen with her friends ! makes you think.

NICK CLEGG Q and A quite took me back.  I expected questions to be “selected” from those submitting them, to make sure there was a range of subjects covered, but surprised that he took a number of supplementaries from the floor. 

The key question for me was from Gareth Epps – how is he going to take forward the result of the Health Debate !  It was a “politicians” answer, but he did emphasise that it was yes to reform, and no to privatisation, and giving more of a say to patients.  He will be pursued on this issue for quite some time,  I am sure.  However Nick showed no signs of being bruised by the debate we had had, quite the opposite, and was proud we had had a good debate.  He did point out (again) that we did not win the election, and only had 8% of the MPs.

On tuition fees I was interested to hear that the NUS have now published a document saying that our system is fairer than what Labour had !  how surprising that has not been in the press.  He pointed out that Labour and Tory had agreed with each other and it was Labour that had started off the Browne report – with no upper limit on fees.

The last question perhaps did need asking.  “Did he really forget he was in charge of the country when skiing”.   I am pleased to say he did reply more seriously than when the press asked him.

DISTINCTIVENESS and INDEPENDENCE was the theme of the early evening fringe meeting run by the Social Liberal Forum.  How refreshing to hear some proper debate on the issues, and some interesting ideas discussed, as well as a few facts I didn’t know coming to light.  It is all simple in theory, it is a new game though – politicians working together with natural tensions playing their part.   If I won the lottery (not likely as I don’t even do it) I would buy a newspaper that would stop this dreadful bias against anything it hasn’t thought of, and hasn’t been done before.

GLEE CLUB

The night is yet young at 10.30 as we start the Glee Club.  Always my highlight at conference, when we sing our hearts out and laugh our heads off.  A sign of a really mature and confident party when we know how to parody ourselves and poke fun at each other.  Less confident just could not sing what we do.  Maybe because we were in Sheffield, but the stage had more Yorkshire people (us included of course) singing “on Ilkley Moor” than Scottish and Welsh singing their songs.  I’m not printing the words of some of our “own” songs though, you will just have to join us and join in for that.