Events shown here are for LibDem party members only (and their guests) unless otherwise indicated.

Christmas Dinner with Vince Cable, 10th December 2007


Around 90 members, supporters, and their guests gathered for their annual Christmas Dinner at Sarum College on the evening of 10th December to enjoy excellent food, a fundraising auction, a raffle and an after dinner speech by Dr. Vince Cable, interim leader of the party. He congratulated the local party on their successful election results in the May 2007 elections.

Ever modest, especially about his own surprise leadership of the party which he was enjoying, he went on to woo his audience with quiet confidence and humour as he discussed his own, and the party’s, important role in current parliamentary debate: he discussed his views on defence, tax, health, the Northern Rock Bank saga, the economy, education, racism and threats to civil liberties including lost data and ID cards. His concerns over the centralization of medical records drew unanimous approval from his audience.

He referred to recent events as a political earthquake in British politics and said this had made political positions far less predictable. He warned his audience that the next few years would be difficult for the government as the economy unravels and personal and national debt increases: he said there were some difficult years ahead before the economy was likely to recover, people would suffer and in our prosperous society this would hit hard. He encouraged his audience to remain a strong challenging force in national and local government: it has been his intention to lead, and to challenge parliamentary debate, and suggested that it remains the Liberal Democrat’s role and responsibility to challenge the other main parties now that they have similar policies. He suggested that we need to use accurate facts hand in hand with strong, focused, ethical and moral questions to be effective.

He said he believed he had set an example by not attending the State Banquet held for King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on the grounds that he was head of ‘a corrupt and corrupting government that paid no heed to human rights’. He also supported Gordon Brown’s boycott of the joint European and African Union Summit because of the attendance of the Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe, who continued to ignore human rights in his country.

Dr Cable was thanked by the Chairman of the Council, Bobbie Chettleburgh who was Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

 Fundraising Supper with Nick Clegg, 28th September 2007. More than 70 members and supporters gathered for a Liberal Democrat Fundraising Supper at the end of September. Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam and Home Affairs Spokesman, spoke about the role of an MP in parliament today. Earlier in the week he had visited a school where a young pupil asked him what an MP did. The answer to her question formed the basis of his address. He said:

Eighty per cent (80%) of his time was spent replying to his constituents’ letters and phone calls following his local MP surgery. He believed that he felt that he was giving a “voice to the voiceless” though this essential service. He explained that the ‘root of many of his constituents’ frustrations’ was the feeling that large organisations, including international, national and local government, distanced themselves from the real lives of the people they served. People, he said, felt dehumanised by the very organisations who served them.

He suggested that Liberal Democrats should aim to reconfigure the state so it was more in tune with, and closer to, the heartbeat of the people: there was a need to reconnect people to government.

Mr Clegg expanded on what it meant to be a Liberal Democrat. The liberal idea, he suggested, had at its core, a concern for the relationship between the individual and their government. People should have as much freedom as possible in their lives knowing that such freedom had to be compatible with living in society today.

 
Murder Mystery Evening, 16th June 2007. Members of Salisbury Lib Dems took time off from solving political problems and instead solved crime clues on Saturday. Over 90 members and friends attended a Murder Mystery evening, held at the Studio theatre,` Ashley Road, as a joint fundraising event.

The event organisers, Kay Cooper-Joel, Alan Joel and Jill Mortimore were delighted to share the £1265 raised on the night.

Studio Club members, David Taylor, Sue Bale. Graham Thomas, Richard Clarke, Louisa Jackson, Simon Haseley and Sally Taylor contrived to avoid detection and entertained the audience with their guile and ingenuity. However, Elaine Childs, John Edgley and Peter Padwick were true detectives and solved the mystery.

Kath Angel was the Producer and Alistair Faulkner was M.C. for the evening. The Lib Dem Ladies Group provided a substantial buffet supper, which was enjoyed by all.

Kay Cooper-Joel

 
At our dinner on 17th February 2007, guest speaker Larry Hollingworth described how access to humanitarian situations may be difficult and has to be negotiated and agreed with governments; and sometimes with tribal leaders. This requires knowledge of the local conditions and culture. There is no right way to deliver aid, no simple formula or process. Negotiators face the constant threat of being taken hostage or being killed.

Larry also drew our attention to the United Nations/UNICEF Report on the Convention of the Rights of the Child: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries. This is an ongoing survey to assess how effective each country is at making children a priority using governmental policy. It attempts to assess the progress governments have made in reducing poverty for children. The UK was placed in 21 st out of 21 countries. The published results need careful interpretation: for some qualities measured the UK scores were more positive than the final placing suggests. When averaged, however, the UK had the lowest score: we were bottom of the list. The report certainly gives us food for thought in relation to policy both nationally and locally.

The photo shows Salisbury Liberal Democrats Chairman Greg Condliffe (left) thanking Larry after his talk. As Greg suggests, the report reminds us that we need to continue to put children first. Children are our future and policies need to be in place to ensure they thrive. It also reminds us that many children across the world are not so fortunate. They live in war zones and disaster areas such as those in the Sudan and Darfur where they are likely to be killed, maimed or starving as a result of war. There are many children who are victims of natural disasters and these too need help and support. These children’s lives are in sharp relief to those in the richest nations and we need to ensure that these children are able to thrive too.

Many thanks to Kay Cooper-Joel and all others who helped organise the event, which raised a very worthwhile contribution to party funds.

At our 2006 Christmas Dinner, around 90 local LibDems and their guests thoroughly enjoyed the evening and a lively talk from Chris Huhne. Chris said that unlike other parties, the LibDems were prepared to face up to the hard decisions that come with the fact that transport is the fastest-growing polluter in the economy. Green taxes had fallen to their lowest level since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and despite the global warming crisis, the Government were cutting climate change-related budgets, including flood defences and research. Only the LibDems, through the party’s Green Tax initiative, were willing to take the crisis seriously.

David Cameron spoke fine words, but publicity stunts could not cover the lack of substance. Surrounded by Old Etonians, he was hardly in touch with the poor. And Chris contrasted this with the LibDem approach, which was to take the lowest paid out of income tax altogether.

Reform of parliament itself was long overdue, to turn it back into a place which was responsive and accessible to the public. Legislation by the Blair government had resulted in the creation of an exclusion zone in Westminster, enabling the police to arrest someone for the “crime” of reading out a list of those killed in Iraq.

In answer to a question from local GP Dr Helena McKeown about care and the health service, he said the problem is not the money, but providing effective local decision-making, as the health minister could not understand the very local problems in Salisbury.

Our "Meet the (LibDem) Neighbours" Social Evening on September 30th 2006 was a great success, with over 60 attending. Held in Whiteparish village hall (because it's about equidistant between Salisbury and Romsey), the event was open to members of both Salisbury and Romsey local LibDem parties and their guests. With an excellent buffet mostly organised by Kay Cooper-Joel (with contributions from several other members), some generous raffle prizes, and entertainment afterwards from local Southampton-based folk-rock band Mary Jane, the event provided an opportunity for party and committee members from both constituencies to meet informally, and also raised a substantial amount for local party funds. A big "Thank You" also goes to Martin Lee for organising transport from the Salisbury area.

For some photos taken during the evening, click here.