Blogposts tagged 'Party Conferences'

'Defence Day' at Tory party conference - what will the Lib Dems make of it all?

Posted by louise - 6 October 2010 at 3:26pm - 1 Comment

Dr Fox looks nervous about his Trident budget cc  Steve Punter

Yesterday was, amongst other things, time for the Conservatives to debate defence at their conference.

First up was Dr Liam '13th century' Fox, who declared that we live in a "world more dangerous than any other time in recent memory". Hmmm - what about the Cuban missile crisis, Liam? Or Hitler invading Europe?

Article tagged as: party conferences, trident

Elephants and lemons: Lib Dems make Fox's bed of nails on Trident

Posted by simon clydesdale - 22 September 2010 at 10:31am - 0 Comments

This morning the Lib Dem conference voted unanimously for a review of the decision to replace Trident, and finally managed to prod their ministers into making some noise on the issue. This is a huge step forward for the majority of Britons who aren't convinced of the need to spend £97 billion on cold war weapons whilst public services are being slashed. Simon Clydesdale, our man on the conference floor, explains the implications:

 

Shirley Williams was asked recently what it was like being in bed with the Conservatives. She cannily replied that it was actually a case of two beds. And this morning the Lib Dems took the opportunity to make their bed in a distinctly different style to their Tory coalition partners when they voted to adopt an emergency motion on replacing Trident.

Article tagged as: disarmament, liberal democrats, party conferences, peace, trident

Hughes tells party "we must fight on Trident"

Posted by louise - 21 September 2010 at 2:26pm - 0 Comments

Deputy leader Simon Hughes opposes Trident replacement: "the case is winnable and we must not yield."

Monday and Tuesday at conference have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Team Trident.

Political conferences, stuffed as they are with politicians and media types, are always awash with rumours. And as we followed the speeches, the press coverage, the tweets and just plain old chatted to people we swayed between pessimism and optimism.

Article tagged as: liberal democrats, nuclear weapons, party conferences, trident

Pressure builds for green delivery at Lib Dem conference

Posted by jossc - 21 September 2010 at 7:41am - 0 Comments

Under pressure: Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne © CC/David Spender

Climate campaigner Louise Hutchins reports from the Liberal Democrat party conference:

Here in Liverpool amongst the Lib Dem faithful, there is a mood of embattled determination to give their leaders the benefit of the doubt – for now. There's also a keen awareness that delivery on some of the party's touchstone issues is urgently needed to stem the haemorrhaging of support seen in opinion polls.

Article tagged as: climate change, liberal democrats, party conferences, polling

Lib Dems vote to debate Trident at conference

Posted by louise - 20 September 2010 at 11:08am - 0 Comments

Greetings from a bustling Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool! Team Trident (aka Simon, Zoe and me) are here to talk to people about one of the big issues of the day – whether or not the coalition government proceeds with hugely expensive plans for a new generation of nuclear weapons in the midst of the biggest cuts to public spending in living memory.

Article tagged as: liberal democrats, nuclear weapons, party conferences, politics, trident

New poll shows Clegg on collision course with party over Trident

Posted by jossc - 16 September 2010 at 12:49pm - 2 Comments

With the Liberal Democrats' first conference since they entered government looming later this week, we commissioned a poll to see how party members are feeling about Trident replacement. Not surprisingly, given that the party campaigned on scrapping 'like for like' replacement during the election campaign, not many are in favour.

Article tagged as: liberal democrats, party conferences, politics, strategic defence review, trident

We're in ecological debt once again, and we haven't got long to repay the loan

Posted by jamie - 23 September 2008 at 1:07pm - 0 Comments

A projection at the Labour conference shows how long we have to avert catastrophic climate change

One down, 99 to go: the clock is ticking at the Labour conference © Will Rose

Today might be your run-of-the-mill Tuesday with nothing more remarkable than the news that a rover on Mars will take two years to travel 11km, plus a slight smattering of rain. But according to the New Economics Foundation (NEF), today is more significant than you might expect because it's the point in the year when we've used up all of the resources the Earth can produce and we start going into ecological debt.

Article tagged as: 100 months, climate change, labour, party conferences

Climate Clinic goes to Bournemouth

Posted by benet - 16 September 2008 at 10:14am - 0 Comments

Our very own Benet Northcote (right) joins the 'Coal vs Rebewables' debate at the 2008 Lib Dems Party Conference

Benet (right) joins Climate Clinic's 'Coal vs Renewables' debate

One of the great traditions of British politics is the seaside conference. It is sad to think it might soon be a thing of the past. In 2007 all three political parties held their conferences in seaside resorts; this year the Climate Clinic only needs its bucket and spade once – for the Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth.

Article tagged as: climate change, climate clinic, liberal democrats, party conferences, politics

Public rows and private chats

Posted by benet - 27 September 2007 at 6:50am - 0 Comments

Greenpeace scientist Dr Doug Parr speaking at the aviation fringe event
Greenpeace scientist Dr Doug Parr speaking at the aviation fringe event

Wow! This conference is busy. For the last two days I have been running between fringe events, private meetings with ministers and - well - some parties.

So, a quick catch up on the Greenpeace conference campaign. Firstly our fringe events. On Monday we ran a large event on decentralised energy, which included a screening of our film "A Convenient Solution". The London Mayor - Ken Livingstone - spoke, as did the Energy Minister Malcolm Wickes and our very own John Sauven. It was a packed meeting which still managed to get into some of the detail on decentralised energy. If we are going to solve the climate challenge we are going to need real ambition.

Article tagged as: climate clinic, labour, nuclear power, party conferences, politics

Brown's big day

Posted by benet - 24 September 2007 at 11:30am - 0 Comments

Attendees of the climate clinic watch Brown's speech

Today Brown will deliver his first conference speech as Prime Minister, and you can't help but feel the excitement amongst Labour delegates. All the talk is about whether he will call a snap election.

Last night I was at the Social Market Foundation event and had a long chat to John Denham - the minister who notably resigned over the Iraq war in 2003. Now he is in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. He gave me some very good reasons why Brown might want to call an election sooner rather than later - mostly to do with the amount of money in the Conservative Party war chest.

Article tagged as: climate change, climate clinic, labour, nuclear power, party conferences, politics
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