Monday, May 17, 2010
Long memories and the Llandudno club
Probably my last ever Party Conference, so a quick 50 minutes trip on the train from MK to the NEC on Sunday. Not a voting delegate, but it did give me an experience to add to some historic memories.
How many others attending were also at the Liberal assemblies where David Steel moved the old Liberal Party towards wider co-operation? The first (was it at Llandudno –cant remember) was the late 1970’s Assembly where his proposals triggered a noisy placard-waving conference floor protest demonstration by the Young Liberals. I remember his recently defeated leadership rival John Pardoe sitting beside him on the platform giving firm and vocal support for the leader throughout.
And a later Assembly – definitely at Llandudno – where the SDP-Liberal alliance became possible, and so eventually the emergence of the Liberal Democrats. I remember the ‘biggest fringe meeting in the history of the party’ (was it 2000 people present?) and David Steel’s now notorious ‘go back to your constituencies and prepare for government’ leadership speech.
So for some of us older party activists the stresses and strains of current events are not all new.
There were at least two other members of the ‘Llandudno Club’ at the NEC, who both spoke at Sundays debate Tony Greaves of course And also Richard Moore, as upright, combative and passionate as ever. I suspect that Richard in particular has not necessarily been in full agreement with every stance the party has taken over the last thirty-odd years, and I certainly I have not myself always been in agreement with him. But he has contributed to our debates and development through his fortrightness and integrity. Whatever our particular positions we could do worse than take inspiration from this today.
Any other Llandudno Club veterans online with memories to share?
Anyone remember Giant Haystacks? What became of him?
I had thought of mocking old stereotypes by turning up at the NEC in beard, sandals and a badge saying ‘I had muesli for breakfast’ but the speed of the negotiations left me with no time to grow a beard so I put on shoes and socks and had bacon and eggs.
More on Sunday later perhaps.
Just to note that ‘possibly my last-ever conference’ is because I am finding large gatherings increasingly difficult to participate I as my hearing fails even more. Not a political withdrawal. The NEC echoes were particularly frustrating.
How many others attending were also at the Liberal assemblies where David Steel moved the old Liberal Party towards wider co-operation? The first (was it at Llandudno –cant remember) was the late 1970’s Assembly where his proposals triggered a noisy placard-waving conference floor protest demonstration by the Young Liberals. I remember his recently defeated leadership rival John Pardoe sitting beside him on the platform giving firm and vocal support for the leader throughout.
And a later Assembly – definitely at Llandudno – where the SDP-Liberal alliance became possible, and so eventually the emergence of the Liberal Democrats. I remember the ‘biggest fringe meeting in the history of the party’ (was it 2000 people present?) and David Steel’s now notorious ‘go back to your constituencies and prepare for government’ leadership speech.
So for some of us older party activists the stresses and strains of current events are not all new.
There were at least two other members of the ‘Llandudno Club’ at the NEC, who both spoke at Sundays debate Tony Greaves of course And also Richard Moore, as upright, combative and passionate as ever. I suspect that Richard in particular has not necessarily been in full agreement with every stance the party has taken over the last thirty-odd years, and I certainly I have not myself always been in agreement with him. But he has contributed to our debates and development through his fortrightness and integrity. Whatever our particular positions we could do worse than take inspiration from this today.
Any other Llandudno Club veterans online with memories to share?
Anyone remember Giant Haystacks? What became of him?
I had thought of mocking old stereotypes by turning up at the NEC in beard, sandals and a badge saying ‘I had muesli for breakfast’ but the speed of the negotiations left me with no time to grow a beard so I put on shoes and socks and had bacon and eggs.
More on Sunday later perhaps.
Just to note that ‘possibly my last-ever conference’ is because I am finding large gatherings increasingly difficult to participate I as my hearing fails even more. Not a political withdrawal. The NEC echoes were particularly frustrating.
Labels: conference, LibDems
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Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Avoiding a festival of constipation and cold clotted porridge
Just imagine this election campaign with only Brown and Cameron in the spotlight.
No life, no hope, no vision. The national mood would now be sour, depressed and despairing, with press excitement concentrated on whether various extreme factions would cause upsets.
Imagine the Parliament we are about to elect so constructed that Cameron and Brown manage to re-impose the pretence that they (or their successors) are the only legitimate political forces.
After the life of the campaign, once more political constipation.
After the real fresh foods of real and relevant issues breaking onto the menu, once more the cold porridge of the exhausted establishment.
The national mood will swiftly become sour and despairing.
As Prime Minister? Cameron? Well, on the surface he can seem very very deep, but deep deep down he is shallow.
Or Brown? (or more likely a emergency successor though). In alleged command of a zombie party of frustrated and frightened bullies.
Another thing. If we largely hold our seats and make the gains possible we may well be the only truly ‘National Party’ in the UK context. So the future of the United Kingdom as such may depend on our nerve and example.
To combat this we need as many LibDem MPs as possible from all parts of the country, backed by as big a LibDem vote as possible again from all parts of the country.
Damn tactical voting. Keep our politics alive and vote for Freedom with the Liberal Democrats. Everywhere.
No life, no hope, no vision. The national mood would now be sour, depressed and despairing, with press excitement concentrated on whether various extreme factions would cause upsets.
Imagine the Parliament we are about to elect so constructed that Cameron and Brown manage to re-impose the pretence that they (or their successors) are the only legitimate political forces.
After the life of the campaign, once more political constipation.
After the real fresh foods of real and relevant issues breaking onto the menu, once more the cold porridge of the exhausted establishment.
The national mood will swiftly become sour and despairing.
As Prime Minister? Cameron? Well, on the surface he can seem very very deep, but deep deep down he is shallow.
Or Brown? (or more likely a emergency successor though). In alleged command of a zombie party of frustrated and frightened bullies.
Another thing. If we largely hold our seats and make the gains possible we may well be the only truly ‘National Party’ in the UK context. So the future of the United Kingdom as such may depend on our nerve and example.
To combat this we need as many LibDem MPs as possible from all parts of the country, backed by as big a LibDem vote as possible again from all parts of the country.
Damn tactical voting. Keep our politics alive and vote for Freedom with the Liberal Democrats. Everywhere.
Labels: general election, LibDems
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Monday, October 20, 2008
Konjunktura nepabegs - keeping money in safe havens
‘The market will not go away’ a statement true in any language (in this case Lithuanian) because the dynamics of self-regulating systems adapt to any constraints regardless of what we may want to happen. So with the proliferation of bank deposit protection schemes, market awareness is leading to a scramble by some voluntary organisations to shift accounts between institutions to make sure that their money is spread between accounts that are individually covered to the maximum £50,000 This is quite a disruptive process…
With all the takeovers and so on there doesn’t seem to be a readily available roadmap though. Most people know that the Co-Operative bank owns SMILE online bank, so if you have a deposit in both you are ‘only’ covered to a maximum of £50,000 as the sum of both accounts. Useless to open anew account in one if you already have an account in the other. But if a bank now takes over another and you had deposits in both your maximum coverage is halved –and many may not realise this. Is the banking industry making this shift transparent?
Not all organisations seem to be covered by FSCS though. Are we in any way protected as a party for our party accounts?
With all the takeovers and so on there doesn’t seem to be a readily available roadmap though. Most people know that the Co-Operative bank owns SMILE online bank, so if you have a deposit in both you are ‘only’ covered to a maximum of £50,000 as the sum of both accounts. Useless to open anew account in one if you already have an account in the other. But if a bank now takes over another and you had deposits in both your maximum coverage is halved –and many may not realise this. Is the banking industry making this shift transparent?
Not all organisations seem to be covered by FSCS though. Are we in any way protected as a party for our party accounts?
Labels: banks, Financial markets, financial services, LibDems
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