From March 11th – 13th I attended the Lib Dem Spring Conference up in Sheffield. This year I was pleased to attend with Councillor Chris Lloyd and fellow Three Rivers resident Peter Getkhan so we drove up in my car and shared the travel costs. It was also Chris and Peter’s first Lib Dem conference so I was keen to hear their thoughts on what they hoped to get out of it on the way up and whether they achieved their objectives on the way back. My objectives were simple: to hear from Nick Clegg and the party leadership on our achievements in government and how we retain our identity as the smaller party in the Coalition, to hear the latest on AV and to speak on the Diversity Motion.

On the first point, Nick was his usual ebullient, bullish self, reiterating the Lib Dem policies that are happening now or shortly:

• From April, 900k will stop paying income tax altogether
• Every basic tax payer will pay £2o0 less in tax per year
• By 2015, no tax on the first £10k earned
• £10b extra off the banks
• A publicly funded “free” NHS
• Free pre-school education for 2 years olds from poor background
• A “pupil premium”: an extra £2.5b extra for schools who take on children most likely to fall behind
• Creation of 350k apprenticeships
• Reform of the House of Lords
• Reform of the voting system (by referendum)
• Doing away with ID cards
• The end of child detention

It was good to hear how many of  the things we campaigned for in our manifesto were now being implemented. There is no way these things would have been achieved had it not been for Lib Dems in government so we can be proud of what we’ve achieved thus far – and there’s still 4 more years of this government remaining!

On AV, we heard from a number of speakers, including Nick Clegg, Party President Tim Farron and not least Simon Woolley from Operation Black Vote and Vice Chair of the Fairer Votes Campaign, all urging us to get out there and inform, educate and convince people about the importance of the fairer votes referendum. As Nick Clegg said:

If you want MPs to work harder for your vote, vote yes.
If you want politicians to listen to the whole country, not just swing voters in marginal seats: vote yes.
If you want an end to jobs for life in safe seats, vote yes.
If you want a new politics, vote yes.

We were reminded that there are just 7 weeks to go before the referendum… It’s now time for action and I for one will be out actively campaigning to get this referendum won!

Finally, to the thorny issue of increasing diversity amongst our parliamentarians. As Nick Clegg said himself, our party is “too male and too pale…” Whilst everyone agrees that there is a problem within the party, the party is split on how to solve it. Some favour all BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) shortlists, others, like me, believe that this is the wrong approach. Last year I spoke out against such a mechanism, despite the fact that I might well benefit personally, on the basis that it was illiberal, unfair, it inferred systemic bias and was technically impossible to implement on the grounds of definition (what exactly is meant by “minority ethnic”?) So I was glad to read and support Baroness Brinton’s review and motion calling for the establishment of a Leadership Programme where the brightest and the best from all diverse backgrounds (ethnic, gender, sexual orientation and lower income backgrounds) are trained, mentored and supported and up to two from this scheme will be added to the shortlist of all priority seats (the final decision of course remaining with the constituency party). Myself and the vast majority of other speakers spoke out in favour of the motion and despite a brave, albeit in my opinion, misguided objection, the motion was carried overwhelmingly! On Saturday March 12 2011, progress was made within the party and I was honoured and proud to be able to play a small part in making this happen.

At the Diversity Engagement Group drinks afterwards there was a palpable buzz in the air. Not only had we finally moved forward on this issue, the structure, the resources and the political will is in place that I have no doubt will see more women and (finally!) ethnic minority Lib Dem MPs in the House of Commons.

Other highlights for me were:

• Meeting and showing off pictures of my kids to Miriam González Durántez (aka Nick’s other half!)
• Meeting Andrew Stunell (Communities and Local Government Minister)
• Meeting my old school chum’s mum, and long serving Lib Dem activist, Judith Rodgers again for the first time in c. 25 years!

So overall, despite the angry protesters, the bad weather and the overly precious security guards, in my view this was a very good Spring Conference, and my colleagues seemed to think so as well. This was especially true for Pete who definitely seemed to enjoy the “networking opportunities” offered up by the hotel bar and the ‘Glee Club’!

PS, the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that I’m using the picture from the last conference. I’ll update to a new one once I can find out if anyone I know took one!