Conference Daily plain text Sunday 17 March Liberal Democrats Spring Conference 2024 York This plain text version of the Conference Daily matches the text of the published Conference Daily. Motion line numbers, complex layouts and graphics have been omitted and some information may appear in a different place in the document. Information from the Federal Conference Committee (FCC) for Sunday 17 March and report back for Saturday 16 March. Please read in conjunction with the Agenda & Directory and Conference Extra. Contents and Timetable Report back for Saturday 16 March 2 Timetable for Sunday 17 March 09.00-09.45 F16A Emergency motion: Navalny 3 F16B Emergency motion: Beyond Rwanda: A Fairer Way Forward on Asylum 5 09.45-10.25 F17 Report: Federal Board 7 F18 Report: Campaign for Gender Balance 9 F19 Report: Federal Communications and Elections Committee 10 F20 Report: Federal International Relations Committee F21 Report: Federal Council 10 10.25-10.40 F22 Speech: Alistair Carmichael MP 10.40-11.25 F23 Policy motion: The Funding Crisis in Local Government 10 11.25-11.45 F24 Party awards 11.45-13.00 F25 Speech: Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 13.00 Close of Conference If no page number is indicated, there are no changes or additional information to the information in the Conference Agenda & Directory or Conference Extra. Please note that some items of business may occur earlier than indicated. Members wishing to speak should submit a speaker's card as soon as possible. Report back for Saturday 16 March F2 Report: Federal Conference Committee Approved F3 Report: Federal Policy Committee Approved F4 Policy motion: Sport for the People Passed (Amendments One and Two passed) F5 Policy motion: Boosting Cancer Survival Passed (Amendment One passed) F7 Policy motion: Liberal Values in a Dangerous Passed (Amendments World One, Two, Three and Four passed) F9 Constitutional amendment: Federal Appeals Panel Passed F11 Policy motion: Are You Drinking What We're Drinking? Passed F13 Policy motion: Tackling Persistent Absence Passed (Amendments One and Two passed) F14 Policy motion: 40 New Hospitals Passed F15 Reports: Parliamentary Parties Received For the text of motions and amendments, please refer to the Spring 2024 Conference Agenda & Directory and Conference Daily for Saturday 16 March. Environment Q&A Sunday 17 March 11.00-12.00 with Tim Farron and John Russell; Chair: Duncan Brack. Lendal Room, York Barbican. Party members may submit questions using the Q&As online form at: www.libdems.org.uk/conference/submissions Sunday 17 March F16A F16A Emergency motion: Navalny 11 members Mover: Christine Jardine MP. Summation: David Chalmers. Conference notes that: I. Alexei Navalny, the leader of democratic opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, was killed on 16 February 2024. II. Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has said that Navalny was 'tortured, starved, cut off and killed by Putin'. III. Navalny had been serving a sentence at an Arctic penal colony, after being arrested upon his return to Russia in January 2021, having previously spent months recovering in Germany following a Novichok assassination attempt. IV. Other democratic activists imprisoned in Russia include Vladimir Kara-Murza, British-Russian dual national and member of our sister party Yabloko; there is now a real risk that he is also killed. Conference believes that: A. Navalny's tragic death, at the hands of Putin, cannot and will not stifle the democratic ideals that he fought for. B. Navalny cast a light on the corruption of Putin and his cronies. C. Following Navalny's death, the UK Government did sanction some individuals operating the Arctic penal colony, but they have failed to sanction the entirety of the 'Navalny List'. D. Navalny's opposition to Putin is embodied in the brave resistance of the Ukrainians. E. We must be emboldened to stand with Ukraine, even as US support wavers, and help them resist Vladimir Putin's forces and liberate their territory. F. The UK must do all it can to secure the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza. Conference accordingly calls on the UK Government to: 1. Sanction the rest of the Navalny List. 2. Make it a diplomatic priority to secure the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza. 3. Support Vladimir Kara-Murza and all other British dual nationals in similar situations by enshrining in law a right for British dual nationals who have been politically detained to access UK consular services. 4. Stand with Ukraine as the country resists Putin's invasion, by: a) Beginning the seizure of frozen Russian assets in the UK, with proceeds repurposed to finance support for Ukraine. b) Immediately repurposing the interest accrued on frozen Russian assets for the good of Ukraine, following the plan set out by Belgium. 5. Take steps to tackle economic crime, including flows of money from Putin's cronies, by: a) Publishing the long overdue review of 'golden visas', the Tier 1 (Investor) visa scheme. b) Close loopholes in economic crime legislation. c) Properly fund the National Crime Agency, so that they can pursue Russian economic crime in this country. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 44Ð45 of the Agenda & Directory. Background briefing This motion creates new policy in response to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. F16B Emergency motion: Beyond Rwanda: A Fairer Way Forward on Asylum 11 members Mover: Max Wilkinson. Summation: Danny Chambers. Conference notes with grave concern the Conservative Government's latest efforts to push through their failing Rwanda scheme amid general chaos in the Home Office - including their controversial Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill which has passed through the House of Commons in January and February and is now in the House of Lords, the sacking of David Neal as Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in February, and near-constant political infighting. Conference further notes that: I. Under this policy, refugees removed to Rwanda will not be eligible to return to the UK, even if their asylum claims are successful. II. The Supreme Court has already ruled that the scheme is illegal due to serious deficiencies in the Rwandan asylum system. III. More than œ241 million has already been spent on the scheme, despite no flights taking off - equivalent to the cost of delivering more than 5.7 million GP appointments. IV. The Home Office's own figures show that it will cost œ69,000 more to send each asylum seeker to Rwanda, compared to if they remained in the UK. V. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill has been described by some lawyers as "legislating for a lie", declaring Rwanda as a safe third country - despite the Supreme Court upholding that it is not and Conservative ministers own admissions it currently is not. VI. A similar Israeli program of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda resulted in most of them being smuggled out of Rwanda in the hands of criminal gangs. Conference believes that the Government's Rwanda policy: a) Has been an extraordinary waste of time and money. b) Is immoral, ineffective and incredibly expensive for the taxpayer. c) Will do nothing to stop dangerous Channel crossings or combat people smuggling and human trafficking. d) Fails to address the backlog of asylum applications that has ballooned under this Conservative Government. e) Betrays the UK's proud tradition of providing sanctuary to refugees fleeing war and persecution, and breaches our international law commitments. Conference further believes that the best way to stop these dangerous crossings and tackle people smuggling is to provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees. Conference therefore calls on the UK Government to: 1. Abandon the Rwanda scheme and related legislation with immediate effect. 2. Reaffirm its commitment to upholding important human rights legislation, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Refugee Convention and the Human Rights Act. 3. Fix the broken asylum system by establishing a new, dedicated unit to make decisions quickly and fairly. 4. Provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees from all countries, as outlined in policy motion Safe and Legal Routes to Save Lives. 5. Manage the costs of the asylum system by giving asylum seekers the right to work and introducing a service standard of three months for all but the most complex claims to be processed. Applicability: Federal. Mover: 5 minutes; all other speakers 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 44Ð45 of the Agenda & Directory. Background briefing This motion updates and develops policy on refugees and asylum, in particular responding to the government's Rwanda scheme. It builds on existing policy as set out in the pre-manifesto policy paper 153, For a Fair Deal (September 2023), policy motion Protecting the European Convention on Human Rights (September 2023) and policy motion A Better Alternative to the Small Boats Legislation (March 2023). F17 Federal Board Report Q1. Submitted by John Grout Since 01/01/2020, how many in-person Conferences have been cancelled to date, and what is the total aggregate financial cost to the Party of those cancellations? Given the number of conference cancellations in recent years, and the possibility of yet another in the autumn, on what grounds does the Federal Board believe that any party member should arrange to attend any party conference ever again? Q2. Submitted by Abrial Jerram, Michael Berwick-Gooding, and Adam Roberston How successful have you been in achieving the objective of "developing a compelling and distinctive narrative" and how important is it compared to the other organisational priorities listed in the report? The slogan 'For a Fair Deal' could be open up to interpretation, and therefore could mean something different to each individual. When we are talking about 'Fairness' is it the overarching theme of equality of opportunity or economic equality? Note: All three submitters of this composite question will be entitled to a supplementary question. Q3. Submitted by Daniel Jones Given the advice to all members regarding antisemitism and the risks of being drawn into conspiracist thinking online (especially on social media), what is the board doing to support members (especially those involved in vetting council candidates) in spotting and being aware of such arguments? Q4. Submitted by John Grout How can we give LGBT+ candidates confidence and support given the culture wars the opponents of the Lib Dems are likely to be fighting on at the General Election? Q5. Submitted by Mark Johnston In cases that were already several years old, why did it take six months for the dismissal of eight so-called 'transphobia' complaints to be communicated to the members concerned? In the Board's view, do these unjustified delays and associated uncertainties caused by the party constitute victimisation within the meaning of Section 27 of the Equality Act? Q6. Submitted by Zoe Hollowood Has the Federal Board been given direct access to, and discussed, the legal advice commissioned by the party after the adoption of the Revised Definition of Transphobia? If not, why not? Q7. Submitted by Zoe Hollowood Has all the expert legal advice commissioned by the party into the Definition of Transphobia consistently confirmed that the holding and expressing of gender critical beliefs by members is protected by law under the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights (Arts 9 & 10), and that members must be allowed to express those beliefs freely, as long as they do not harass or discriminate against trans people or create an environment that is hostile or discriminatory to trans people? Q8. Submitted by Alisdair McGregor In the wake of the case of Ali vs Green Party, is the Federal Board confident that our disciplinary procedures are robust and fit for purpose in removing transphobes and others who are not aligned with the values of the party? Q9. Submitted by Toby Keynes Will the Federal Board take steps to disassociate the Party from the incendiary and grossly offensive assertion, in a motion adopted by English Council Executive in November 2022, that allowing party members to hold and express gender critical beliefs is "equivalent to allowing the holding and expressing of white supremacist or anti-Semitic views"? Q10. Submitted by Juliet Line In 2022 the ex-Chair of FPDC commented that it was working on a whistleblowing policy for volunteers. When can members expect its completion, who has been consulted and how will it be communicated? Q11. Submitted by Toby Keynes On 19/11/2022, I volunteered to train as an e-ballot administrator. The first initial training session offered was in December 2023. It is now 15 1/2 months since I first applied, and I am still waiting to be offered the final-stage training programme. Is there a shortage of trained e-ballot administrators, and how long is the average wait time from volunteering to completing training? Q12. Submitted by Wendy Horton and Dionne Daniel Could Federal Board put the 2022 presidential hustings videos online and link them to the 2022 President election results page as they seem to have been taken down after briefly being available on you tube? Note: Both submitters of this composite question will be entitled to a supplementary question. F18 Campaign for Gender Balance Report Q1. Submitted by Alison Jenner Numerous councillors and local party executives have told me their experiences of sex discrimination within the party, from being advised not to stand due to having young children, to refusal to make accommodations regarding meeting times. What is the Party doing to support women in this position, educate other councillors and exec members and help stop this happening? F19 Federal Communications and Elections Committee Report Q1. Submitted by John Grout and Adam Roberston What more support can be given to T2/Moving Forward seats to help as many as possible become the target seats of the future? How are the Federal Communications and Elections Committee ensuring that Development and Start-Up seats are being supported for the General Election, with the County Council Elections being the main priority and the potential for many Liberal Democrats being elected to County Councils in 2025 and being in power? Note: Both submitters of this composite question will be entitled to a supplementary question. Q2. Submitted by Abrial Jerram What is the process for a constituency that does not hit targets and does this process differ between held seats and non-held seats? Q3. Submitted by Chris Butler Why has the committee not disseminated the findings of the Campaigns Innovation Fund that it commissioned on the effectiveness of digital and non-digital campaigning? Q4. Submitted by Abrial Jerram How many seats are in each tier and do you expect these numbers to change between now and the election? F21 Federal Council Report Mover: Cllr Prue Bray. F23 The Funding Crisis in Local Government The FCC has agreed to make the following drafting amendment to the motion: In c) (line 36), after 'leisure centres,' insert 'swimming pools,'. Amendment One Sheffield Mover: Andrew Sangar. Summation: Joe Otten. After v) (line 25), insert: vi) Councils are struggling to fund the increase in the need for homeless placements and supported accommodation. After b) (line 32), insert: c) The government's approach to encourage councils to use reserves and capital receipts to subsidise their revenue expenditure is fundamentally wrong and unsustainable. After e) (line 42), insert: f) Liberal Democrat councillors up and down the country have a strong record in community engagement and delivering good quality, value for money local public services to respond to local need. Background briefing This motion updates and develops policy on local government, and creates new policy in response to the local government funding crisis. It builds on existing policy as set out in the pre-manifesto policy paper 153, For a Fair Deal (September 2023), and policy paper 130, Power for People and Communities (September 2018). Live stream The conference will be streamed live, in case you miss any sessions or want to watch again, at: libdems.org.uk/conference-live Lost Property Any lost property will be handed in to the Information Desk in the York Barbican Foyer. Conference timetable 2024 14-17 September 2024, Brighton Drafting advice deadline (motions) 13.00 Friday, 5 June 2024 Motions deadline 13.00 Wednesday, 19 June 2024 Drafting advice deadline (amendments, emergency motions) 13.00 Monday, 19 August 2024 Deadline for amendments to motions, emergency motions, topical issues, questions to reports 13.00 Monday, 2 September 2024 We want to hear from you! We will be sending round a feedback survey link soon. Please let us know about your experience of conference.