It was the Autumn Scottish Conference in Edinburgh this Saturday. While it was only a one-day affair it was great to meet so many Councillors and Candidates.
Josh Babarinde was a special guest and was there shaking the buckets for the Lib Dem fundraiser speech. Alex Cole Hamilton gave a rousing speech that had everyone on their feet.
As a one-day event there were no ALDC specific training sessions on offer, but I will be pulling together a suite of training for our Spring conference next year so watch this space.
The key item for ALDC though was the ASLDC emergency motion on the Scottish Governments plans for Public Sector reform. Just as we witness the chaos south of the border as the reforms are shuffled about the SNP decide this is the time to try and restructure things here in Scotland.
To say the plans are back of the envelope does a dis-service to envelopes everywhere. The SNP’s Government still have not enacted laws that were passed 10 years ago but for some reason this reform must take place in 6 months.
I have never seen a room of Liberal Democrats speak with one voice, and with conviction, on any subject before now. There were over a dozen speakers on the motion and not one dissenting voice. The general consensus is that these are ill conceived, rushed and poorly thought out. A more robust response is required from our MSP’s at Holyrood on this subject. Local Government is not a bargaining chip to be used cheaply in budget negotiations.
With Council elections a matter of months away it is more important than ever that we select our candidates and get people trained up. If you need any help at all from ALDC I am here for training, calls, advice or whatever support you may need.