Lib Dems meet to discuss coalition, now on to the economy

Yesterday (Sunday 16 May) there was a Liberal Democrat Special Conference in Birmingham to discuss the coalition with the Conservatives.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives with hopes and dreams altered; negotiation and discussions held; followed by a new, coalition government testing new waters in British politics. Both parties have made compromises, and the Lib Dem conference gave us a chance to debate the decision to enter into a coalition government.

The final vote was a resounding ‘yes’ in favour, with about a dozen of the 2,000 attendees voting against the coalition. Seeing some Liberal Democrat policy being implemented, instead of promising but never being able to deliver, is a postivie step and Mark Pack sums up well in his Guardian article.

Hundreds of people wanted to speak at the conference with key issues being raised time and again, and amendments agreed include the long-term commitment to scrapping tuition fees; working toward the fairer electoral system of proportional representation and to oppose any moves to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

It became even clearer today just how important it is that the Liberal Democrats work hard with the Conservatives to make sure that the coalition is a success and delivers for us, when the state of our economy was laid bare in a ‘joke’ note left for Lib Dem MP, David Laws, chief secretary to the treasury, from Labour predecessor, Liam Byrne. Dated 6 April, the day the election was called, it said:

“Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards and good luck! Liam.”

Dawn Barnes, Lib Dem candidate for Witney said: “There is a lot of hard work to do to sort the economy out and the last government appears not to have been entirely honest with Britain about the state of our finances.

“In the run up to the election the Lib Dems proposed an independent committee to oversee the economy, the Tories weren’t in favour of that, but now one will be set up to ensure that people are aware of problems and they are not swept under the carpet. Likewise, we have had to concede on public spending cuts based on the harsh realities of the economic situation and advice from the Bank of England and the Treasury.”