LDYS at Federal Party Spring Conference
Friday 2nd Sunday 4th March
LDYS showed a good attendance at Spring
conference, manning a stall, providing voting reps, offering training
sessions and just generally mingling with the membership (and Ming!)
Attending a Campaign for Gender Balance
training session run by Ros Harper (previous Vice Chair of Communications
LYDS funnily enough) reminded us that we should be working hard to make
sure we talk in a variety of ways to our female membership to ensure
theyire not put off by some of the perceptions of politics, including
LDYS politics, as adversarial read: shouty. In which case girls, please
donit be put off by the new title of Enews.
Meanwhile, other LDYS members were running
some well attended training sessions n winning the student vote and
communicating with your membership. Our Vice Chair of campaigns was
running the stall, where we got visits from the odd Baroness or Peer,
who failed to help themselves to our branded condoms…
The big highlight of the day was being
a voting rep at the Trident debate. The arguments for and against passing
an LDYS backed amendment were passionate and persuasively argued. The
narrow 40 person majority by which it fell [454 to 414] suggests the
large level of general support which it received.
Despite our stance in Parliament on March
14th the vote passed in favour of renewing Trident and burdening
our generation with this decision for decades to come. Thatis why
a growing Liberal Democrats youth and student movement to voice our
opposition is so vital, because the choices being made now are the ones
ourselves and our children will have to live with.
Finally I sloped off in the early evening,
before the carnage of Glee club began. Much as a chance to sing along
with various half cut MPs appealed I thought Iid save that edifying
experience for Brighton in the autumnOe You coming?
LDYS Spring Conference
Friday 23rd
n Sunday 25th
Conference at Bristol this spring went
well this year, with a good number of attendees including both usual
suspects and first timers. Arriving on the Friday gave us time to register
and chat n either at the official icebreaker welcome or just generally
catch up with those last seen in 2006 at Colchester autumn conference.
Conference was opened by local MP for Bristol West, Stephen WIlliams,
who kick started the event by discussing his efforts in Parliament and
his work as spokesperson for higher and further education. This is of
course something of rather pressing interest to most members of LDYS
and raised a number of interesting facts and questions. Stephenis
main point was that the Liberal Democrat higher education review that
is taking place over the next 12 months seeks to ensure our stance on
higher and further education funding is fair to all students of all
ages and backgroundsOewatch this space.
Saturday saw various training sessions,
policy motions and speakers come and go. The evening saw Hustings for
the new executive, worth seeing in light of the elections for 2007/2008
executive places (postal vote forms coming soon to a letterbox near
you). A hasty return to Crash and then the onset of a grey fogOeor
the eveningis social as it is now remembered by many members with
sore heads on Sunday morning.
Despite hangovers, conference managed
on Sunday to debate and vote through the final write up of a constitutional
amendment which saw the merge of the old constitution with standing
orders in a clearer and better referenced document.
Many thanks to the Bristol branch of
LDYS for hosting this conference, to all the speakers who attended and
for Steering and conference committee who ensured that things went as
they should. I think the resulting photos, especially those which donit
spare our blushes, indicate that, to quote one member, 'we don't
all just like to sit in our bedrooms and read Hansard'
. Get in touch
if you would like to be more involved next time, either as a host branch,
conference committee member or just attendee (shamefaced or otherwise).
The Patsy Calton Award
Launched last month by the Women Liberal
Democrats this award seeks to promote and celebrate the achievements
of women throughout the liberal democrat party, and particularly the
inspirational work of Patsy herself. They are still requesting nominations
for female local activists, councillors or an MP/MEP/AM/MSP who you
believe has made an exceptional contribution to the party.<
Know anyone who you think might merit
recognition for her outstanding contribution in your local area? Perhaps
someone you have campaigned with, shadowed, or who has just generally
inspired you as a political figure and a woman in 21st century
politics?
The winner will be selected by a panel
from a shortlist and presented with their award at Federal Party Annual
Conference in Brighton this September. The deadline for nominations
is Monday the 11th of June 2007, and the very simple nominations
form can be found at the WLD website here: http://www.wld.org.uk/resources/index/.
Please do your part to show how Liberal
Democrat Youth and Students appreciate the inspiring female party members
we get to work with!