Jock's Place - URGENT - Conference Motion: Unfinished business - Comments

All sound okay...just some

Jock — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:34:43 +0000

All sound okay...just some comments though:

1. I did want to get across the fact that "we" can get Liberal things implemented even when not in power, or anywhere near it!

3. I took "ownership for all" directly from a recent paper by an IPPR type at Oxford on exactly this set of policies of post war Liberals, and I thought it was actually what it was called but will check when I get home.

8. I've had an alternative suggestion that I should just have "fully embrace". The purpose of putting in "rediscover" is that we sometimes suspect that they don't actually know the very good unimplemented policies from our past and they will do well to buy our book to rediscover them...:) But I think it can come out - it implies that if you don't know what they are you should go find out.

Are you a conference rep? Or an inveterate conference hack? If the former, are you going to "sign" it subject to those amendments - none of which change the sense but tighten up the wording.

Cheers,

Jock

Why use one clause when ten will do

Tom Papworth — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:30:48 +0000

Good work, Jock!

A few points:

1) Ditch the sentence ", even if not always implemented by Liberal governments" (never, EVER, give credit where credit is due :o)

2) Change "corporate welfarism" to "corporate welfare"

3) Is there a better phrase than "ownership for all"? Is "Worker ownership" or some such phrase not more often used?

4) Change "capital assets they help to create" to "capital assets they helped to create"

5) Delete "that the problems of poverty are most likely to be defeated" as this does not actually fit at the end of this paragraph

6) Change "appear to be as intractable as ever" to "have not been resolved after a century of Conservative and Labour policies

7) Delete "socialist and class warfare or corporate welfare and protectionist" as this repeats something above

8) Change "policy makers to rediscover if necessary and embrace the still very relevant ideas" to "policy makers to incorporate the still relevant ideas"

9) change "work towards the completion of the "work in progress" begun by the Asquith's " with "complete the work begun by Asquith's"

Tom

URGENT - Conference Motion: Unfinished business

Jock — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:32:17 +0000

As many of you will know, tomorrow at noon is the deadline for conference motions for autumn Federal conference. I've been a bit behind the game recently, but would like to submit the following motion. If you are a conference rep and feel you can support this (I'll accept friendly amendments too - via the comments if you like) could I ask you to let me have your details (email address, name, membership number and local constituency) as soon as possible. I need nine more before tomorrow - it is being circulated in other forums as well though.

Unfinished business: the Liberal reform agenda post-1909

Conference celebrates:

the recent hundredth anniversary of the development of the old age pension
the recent sixtieth anniversary of the birth of the National Health Service

which were the inspiration of Liberal thinkers, economists and politicians, even if not always implemented by Liberal governments.

Conference notes that:

in the next few months we will be celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Lloyd-George's 1909 "People's Budget"
in the century since then the dominant ideological and political battles have been between socialism and corporate welfarism
Liberals have throughout promoted distinctive and superior alternatives such as:
i. shifting the burden of taxation away from economically productive and beneficial processes such as work and trade and onto the unearned advantage gained through monopoly, externalities and the exploitation of finite natural resources, including land
Ii. the post-war "ownership for all" policies which emphasized that it was through a more equitable distribution amongst workers of the capital assets they help to create that the problems of poverty are most likely to be defeated
many of the problems that Asquith, Lloyd-George, Beveridge and others sought to address appear to be as intractable as ever
successive Labour and Conservative governments, through their respective socialist and class warfare or corporate welfare and protectionist policies, have signally failed to address the root causes of inequity and deprivation at home or abroad so begun by our Liberal forebears a century ago.

Conference therefore:

reaffirms the superiority of the Liberal tradition of political economy in offering uniquely sustainable mechanisms to address the ongoing root causes of poverty and deprivation whilst allowing the maximum freedom for individuals to pursue their ambitions and achieve their fullest potential on a level playing field.
calls on Liberal Democrat policy makers to rediscover if necessary and embrace the still very relevant ideas and policies of that Liberal economic tradition and to work towards the completion of the "work in progress" begun by the Asquith's pioneering government a century ago frustrated by the vested interests that continue hold considerable influence today to the detriment of the majority.