Lib Dem Spring Conference round-up

6.40.59pm GMT Sat 29th Mar 2008

The Lib Dem 2008 Spring Conference in Liverpool was a great success.

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference held in Liverpool in March was a great success. Conference backed plans to radically transform the NHS into a 'people's health service' and supported measures to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years. In his first speech to Conference as Leader, Nick Clegg demanded a shake-up of the whole political system. A running theme of his speech was the need for a new kind of politics.

Conference backed plans to radically transform the NHS into a people's health service through empowering individuals and decentralising control to local communities. Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb called the result "a very significant vote" for the party. Local Health Boards (which would replace primary care trusts) would comprise two-thirds directly elected members, and one-third local authority councillors.

Conference backed measures to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years. The plans aim to greatly reduce the waiting list for social housing which currently stands at over 1.6m, up nearly 60% since 1997. Shadow Housing Minister Lembit Opik said: "The Liberal Democrat proposals will help families into homes that they can afford in communities that are sustainable."

Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable accused Labour of incompetence and the Conservatives of not knowing what they stand for, in a witty and rousing address to the Conference. Key points from Vince's speech included:

• Gordon Brown's list of disasters is becoming as long as the list of Don Giovanni's lovers: Northern Rock; lost data on 15 million families; mismanaged reforms to CGT and non-dom taxation.

• George Osborne's inheritance tax cuts suggest that "dead millionaires are at the heart of the Tory core vote strategy."

• Just as binge drinking has become one of Britain's main recreational activities, binge lending has now become the mainstay of the economy.

Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable accused Labour of incompetence.

Vince stressed the case for fairer taxes, with tax dodgers, particularly those amongst the super rich, brought to book. He re-emphasised the proposal to cut income tax by 4p in the pound, paid for with green taxes. Also, tax should be raised on drinks with high alcohol content - raising £225 million. We would use the money to cut VAT on healthy, 100% fruit juice from 17.5% to 5%.

Party President Simon Hughes used his conference speech to rally the party troops for May's elections. He pointed out that good results would not just happen: "We will all need to work hard, focus our collective efforts and get our messages out to voters."

Conference backed measures to improve support for children with special educational needs (SEN), stressing the importance of support during transition from school to adult services. Commenting, Children, Schools and Families Spokesperson, Baroness Walmsley said: "It is essential that children with particular needs are supported by teachers who have been trained to give them the specialist support they need."

The plans include proposals to ensure the inclusion in teacher training courses of training in all types of special educational needs, work towards achieving and then reducing the six month target for assessment of SEN, and ensure the needs of SEN students are included within plans to raise the education leaving age.

The Lib Dems are demanding the Government set up a full independent inquiry into British involvement with the US practice of 'extraordinary rendition'. Edward Davey, the party's Shadow Foreign Secretary, condemned extraordinary rendition as amounting "to abduction or kidnap which is illegal under international law".

Conference passed a motion condemning both terrorist acts aimed at Israeli civilian targets and disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces. The motion called upon Hamas and the Palestinian National Authority to do all in their power to end rocket attacks on Israel from the territories under their control, and to prevent all other attacks. The motion also condemned acts of the Israeli Defence Forces, in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which involve the disproportionate use of force.

Conference passed a motion to improve the regulation of the banking industry, in the light of the nationalisation of Northern Rock. The motion proposes reforms to combine genuine competitiveness in the sector with protection for depositors. To provide protection for savers in a competitive banking sector, the party is proposing to introduce a new Deposit Protection Scheme paid for by banks - as has proved successful in the United States - to provide 100% cover for personal deposits of up to £50,000. Depositors would have immediate access in the event of a bank failure.

The Liberal Democrats called for the Government to deny America the use of British bases for a unilateral ballistic missile defence system. The Conference also condemned the way the Government's decision to allow the US to use RAF Menwith Hill for the system was announced on the last day of a parliamentary session in an attempt to avoid public scrutiny.