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GreenLibDems 2020 Vision Conference
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The Lib Dems and the Green Party famously joined an alliance in the 2019 General Election to stop Brexit and prevent a Tory majority government. As we know, this wasn't successful.

Nevertheless, last week the journalist Nick Tyrone argued in The Spectator that "if Layla becomes leader, it will simply be a matter of time before the Lib Dems and the Greens formally merge". This followed with John Rentoul asking in his column in the Independent whether there is "something to" Tyrone's argument.

The Vice-Chair of Communications, Joe Dodd wrote a blog post this week for the environmental think tank, Green Alliance's Inside Track blog. The blog post analyses how green issues have risen up the agenda in the Liberal Democrats during the leadership election between Layla Moran and Sir Ed Davey.

Joe argues that even though the party is divided on a number of issues, there is a "consensus within the party that the climate and ecological emergency should be at the forefront of the Lib Dem platform". This is, of course, a welcome development from the perspective of the Green Liberal Democrats.

Coherent or simply banal?

As I said in my recent Op Ed piece on the website, one of the things that changed my day on Friday last week was that I had eventually seen the motion that caused our GLD motion to be bumped from consideration at the Lib Dem Online Conference at the end of September. If you recall, the letter sent to me from the Federal Conference Committee (FCC) indicated that the motion that was chosen was supposedly "more coherent" than the GLD submission.

BREAKING NEWS...BREAKING NEWS...BREAKING NEWS

In case you have not yet read the article, these first paragraphs represent something of a "spoiler alert", so shut your eyes and jump to the next paragraph, headed "Walking the Walk" and come back to this after you have read the article!

I have just "cast my vote". My wife, Fatima, who is locked down in Brazil at the moment, cast her vote the other day - and she let me know that there were THREE boxes on the ballot. One for Ed, one for Layla and one in case you wanted to "abstain". I had not realised until Fatima told me, that there would be an option to "abstain" - so I thought I should actually register my positive abstention as per the article below. So I have just been to the voting site and put an "X" in the abstaining box.

System Change Not Climate Change

There is a growing sense that the current political system in the UK is not fit for purpose. Many newspapers have written about the broken system and the lack of accountability in Westminster to the demands of the citizens. This flawed democracy has an impact on many areas, including how we deal with the climate emergency as a country.

LibDem Leadership Green Hustings from 28 July 2020

Some GLD members support Ed, some support Layla, either will make a great leader for the party and be able to outmatch Boris Johnson in the Commons

As the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for political and constitutional reform, the whole focus of my approach is trying to demonstrate the positive change which reforms can have. Our arguments are often too theoretical. They fail to meet people where they're at. If we cannot couch the case for a different voting system in terms of how it impacts people's lives, then I think we will continue to preach to the converted only.

Jane Goodall spoke at our Online Conference and Festival on the opening Sunday evening. What a way to close the first weekend!

Before she started we were told that she had just been awarded the 2020 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, a very prestigious international award, given in recognition of "her ground-breaking discoveries in primatology ... and her lifelong, unparalleled dedication to the conservation of Earth environment". Her reputation as one of the most influential primatologists today, the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and through that a great educator, and as a UN Messenger of Peace, preceded her. We were not disappointed.

Rejected by the FCC

(from a very angry, and disappointed, Chair)

As many of you will know members of GLD submitted two motions for consideration for the agenda of the online autumn conference. One was in my name as mover with Wera Hobhouse MP as summator, recognising the improved air conditions due to the "anthropause" (see below for definition!) . A second, dealing with a deeper approach to a carbon tax and a carbon dividend was submitted by Stewart Reddaway and Julian Hawkins.