You are here: Home » News »

Lib Dems invite Progress members to their conference

June 25, 2012 10:22 am

Share this Article

Lib Dem President Tim Farron has sent a spectacularly opportunistic letter to Lord Adonis (Chair of Progress) inviting Progress members to attend Lib Dem conference. The letter is reproduced below:

Dear Andrew,

On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, I would like to invite Progress and its members to attend Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Brighton.

I have noted the moves from the GMB and others within the Labour Party to sideline Progress and force its members out of the party. This is a great shame. I do not mean to patronise you or your members by suggesting your response should be to join the Liberal Democrats. I know that you very much consider yourselves a part of the Labour movement. But you are modern, progressive reformers and you deserve to be a part of the political debate in this country. In the Liberal Democrats we pride ourselves not only on being a modern, progressive reforming party, but also as an open democratic one that never shies away from debate. We are also a party that is prepared to work with others for the good of the country.

Whether it is the economy, political reform, climate change, health, education or any of the other major issues facing us as a country, we will be debating them at our conference. You and your members are welcome to join us and I’m sure the debate will be all the richer for it.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Farron

President of the Liberal Democrats

Related posts:

  1. Lib Dems cancel London conference tomorrow due to planned protests
  2. Progress Conference: Reconnecting with working class communities
  3. One week to Progress annual conference
  4. Just a few more hours to register for Progress’ annual conference
  5. Progress Conference: Labour needs to start from values rather than policy
  • treborc1

    Poor old liberals, they need to fill chairs.

  • Daniel Speight

    Sounds like a good answer to the problem.

    • treborc1

      Clegg is Blair or Clegg does Blair, somehow I think Progress has a higher plan.

    • Jeremy_Preece

      Sounds like a good answer for Tories who want to derail Labour and ensure that they get many more terms in office.

      Frankly I am very tierd of this school of thought that the time has come to move Labour away from the bad old days of Blair and winning three consecutive elections and that the future lies in recreating a 1980′s real Labour of the Micheal Foote and Niel Kinnock type that managed to loose four elections in a row. Nice plan!  

      • http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone

        The options you describe are unnecessarily limited. The choice isn’t between re-heated Blair or re-heated Old Labour – neither are fit for the present purpose. We have to face the future and move on from the irrelevancies of both.

        • Jeremy_Preece

          But you seem to equate the two as being equal, the three time election winner and the four time election looser.

          Key to the New Labour model was that there must be a credible economic management that is at least equal to and actually much better then the Tories. That still stands.

          There are all kinds of people who aspire to promotion and achievement and New Labour also said that it was the party of aspiration. That also must still stand.

          Labour reduced child poverty, reduced third world debt, achieved on law and order, delivered economic growth and even showed the first signs of recovery after the world-wide crash.

          All in all, a lot to want to hang on to, rather than throw away as being equally rubbish as the Micheal Foot era.

      • Daniel Speight

        …of Blair and winning three consecutive elections…

        Why is it those who claim the credit for three election victories don’t also accept the blame for the last loss and the sleaze shown by Byers, Hewitt and Hoon. Let’s not forget the back-stabbing by Blears, Flint and Clarke and so on.

        If we could all go through life just claiming on the good things and never anything bad how much happier we would all be. It would of course be Disneyland, not the Labour Party.

        • AlanGiles

          Could’nt agree more Daniel. And to emphasize the point, Purnell’s mate Byrne has written yet another of his dissembling articles for LL this afternoon…..

          • John Dore

            Really liked it.

        • Jeremy_Preece

          Because we talk of our achievements and we let the electorate know of them. Because we need to counter the lies about Labour that this government pushes into the mind of the electorate.
          Also of course because to win an election we actually look at the positive. I find it hard to identify with people who think that the best thing to do is to accentuate the negative and shoot ourselves in both feet before we start as if that gives us some sort  high score being stoic. And of course extra points for loosing the election on our own terms.

          • Daniel Speight

            You are talking to mostly Labour supporters on a Labour blog and you are not prepared to admit to doing any wrong. This is may suit the schoolyard, but not a debate.

            Like-minded leaders of your views became bloated and corrupt. They were challenging the Major government for a reputation of sleaze, yet all you can say is we won three elections. The public didn’t buy it last time and I doubt they will buy it again. You lost the last election all by yourselves. You can’t blame anyone else.

          • Daniel Speight

            You are talking to mostly Labour supporters on a Labour blog and you are not prepared to admit to doing any wrong. This is may suit the schoolyard, but not a debate.

            Like-minded leaders of your views became bloated and corrupt. They were challenging the Major government for a reputation of sleaze, yet all you can say is we won three elections. The public didn’t buy it last time and I doubt they will buy it again. You lost the last election all by yourselves. You can’t blame anyone else.

      • robertcp

        Kinnock lost in 1992 but he made Labour electable.  Labour actually got a higher percentage of the vote in 1987 and 1992 than in 2010.  The share of vote in 1992 was not much less than in 2005.

        Blair and Brown inherited an electable party from John Smith.  They also faced a Tory Party that was making itself unelectable.  Iraq, the worst recession since the 1930s and a massive deficit etc meant that by 2010 Labour was back to where it was in 1983.  Ed M,like Kinnock, is faced with trying to restore sanity to Labour and he seems to be doing a better job than Kinnock so far.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=883560703 facebook-883560703

    My lord..why would they associate with those turncoats..

    • Mike

       Which is which here?

  • http://twitter.com/gavinlambert Gavin Lambert

    I’d imagine the offer will be declined.

    • Jeremy_Preece

      I am sure that it will be declined. I would have thought that it is many individual LibDem MPs who actually might want to jump ship, as the prospect of their electorial wipeout draws ever nearer. Whether we should accept them however is another question.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/QDMFX65KM5STSAFHAC4FOLFTO4 fran

    Sounds ideal to me  

  • Martin Yuille

    I would hope Progress will reply to this invitation.

    That would be the right time to publish what the Lib Dems have written and what Progress believes.

    Just to publish the invitation alone is to invite knee-jerk responses from knee-jerk thinkers (see below). Is that what Progress wants?

    • treborc

      What knee jerk reactions, I do not think we would get uptight over a magazine,  funny how the Progress types are running around moaning, that a Union is trying to get them banned, but of course labour cannot ban Progress it’s not affiliated to any party. bit of a knee jerk reaction

  • Brumanuensis

    I’d wager Adonis will just ignore this. Mind you, it was worth a try from Farron.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Pelton-Level/100001426773952 Pelton Level

    “Only the LibDems can win around here”

  • Jude Robinson

    I think he has this the wrong way round. if the Lib Dems are such a progressive party, what are they doing propping up a mindless right wing Tory government?  They should be joining us. 

  • http://twitter.com/ElliotBidgood Elliot Bidgood

    While I’m personally big on Labour engaging with the Lib Dems, this is a naked political move. Nothing wrong with that as such, we maneuver to take Lib Dem support and may the best man win, but that’s what it is.

    Not that I think it’ll work. Political pragmatism tends to be a hallmark of Progress’ approach. Who jumps *onto* a sinking ship?

Latest

  • News Labour Equal marriage amendment gets Tory backing

    Labour Equal marriage amendment gets Tory backing

    From: HERBERT, Nick Sent: 20 May 2013 16:29 To: HERBERT, Nick Subject: Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill – voting today   Dear Colleague Thank you for your support for the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at Second Reading. You will be aware of the amendments tabled by Tim Loughton and others (new Clauses 10 & 11) to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples I have no issue with the principle of this proposal, but I am very worried that adding this measure to the [...]

    Read more →
  • News Whitewash report claims that there’s no such thing as DWP “league tables” for sanctions

    Whitewash report claims that there’s no such thing as DWP “league tables” for sanctions

    Whilst the Westminster village has been working itself up into a lather over the rise of UKIP and when/if there should be an EU referendum, the DWP snuck out a report on the evidence of DWP league tables that we brought you recently. It’s a total whitewash. The report – which you can read here – argues that claims of a league table are entirely down to individual managers at a number of job centres. You could call it the [...]

    Read more →
  • Featured Equal Marriage is the most important thing – but Labour can’t let Equal Civil Partnerships get the “long grass” treatment

    Equal Marriage is the most important thing – but Labour can’t let Equal Civil Partnerships get the “long grass” treatment

    By Mark Ferguson

    So after toying with support for the Tim Loughton amendment over the weekend, Labour has decided to abstain on that particular amendment, and propose their own. Let’s be clear – the most important news today is that Equal Marriage will pass through the commons, and that’s a cause for huge celebration for all but an isolated minority in the Labour Party. I made clear this morning that I didn’t buy the argument that supporting the Loughton amendment would stop or [...]

    Read more →
  • News Labour’s Equal marriage Bill amendment on Civil Partnerships

    Labour’s Equal marriage Bill amendment on Civil Partnerships

    Labour MPs will be encouraged to back this amendment – rather than that of Tory backbencher Tim Loughton – today: House of Commons Monday 20 May 2013 CONSIDERATION OF BILL New Amendments handed in are marked thus * MARRIAGE (SAME SEX COUPLES) BILL MANUSCRIPT AMENDMENT (a) As an Amendment to Secretary Maria Miller’s proposed New Clause (Review of civil partnership) (NC16):- Kate Green (a)(a * Line 8, leave out from ‘practicable’ to end of Clause, and insert ‘and include a [...]

    Read more →
  • News Is Ed Miliband picking a fight with Google?

    Is Ed Miliband picking a fight with Google?

    By Mark Ferguson

    In his interview with the Observer yesterday, Ed Miliband singled out Google as a company who aren’t “living up to their responsibilities” on tax, saying: ” I don’t think [Google] are living up to their responsibilities at the moment, and I will be very clear about that on Wednesday. It is part of a culture of irresponsibility. If everyone approaches their tax affairs as some of these companies have approached their tax affairs we wouldn’t have a health service, we wouldn’t [...]

    Read more →