Member News
By Tony Grew - 18th September 2011
The Liberal Democrat party conference has approved a motion calling on the party's MPs and ministers to question the police guidance on who can attend.
In a heated debate this morning on a motion on conference accreditation, delegate Garreth Epps claimed "plenty" of party members are not attending this year "because they refused to submit to a process that is authoritarian, disproportionate and wrong".
The motion was moved by Stephen Gilbert, MP for St Austell and Newquay.
"Many people have expressed concerns about the new accreditation arrangements," he told conference.
"For many this is about keeping our conference Liberal, keeping our conference open, and ensuring our party remains driven by giving all our members the opportunity to shape our party and to shape our policy.
"In the 19 years that I’ve been coming to our party conferences I’ve always treasured that tradition.
"It’s a tradition sets us aside from Labour and the Tories."
The police had advised that two people be excluded from conference as they had security concerns about their presence. In the end one person was refused a pass.
Former Lib Dem chief executive Lord Rennard argued that the party should consider that conference venues may not accept the Lib Dems if they ignore police advice.
The motion claimed the party's constitution and the European convention on human rights are breached by the security arrangements and called on Lib Dems in government to raise the issue with the home office.
After it was approved, Gilbert told ePolitix.com:
"Everyone accepts that since entering government there's been a need for increased security at our conferences, but this morning's debate was an important forum to air some concerns over the process of accreditation.
"I'm proud that our party has allowed today's discussion to take place, and am pleased that the motion was passed to ensure that the problems from this year are never repeated in the future."
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