Women Liberal Democrats

A Great Day in Bath

The WLD Bath Forum, which took place last Saturday in the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, was an extremely successful event. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to listen to some excellent speakers, take part in lively discussions, network with other women and learn more about what being a LibDem activist is all about. All agreed that the venue, in one of Bath's most beautiful squares, was most attractive - and the lunch, provided by Claire and other helpers, was pretty good too!

In the Morning:

We were welcomed to Bath by Nicole O'Flaherty, a prominent Bath Activist who, as a Councillor, took responsibility for the new Bath Spa.

Twenty Years On: Women Liberal Democrats was formed in Bath in 1988. How have women done since then?

Cllr Barbara Janke, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Bristol City Council, gave a run-through of the progress made in the Party as she has experienced it.

Cllr Miranda Whitehead, Vice Chair of WLD took us on a fascinating trip through the main milestones of women's progress in the last hundred years. We have come a very long way in a short time, but there is more to do.

A lively discussion ensued, focussing mainly on the problems that women still face in taking an active role in public life and what we can do about them. It was agreed that positive action is still needed, both voluntary and legislative. The former includes the vital importance of a support network for women, and that we seek this locally among 'community-minded' women as well as from our own members. The legislative approach should include a statutory duty for Councillors to be provided with crèche facilities. We need to get the LibDems to make a point of being the only party which genuinely values women, and we need to find ways of encouraging women to use their votes, which were so hard-won by our mothers and grandmothers. One radical suggestion to finally end the 'Boy's Club' atmosphere of Westminster was that we should conduct Parliamentary business in the virtual rather than the actual world - this would be good for the environment as well as for women!

Women and The Environment: women care more about the environment and are also more affected by changes to it.

Baroness Susan Miller gave an extremely interesting account of her work as LibDem Environment Spokesperson in the Lords. One of the main points that she made, which was returned to during the discussion, was that the UK has 50% of Europe's potential marine power. Unlike wind power, tides are predictable, and it seems obvious that we should be putting a major effort into developing it. She cannot understand the Government's foot-dragging over this. On nuclear power generation, Susan's own feeling is that the dangers are still too great, and that at the very least there should be a much tighter world-wide verification system. She would prefer to leave nuclear development to the French while we concentrate on marine energy. Susan also spoke about the need to link environmental concerns both to human rights and to world-wide issues. For instance, the poor conditions in and environmental impact of mines in Guatemala and Indonesia are linked to China's need for metal, which is in turn linked to our demand for cheap consumables.

Cllr Louise Bloom, Eastleigh Borough Council kept the focus on domestic concerns and described Eastleigh's success with their long-standing re-cycling programme. She countered the argument that measures such as bi-weekly collections are a vote-loser with the fact that Eastleigh has 38 out of 44 councillors and increases their strength in every election since it was introduced. Women have a major role to play - we still sort the laundry, and only that amount of time is required to sort the refuse. Also, women still do most of the household shopping - we can choose to buy products which have the least packing and are the most environmentally friendly. Eastleigh also concentrate their efforts on the young - children are very good at keeping their parents up to scratch. As was pointed out in discussion, the environment is a motivator for women voters, and reduces the threat of losing votes to the Green Party - who do not even bother to stand in Eastleigh.

In the Afternoon:

Jenny Shorten, an experienced LibDem trainer, got us thinking about how best to get more women involved in our local parties and keep them involved once contacted. She also gave us lots of useful tips on presenting ourselves - which involved much laughter as we practised a confidence stance and projecting our voices.

Jenny's 'Top Tips' will be available soon!