Lib Dems Abroad

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Comment by Michael Miles on September 27, 2011 at 17:59

Now that there are a group of members in different countries abroad, I think that it is time to start a debate about what matters most to the electorate in the UK.

Opinions are going to vary of couse, but I am going to start off with the slogan 'Get Britain Working again'. It is easy to sack people but not so easy to create new jobs. More people on the dole means less tax revenue and more social payments, more people in desperate situations which create family breakups which leads to criminal behaviour and deliquency et al.

I will start off with 2 suggestions. Firstly start building AFFORDABLE housing by releasing building land. Councils have a duty under the 1947 Town and Country Plannign  Act to provide land for the building of houses. We have become a land of NIMBYs. Those with houses don't want others to have one.

The high cost of housing is brought about by the shortage of land created by planning laws which do not work to the advantage of the electorate. Councils appear to have a regime of what ever you want to do we are agin it - what was it you wanted to do? Land plots should cost on average £10000. To achieve this you need to release some 2000000 plots. If you start to build affordable homes you create internal jobs. These skills need to be acquired through local initiatives and

then these 'apprentices' of any age should be taken on by local companies for 5 years. This will protect to some extent the jobs going to external incomers. But we are in the EU? Try getting a job in France without a French piece of paper!

Creating homes leads to a happy workforce, reduced social problems etc.and a demand for homebased products which in turn leads to higher employment in other sectors. You need a sector to lead the way. It used to be the car Industry but look what happened to that!

My second activity ( I have many more ideas as I expect the membership does) is to get the big supermarkets together and create a 'Buy British' agreement. Why are all these lorries coming across the channel up the M 20. I am sure that if we analysed the port goods arriving at Dover and Harwich we could find opportunities for British companies.

It's no good worrying about the colour of the funnel on the Titanic 2. WE need to address the real issues. The ship is sinking so let's man the pumps on behalf of the UK.

 

Comment by Paul Speller on September 27, 2011 at 14:58

Merlene, yes we have the largest number of members in any country living in France. I have had several attempts to get people to set up a branch there but no success yet. It remains the number one target. Also USA and Australia are high on my list. Paul

Comment by Merlene Emerson on September 27, 2011 at 14:49

Paul, 5 branches being Brussells, HK, Germany, Spain and Channel Islands..?  How about our closest neighbour France?  There should be quite a sizeable British expat community living there.  We could take out an ad in  Connexion, French News or other English language newspaper.  Just a thought.

Comment by Paul Speller on September 27, 2011 at 14:29

Hi Jonathan

 

Please contact the Chair who is Martin Petts     hello@martinpetts.com

Comment by jonathan thomson on September 27, 2011 at 13:09

I am in Spain (Madrid), how can I assist? who do I contact?

Comment by Paul Speller on September 27, 2011 at 11:47

We hope soon to be able to announce new Lib Dems Abroad branches in Spain and the Channel Isles. That makes five overseas branches so far.

 

Comment by Merlene Emerson on March 30, 2011 at 11:07

Congrats on the launch of the first overseas Lib Dems grouping in HK!! Hope we can work together to recruit more members - http://chineselibdems.org.uk.  info@chineselibdems.org.uk  

Comment by Paul Speller on February 23, 2011 at 14:06

Good news. We now have a branch of Liberal Democrats Abroad in Hong Kong. Its the first new branch to be set up since Nick Clegg announced the formation of Lib Dems Abroad at the Liverpool conference last year. We hope to set up other new branches soon. The idea is to link in with our many overseas members and supporters and to encourage new members to join. We also want to hear about their concerns. For more info take a look at  the international page of the party website or email libdemsabroad@libdems.org.uk

Comment by Paul Speller on October 19, 2010 at 16:15

I hope everyone saw my letter last week about the new organisation we have set up; Lib Dems Abroad. In case you didnt here it is. Please get in contact if you would like to help.

From: Lib Dems Abroad
Sent: 14 October 2010 13:55
Subject: Liberal Democrats Abroad

Dear Friends,

We are very grateful for your continuing support of the Liberal Democrats.

These are interesting times for the Party. As you know, we are now in the coalition government in the UK and in a position to make a real difference. The challenge for us is to take forward the agreed Coalition policies while still upholding our Liberal values.

At the same time we want to ensure that we do everything possible to keep in touch with our party members and supporters. This includes those living overseas.

As a party with an international outlook we have always been proud to have members abroad but, until now, we have never had an organisation within the Party which interacts with these members. We have had many requests from our supporters overseas to set up something new.

That is why Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced after our conference in Liverpool that we are setting up Liberal Democrats Abroad. It is based in the International Office of the Party HQ in Cowley St and Paddy Ashdown has kindly agreed to be its Patron.

The aims of Liberal Democrats Abroad are simple. We want to ensure Lib Dems living overseas can stay in touch with the Party in the UK and make certain that, in return, the Party understands the concerns of its members overseas. We will also encourage our members and supporters to register to vote in the UK and encourage new members to join the party.


Therefore we want to set up a network of Liberal Democrats branches and representatives in as many countries as we can. We will then give them our continuing support. There are more details about what constitutes a branch in the note which is attached. We already have an excellent branch in Brussels but we would like more.


If you are interested in setting up a branch in the country where you live please let us know and we will help you to do this. We hope you can also encourage others to join the Party. There is a membership application form on our webpage www.libdems.org.uk/lib_dems_abroad.aspx


Please let us have your views on Liberal Democrats Abroad or indeed any aspect of the Party’s policies. We look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,

Paul Speller l Secretary General, Liberal Democrats Abroad l libdemsabroad@libdems.org.uk l +44 207 2271328

Comment by Paul Speller on September 27, 2010 at 16:28

Hi Alice and to everyone else in the Group. As you know, we have just launched Lib Dems Abroad as an organisation which is based in the International Office in the Lib Dems HQ in Cowley St. I am the person taking it forward.
Please have a look at the Lib Dems Abroad webpage www.libdems.org.uk/lib_dems_abroad.aspx. What we want to do is connect with our friends and supporters overseas in an organised way that we havent done before. We think we have many supporters overseas who would like to have more contact with the party. So we are planning to set up a network of branches based on the only overseas branch we have, in Brussels, The Conservatives and Labour parties have been doing this for years and its time we did it too. So far the feedback has been positive. Most people wonder why we havent done this before!

Paul

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