OPINION

Ballot papers and candidate manifestos for the crucial 2012 Federal Party Committee elections are in the post. Here is a list of some of the Social Liberal Forum members and supporters who are actively promoting our priorities and are standing for the various committees – Federal Policy Committee (FPC), Federal Conference Committee (FCC), and Federal Executive (FE) are the most important elections: Federal Conference Committee:

• Jon Ball
• Gareth Epps
• Richard Fagence

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Dispatches: Secrets of your Boss’s Pay, features Sir Mike Darrington, former chief executive of Greggs, investigating executive pay. Sir Mike was a panellist at the SLF’s Conference fringe meeting ‘Overcoming crisis: How to move towards a more ethical capitalism’, and part of the Dispatches programme was filmed during the fringe meeting and can be seen by following the link below: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od

Liberal Democrats have long argued that alongside lifting the income tax threshold to take the lowest earners out of tax, the tax system must be reformed to address inequalities of wealth that blight society and hamper economic progress. The Tories have been more than happy to go along with the former, raising the income tax threshold as promised in the Coalition Agreement. But when it comes to the other end of the tax spectrum, the Tories simply haven't changed their spots; had it n

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Many Liberal Democrat members, not only Social Liberal Forum members, are deeply concerned by the contents of the Chancellor’s speech yesterday, and in particular its commitment to cuts in welfare spending. While we take comfort from the confirmation by the Liberal Democrat leadership that none of this has been agreed, the forthc

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The Social Liberal Forum has voted in a new top team to take it forward, appointing a new Director Prateek Buch, Political Director Martin Tod, and electing two Co-Chairs, Naomi Smith and Gareth Epps. Several of the team have been heavily involved in successful SLF campaigns including the Liberal Democrat campaign against the NHS Bill, and in taking forward progressive Liberal Democrat policies in a wide variety of areas. They will bring both dynamism and experience of political campaigning bo

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[Prateek] Buch says: "I was very disappointed with the way the conference committee chose to handle the issue, and as a result the debate the conference was allowed to have. We want to put down some clear markers, not have such a polarised choice."

Guardian article in full

This article relates to an amendment to Motion F23 at Liberal Democrat Conference September 2012, the text of which is available on page 18 here. In just a few days’ time Liberal Democrats will be invited to decide whether to endorse their Party’s unswerving support for George Osborne’s plan for the UK economy OR announce that they believe O

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In a sign that some activists want to see a shift in economic policy, one amendment calls on the party to "prioritise measures to boost demand through public and private investment, using all tools available to government, including the flexibility of its mandate over further spending cuts, beyond those already in place that would suppress confidence and demand yet further". It also asserts that spending cuts allied to monetary policy have failed to address the depressed state of th

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