Safety Lights Are For Dudes

All the usual things, really. Met up with and broke bread with people I consider family. Voted in lots of debates. Went to fringes. However, there are a couple of things that were out of the ordinary:

- I was very proud that Calderdale's anti-racism motion went through (helped along by a barnstorming speech from the amazing Pauline Pearce).

- I was similarly proud that our amendment to the transport motion went through, and it's now officially lib dem policy to support HS3 connecting the north.

- I made a few speeches, but one that was particularly well-recieved was the one on the social security motion. (if you're a license fee payer, you can watch it here for the next 27 days - I'm at 1 hour 40 minutes and 15 seconds in). Sadly conference still voted the motion through, albeit with amendment one removing the commitment to sanctioning people, but I apologise to all my disabled friends that I wasn't able to get it voted down for the commitment to devolve WCA to local councils (several times this was nonsensically referred to from the stage as "abolishing" WCA - like local councils have the money or inclination to run it any better than ATOS or Maximus).

- I co-hosted Glee for the first time. Which was initially terrifying, but actually... lots of fun. And I really genuinely loved seeing all the journos who gladly sing along with stuff while they are there doing their biennial pretending-to-be-outraged-at-Glee articles the morning after.

Lots of other people from Calderdale made speeches too - Mick Taylor, Ruth Coleman Taylor, Sarah Noble and Alisdair Calder McGregor prominent among them - till it got to the point where in a debate on the final day the chair made a joking reference to a constitutional requirement that someone from Calderdale must speak in every debate for it to be valid. While we didn't win every fight, I think we did pretty well. All in all I think we had a pretty good conference.

And now it's back to the real world...

So, in case you're wondering what we got up to in Glasgow, here's us speaking from the stage.

Firstly, our lovely PPC for Calder Valley, Alisdair Calder McGregor ( spoke several times... )

Todmorden's own Ruth Coleman-Taylor ( spoke twice )

and also ( filled a good half of the first Today at Conference )

My lovely treasurer Dr Mick Taylor ( also spoke twice )

Sarah Noble ( spoke twice too )

Oh yeah... And I ( spoke agin gender quotas )

As usual conference was BUSY and I am now knackered. In no particular order here are some of the things I did:

• Voted in lots of debates. LOTS of debates.


• Spread the news about my workplace among various party people, which will hopefully get us lots more work coming in.


• Was very proud of various members of my local party who submitted questions and amendments, and spoke from the stage. Special props to my lovely candidate for Calder Valley, who was not only speaking lots, but spoken about (described by Joe Otten as "the next MP for Calder Valley, Alisdair Calder McGregor, talk about nominative determinism" LOL); my treasurer Dr Taylor, who moved our amendment to the Power to the People motion; and my regional exec rep Sarah, who made her first speech at her first conference on the Digital Bill of Rights. It got to the stage where there was a tangible sense of affectionate weariness in the voice of some of the people chairing the debates when they said "...and now I call X person from Calderdale" LOL.


• Raised something in the region of £300 for wearing a dress to the posh candidates' reception, which prompted a raised eyebrow from Our Glorious Leader and an accusation of "looking girly" from Farron. Pictorial evidence here and here.


• Did productive networking with various MPs and MEPs and other folks, including the usual "nice suit Brian!" "nice hair Jennie!" *cheek-kisses* interaction with Brian Paddick, a promise to hunt out my old "Munt not Manure" stickers for supreme BAMF Tessa Munt, a good long chat with presidential hopeful Pauline Pearce the Hackney Heroine, and admiring Jeremy Browne's new beard.


• Rocked Ilkley Moor at Glee.


• Reconnected with various fellow members of the Awkward Squad and promised to make t-shirts for autumn (I am SO on this). The only problem being, as Gadsden pointed out, that EVERYBODY is going to want one...


• As usual, ran into lots of old friends and new, but missed others. Was v pleased to see (albeit briefly) such people as Helen Duffett, Daddies Richard and Alex, Susan Gasczack, Bobbi White, Tim Oliver, etc.etc. And I met the AWESOME Maelo Manning's mum! Was sad to miss Stackee (though she was there) and various people who didn't make it (Jenkins!).


• And, inevitably, found a good pub which does GREAT food. I think the poor Mason's Arms got a bit overwhelemed by the influx of Lib Dems by the end of Sunday afternoon, but they really were very good. Saturday lunchtime there were just a few of us Awkward Squad types in there; Saturday evening there were a reasonable number more. Sunday lunchtime it was RAMMED with lib Dems. So this is me 1, thanking them for being a great pub and putting up with us all, and 2, recommending them to anyone who is in York in the Castle area.

Today is likely to involve a degree of unpacking and recovery. And answering emails. And then back to work tomorrow...