City Council Group Leader inspired by conference

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 22nd Sep 2006

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Norwich City Council, Councillor Hereward Cooke, has returned from the party's annual Conference inspired by the experience.

Cllr Hereward Cooke

Fresh from attending the conference in Brighton, and scrutiny of what happened there, Councillor Cooke reports that in his view:

1) Ming Campbell has made the party more professional and disciplined. The substantial support for the Green Tax Switch, rather than the 50p tax rate, was proof of that.

2) Ming himself is an elder statesman but his main role as Leader is to develop the obvious talents of the younger MPs in the party, in an atmosphere of encouragement and stability.

3) The new Taxation proposals are as radical as anything produced by the Liberal party over the past 90 years. They are designed to tax pollution, redistribute wealth and reduce taxes on good things like work.

4) The emphasis on green taxes, to raise £8bn, shows that we are the first national party to tackle the issue of global warming. Indeed the conference theme of Climate Change is one which we will be developing in Norwich by all possible means. As an issue, it is as serious as it gets, as revealed in Al Gore`s recently released film An Inconvenient Truth.

5) The welcome given to Charles Kennedy by conference was a sign of its thanks for his past leadership and the affection in which he is held. In no way is he destabilising the present leadership or proposals. The party is pressing ahead as the radical centre of British politics.

Related Links:

Green Tax Switch Campaign.

Fairer, Simpler, Greener - Lib Dem Tax Proposals endorsed by conference - Policy Paper 75.