Liberal Youth

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Comment by Jordan Kiefer Dearn on January 19, 2012 at 11:48pm

I hope your not going to be promising lower tuition fees or campaigning for it! :@ i won't vote liberal democrats ever again! i remain a member but i vote labour untill clegg apologises or he out the door

Comment by Phil Nodding on September 18, 2011 at 12:57am

Punching above our weight? We couldn't punch our way out of a wet paper bag - even if the Tories begrudgingly gave us permission.

How much of this embarrassing smug pointless drivel can we stand? - "We can't have all our fights in public. While times are hard, while people are struggling, the last thing people want to see is the nation's leaders squabbling and point scoring."

 

I'd like to see you stand up for yourself and for what we promised these struggling people before the election and I'd be delighted if you had the guts to do it in public instead of doing deals behind closed doors with a bunch of public school boys who know as much about struggle and hardship as I know about molecular structure and insider dealing.

 

To applause from party members,Nick Clegg added: "That's why I can't tell you about every debate we have behind closed doors. But rest assured, we are fighting for Liberal values every day."

 

Fighting for you own distorted horse traded version of what's the most we can get away with without being told off and found out.

 

NHS, tuition fees, taxes, spending cuts, postponed bank reforms...are we living in some kind of self satisfied dream world where we can't remember the promises we made and the worthy stands we said we'd make??? Disgusting and disgraceful...nothing to cheer about over conference cocktails and nibbles in some Brummie conference hotel.

 

Worse than doing nothing, we're offering a smoke screen...collaborating instead of confronting injustice and dogma. Does anyone seriously think the current economic 'policy' is effective or carefully thought out? It's wishful thinking dangerously combined with a heartless desire to get tough for the sake of it.

 

We ought to be ashamed of ourselves not self congratulatory.

 

Lightweights. That ought to be the new party slogan. Never mind punching above our weight! The party of usless soundbites and pointless 'it's not our fault, we didn't have a majority' excuses. All bravado and bluster and no balls.

Comment by Michael Butlin on September 17, 2011 at 10:50am

Are there any young people out there to help me open up St Mary's University to Liberal Youth - I have 1 inside guy there, but we nee help, bodies, and always ideas

St Mary's Univ is in Twickenham, Vince's Home!

michael@butlin.com @michaelbutlin

Comment by Michael Butlin on September 17, 2011 at 10:47am

The older I get, the younger I remember. I'm now back 50+ years of Liberal thoughts

Comment by Lee Daniel Hughes on August 12, 2011 at 10:05pm

@Janet

Thanks for your request.

I think that people are following this group, and after the English riots, would like to hear young people's views on the causes. We need to be listening to our young people now more than ever.

My discussion above (regaining the trust of our teenagers in our "broken society") could be used as a useful place to continue this topic.

Comment by Janet King on August 12, 2011 at 4:02pm

I note that your last comment was 23 May but if anyon eis reading this page SNTT (Say NO To Trident) would like to invite you all to our Confeence fringe meeting at Jury's Inn room 104 at 8pm on Sunday 18 September when Kate Hudson CND and Dr Peter Burt, Nuclear Information Service will be speaking. If you believe, as we do, that expenditure of up to £100bn on UK nukes is wrong when they are unusable and we have already promised to work to eliminate them, why not join our group?

Comment by Paul Catherall on May 23, 2011 at 5:15pm

ordinary people which you seem to be listing rely a lot more than the privileged on those basic services we mention, you might be surprised at their objections to the  net effects of these reforms, the closure of libraries and swimming pools and so on.

About a million young people, anti-cuts and union folk protested against the triple fee, many travelling at great expense to protest. if that's not political awareness not sure what is.

Comment by Paul Catherall on May 23, 2011 at 5:07pm

I never suggested I hated Clegg, that's not the issue.

I can't see what's progressive about dis-locating schools from education authorities with all that entails, the national curriculum the school admissions code and all norms of conduct we expect from schools, ye it does need improving but not disestablishing.

It's also not about saying vocational stuff is bad, but that everyone should have the same opportunities, the academies are really making a 3 or 4 tier system, with some kids set on a vocational path at about 11.

I just can't see anything progressive or meritocratic under these schools reforms, then link this to the triple fee, ema and closure of many careers and placement services and you have a massive anti-meritocratic agenda run by some of the most privileged politicians to run this country in 50 years. To many this looks like class warfare.

Comment by Tim Patten on May 23, 2011 at 4:34pm

Looking up the Secondary schools in Scotland, the second most common type of secondary are "academies". Whether it's a different thing, I genuinely don't know, I don't live anywhere near Scotland!!! I don't know a huge amount about the Academies I won't lie, but as someone who's just finishing college now, I believe there is something still wrong with the system we have now. It's TOO academic, I've done A Levels as well as a BTEC(the more vocational course), and I can say I've learned a lot more from the BTEC than I did from the A Levels. With A Levels it's just books, revision and a memory test at the end. BTEC's are constant learning throughout the year, you learn practical skills, and you actually go outside the traditional classroom and put your learned skills into practice. IF academies do promote more vocational courses, such as hairdressing, catering, mechanics and so on, then I support it. You can't learn everything from reading books, and not everyone wants to learn the way it's always been, with 60% pass rates year in year out. Something has to change. I have heard academies are more selective, and that is wrong, but if it is a step to a more modern and practical education system, it's still a progressive step.

 

You seem to think that the general public know or even care about the region differences. Again, I think most people know very little. I certainly don't, and I've studied it. And judging by the traditionally low turnouts(which is a tragic shame) for Assembly elections, I doubt the majority of people do either. The basic public do not care about ideology, different types of government etc. They care, as you correctly said, about good NHS, good schools and public services. However, they care most about themselves, and their money. What we should be doing is creating more business, more job opportunities and making sure people have money in their pocket. Thats ultimately what people care about most. Progressive accords and Assemblies are the last thing on peoples minds, especially in financial mess. 

 

We need to think about what the average clubber wants, what the builder wants, what the jobseeker wants, what the parent wants. Frankly, us as a party are very bad at that. The Tories and Labour get those floating voters because they reach out to them much better. Clegg, much as you may hate him, did that and in 2010 we got more votes for us than in decades. It may look bad at the moment, but he's still done more for this party than anyone else has since Lloyd George. 

Comment by Paul Catherall on May 23, 2011 at 2:36pm

lol

at least Wales & Soctland have schools instead of 3000 academy boot camps run for profit where kids get hairdressing and joinery shoved down their throats at 13.  Yes - league tables configured to make these regions look bad because they refuse to adopt the academy privatization programme.  The academies are also using selection to boost ratings and using more vocational courses with easier subjects, the situation in the devolved regions is a traditional mix of GCSEs, A-Levels, BTECs and other streams. Academies are also known to use brutal performance tactics like expulsion for minor offences or a 'wall of shame' to humiliate lower scoring pupils.

The life expectancy difference is marginal, as you can see here http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=168but any difference will reflect the legacy of poverty in the regions as you should know, after 1000 years of occupation by a foreign country in Wales.

Salmond actually went on TV loads of times talking about his progressive deal for Labour and others, there's a BBC article on this on the group I made.

The public, union movement and progressive voters are well aware of the policy differences between the regions, it's staring them in the face in the tabloid press every time Westminster abolishes something in England vs the devolved situation.

The LibDem leadership needs to realise their fallacy that progressive voters want Liberal mumbo jumbo sloshed up with the Big Society, voters want basics, basic NHS, basic schools, basic local services and stuff, they don't want the kind of orange book rhetoric that Clegg and others struggle to explain.

I agree Salmond may well have decided the LibDems are toxic and a political write off. The LibDems depend on progressive votes, not reactionary ones, and the current agenda is anti-progressive, way off the chart. On the other hand, the LibDem voters, councillors and others are not the LibDem leadership, who are pursuing a set of aims largely outside the party manifesto or constitution.

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