Letter to Lib Dems Chief Executive Mike Dixon about Cancellation of Conference Stands

Liberal Democrat party members, including former MPs, 6 peers and over 60 Councillors (from metropolitan authorities to parish councils), Diversity Officers and local party Chairs across the UK, has signed a letter asking the party leadership to reverse a decision to cancel two registered charities, FiLiA and LGB Alliance, from having exhibition stands at the party Conference in Brighton this month.

The letter, which has 115 public signatories and 40 who chose to be added only to the final, private version, was sent to Chief Executive Mike Dixon yesterday. It said, “It is an insult to the intelligence of Lib Dem Conference-goers to suggest they are not capable of making their own reasoned judgements about the merits of these two charities, based on what they see and hear from them themselves.”

The signatories have a tough fight on their hands. The Lib Dems are all in on gender ideology, perhaps motivated by the £100,000 they received from Ferring Pharmaceuticals, makers of puberty blockers (UPDATE: The figure is actually £1.4 million, as revealed by Still Tish on her site)

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Dear Mike

Cc: Ed Davey, Dick Newby, Alex Cole-Hamilton, Jane Dodds

We are writing to express our alarm and dismay at the cancellation of two charities’ exhibition stand bookings at Lib Dem Conference this Autumn, namely LGB Alliance and FiLiA.

LGB Alliance is the only UK charity that exists exclusively to advance the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

FiLiA is a women’s rights charity that hosts the biggest feminist conference in Europe.

Both charities have had their agreed arrangements for exhibition stands inexplicably cancelled by HQ. One has also had a planned fringe meeting cancelled.

Mike, you tweeted that the LGB Alliance stand had been cancelled because of an “administrative error”. It has been asserted elsewhere that the stalls were cancelled because a trans activist complained.

Not only does this move, and the way it was announced, make our party look unprofessional, but it exposes a troubling lack of transparency as to how decisions about exhibition stands and fringe meetings are made. It also leaves the party open to allegations of discrimination in the provision of services, in contravention of the Equality Act.

Lib Dem Conference is promoted as a space in which to “debate big ideas, listen to passionate speakers”, and “hear from experts on every topic under the sun”. Quite rightly. A liberal Conference should be about opening people’s minds and enabling them to expand their knowledge. When so much of our interaction now happens through a screen, mediated by social media algorithms, an in-person Conference offers people the chance to debate and test their ideas face to face with other human beings

Our party is founded on values of freedom, democracy and equality. We understand there will always be some people who object to aspects of LGB and women’s rights. Those people have the right to make their objections known to the party as they see fit. But we don’t expect organisers to buckle so easily under pressure from those who seek to censor others. It is an insult to the intelligence of Lib Dem Conference-goers to suggest that they are not capable of making their own reasoned judgements about the merits of these two charities based on what they see and hear from them themselves, at Conference and beyond.

One of the fringe events scheduled for this Autumn Conference is about tolerance, and the dangers to democracy posed by so-called cancel culture. It is therefore perverse that the Lib Dem Conference itself has come to embody this very practice.

Baroness Ludford and Lord Clement-Jones have already made in-person representations to Ed Davey asking for the decision to be reversed. We commend the principled stance taken by our Peers on this matter.

We, as Liberal Democrat members who value freedom of speech as a fundamental liberal principle, call on you to reinstate the exhibition stand bookings for LGB Alliance and FiLiA and bring the party closer back to its core values, in line with the Preamble to the Constitution.

Yours sincerely,

Liberal Voice for Women

Baroness Thornhill MBE

Baroness Janke

Lord Strasburger, Federal Board Member

Baroness Harris of Richmond

Baroness Bakewell MBE

Rt Hon Lord Beith

Rt Hon Norman Baker, Lewes Liberal Democrats

Josephine Hayes, Colchester, Federal Board Member and Regional Candidates Chair

Joyce Onstad , Federal Board Member, Liberal International Executive Rep and ALDE Council Member

Dr Zoe Hollowood, Chair, Liberal Voice for Women, and on behalf of the Executive Committee, and East of England English Council Representative

Toby Price, Chair of Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, on behalf of the Executive Committee

Cllr Iris Walker, Aberdeenshire West Liberal Democrats

Denis Mollison, Scottish Party Policy Committee Member, East Lothian

Cllr Pat Marsh, Leader of Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council

David Stevens, member and former PPC, Edinburgh North and Leith

Judith Bailey, Branch Chair, Southend Liberal Democrats

Cllr Alison Jenner, Oxford West and Abingdon

Cllr Angela Conder, Executive Committee Member, Gloucester Liberal Democrats

Cllr Robin Maxted, Treasurer of Eastbourne Liberal Democrats

Cllr Chrissie Bainbridge, Fareham Liberal Democrats

Cllr Derek Maslin, Canterbury & Whitstable Liberal Democrats

Cllr Molly Rennie, West Dorset Liberal Democrats

Cllr Mark Watkin, Hertfordshire County Councillor & Cabinet Member for Watford Borough Council

Cllr Tony Clayton, Sevenoaks, Dartford & Gravesham Liberal Democrats

Clr John Parker, Treasurer for Test Valley Liberal Democrats

Cllr Merilyn Canet, Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats

Cllr Judy Sarsby, Weybridge Liberal Democrats

Cllr David Franks, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition, Luton Borough Council

Cllr Paul Bennett, Executive Committee Member, West Worcestershire

Cllr Kathryn Field, Bexhill & Battle Liberal Democrats

Cllr Alison Barnes, Redcar Liberal Democrats

Cllr Mel Allcott, Executive Officer, Worcester Liberal Democrats

Cllr Lawrence Patterson, Luton Liberal Democrats

Cllr Alan Totty, Local party Deputy Chair, Wyre Forest Liberal Demarcates

Cllr Sandy Walkington, St Albans Liberal Democrats

Cllr Frances Mamie Simmons, Durham Liberal Democrats

Cllr Andrea Bowes, Basingstoke and Deane Liberal Democrats

Cllr Simon Cottingham, Worcester Liberal Democrats

Cllr Simon Shaw, Southport Liberal Democrats

Cllr Penny Young, Executive committee member, St Ives Liberal Democrats

Cllr Rod Jones, Vice Chair, Rushcliffe Liberal Democrats

Cllr Ryk Downes, Leeds North West Liberal Democrats

Cllr Richard Ormerod, Central Durham Liberal Democrats

Cllr Charlie Maynard, West Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats

Cllr Patricia Marsh, Harrogate & Knaresborough, Leader of Lib Dems on Harrogate Borough Council and County Councillor

Cllr Peter Girt, Knottingley & Ferrybridge Liberal Democrats

Cllr Gavin Barrass, Tunbridge Wells Liberal Democrats

Cllr Karen Lawrance, Equality & Diversity Officer, Worcester Liberal Democrats

Jon Taylor, Membership Officer, Worcester Liberal Democrats

Cllr Jenni Ferrans, Data officer, Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats

Cllr David Howarth, South Ribble and West Lancs, Group Leader, Lancashire County Council

Cllr Tony Vickers, West Berkshire Council Group rep on Local Party Executive

Dr Richard Hopkins, Wrexham and Clwyd South Liberal Democrats

Cllr Clive Mead, Luton North Liberal Democrats

Cllr Luke Rogers, St Ives Town Councillor, St Ives Liberal Democrats

Chris Davies, MP 1995-97, MEP 1999-2014, 2019-20, Oldham Liberal Democrats

Cllr Alan Juriansz, Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats

Cllrr Ross Moreland, Argyll and Bute Liberal Democrats

Cllr Tony Paterson, LB of Richmond

Cllr Daniel Smith, District Councillor, Canterbury & Coastal Liberal Democrats

Marc Hadley, Chair, St Ives Liberal Democrats

Carol Davies, member, Oldham

Anne Woods, Diversity Officer Brecon and Radnorshire Liberal Democrats

Nigel Scott, member, Haringey Liberal Democrats

Richard Kirker, member, Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats

Katherine Howells, member, Bath and North East Somerset

Martin Eggleston, member, Oxford West and Abingdon

David John Barnsdale, member, Kingston Borough

Anna Telford, member, Farnham Liberal Democrats

Claire Loneragan, member, Yeovil Liberal Democrats

David Podger, member, East Hants Liberal Democrats

Jon Irwin, member, Wandsworth Liberal Democrats

Kevin White, member, Liverpool Liberal Democrats

John Tilley, member, Kingston Liberal Democrats

Charlotte Revelry, member, Yeovil Liberal Democrats

Juliet Line, member, St Ives Liberal Democrats

Stephen Fenwick, member, Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats

Emma Louise Talbot, member, Tendring District Liberal Democrats

Dr. Nick Winstone-Cooper, Data Officer, St Ives Liberal Democrats

Catherine Russell, Data Officer, Bexhill and Battle Liberal Democrats

Barbara Lindsay, member, Cheadle Liberal Democrats

John Clinch, Member, Hackney Liberal Democrats

Maurice Lesley, member, Warrington Liberal Democrats

Richard Scott, member, Harpenden Liberal Democrats

Carol Bailey, Liberal Democrats Registered Supporter

Una-Jane Winfield, Registered Supporter, Kensington and Chelsea

Gary Bridge, member, Darlington Liberal Democrats

Mary Leslie, member, South Warrington Liberal Democrats

Gordon Armour, member, Invercylde Liberal Democrats

Jonathan Coulter, member, Bromley Liberal Democrats

Edith Pender-Hiom, member, North Herts Liberal Democrats

Vivienne Timmins, member, Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats

Victoria Lax, member, Cheltenham Liberal Democrats

Aimee McDonald, active local volunteer, Leigh-on-sea Liberal Democrats

Nina Stimson, member, Southend Liberal Democrats

Pippa Higgins, Vice Chair, Southend Liberal Democrats

Chris Buck, member, Glasgow Liberal Democrats

Christopher Stafford, member, Havering Liberal Democrats

Hanneke Wilson, member, Oxford West & Abingdon

Joe Young, member, South Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats

Alan Crystall, member, Southend Liberal Democrats

Kevin Lewsey, member and former convenor, Glasgow City Liberal Democrats

Prof Denise Robertson, member, Wokingham Borough Liberal Democrats

Mohammed Amin MBE, member, City of Manchester Liberal Democrats

Freda Graf, member, Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats

Philip Lister, member, Oxford East Liberal Democrats

Peter Blackaller, member, St Albans Liberal Democrats

Billy Boulton, Treasurer, Southend Liberal Democrats

Stephanie Wilson, member, Lewes Liberal Democrats

Jenny Voyce, Membership Officer, Wandsworth Liberal Democrats

Jane Vaus, member, Lambeth Liberal Democrats

Rachel Barker, member, Sheffield Liberal Democrats

Wendy Horton, member, Shrewsbury & Atcham Liberal Democrats

Elizabeth Griffiths, member, Chesham and Amersham Liberal Democrats

Louis Stark, member, Ross on Wye Liberal Democrats

David Freeman, member, Durham Central Liberal Democrats

Cllr Graham Simpkins, North West Liberal Democrats