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Blackpool Spring Conference Mar 20th-23rd

Conference is the place to be to get inspiration and get involved in deciding on national policy. It now runs Fri- Monday, so train tickets are more expensive and from York not available any cheaper in advance. Although the party has an income related scale of conference fees, it still ends up equating to the price of a holiday unless you are paying the unwaged rate. End result is curious mixture of semi professional 'politicians' who are there to strut their stuff and revise the constitution and the eco warrior and totally committed (!) whose one escape from the smallholding, commune or urban ecohouse is to attend Green party conference!  However long or short your planned visit to conference you need to book now to get in at the discount rate!

Spring 2009 (Blackpool Winter Gardens, 20th-23rd March)

Spring conference this year is by the seaside - in the expansive spaces of the Winter Gardens at Blackpool - so there's room for everyone. And there's a strong focus on training at this conference, as well as the usual policy-making, discussion and good cheer.

Booking early helps conference committee to plan events, so there's a 25% discount for those who book before 21st February. Non-party members are welcome as non-voting observers at the same rates. Creche bookings MUST be made by 21st February. see www.greenparty.org.uk for full details.

Pre-bookers will also be posted their conference guide with timetable and final agenda in advance, unless they request otherwise. But if you can't make plans that far ahead, or if a window suddenly opens in the diary, you can just turn up on the door and sign in, for one day or more, and you'll be most welcome.

DOWNLOAD BOOKING FORM

DOWNLOAD FINAL AGENDA

ACCOMMODATION WEBSITE

TRAINING INFO

 A draft timetable will be posted here as soon as it is available. Conference opens at 11am on Friday 20th March (registration will open at 10am) and closes at 4pm on Monday 23rd March.

Accommodation

An online booking website has been set up to make it easy for conference-goers to book accommodation.

Crash Space: please note that we have been unable to find a suitable crash space, but we have booked a limited number of spaces in a nearby backpackers hostel, at a cost of £40 per person for the 3 nights (Fri, Sat, Sun) - places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Children

Free crèche space for members is being organised by Clover Events. Please contact Leila (01974 261340) before 21st February to book in your children. 

Press registration and access to the auditorium

Accredited members of the press can register at the main reception desk from 10am Friday 20th March. Advance booking is not essential but, for ease of planning and to ensure this process goes smoothly, please let us know in advance if you are planning to attend.

For further information, please contact the press team on 020 7561 0282, press@greenparty.org.uk

Autumn Conference

Autumn Conference 2008 Green Party Autumn Conference School of Oriental and African Studies, London: 5th to 8th Sep 2008 BOOK NOW for cheaper place and dont forget to get that cheaper advance rail ticket! FRIDAY 5th September to MONDAY 8th September Conference this year - for the first time in over a decade - is in the capital London, and the prestigious venue of SOAS - the School of Oriental & African Studies - next to Russell Square is the perfect place to match the Green Party's rising status, after a record-breaking London mayoral campaign, the successful returning of our two London Assembly members despite fierce competition, and local results seeing the Norwich Greens become the first ever official Green opposition party on a local council. This Conference will be an historic one also, seeing members vote for the Green Party's first ever Leader. Hustings, voting and the leader's keynote speech will all take place at Conference. Panels with high-profile speakers will run from Friday evening through to Monday afternoon. The main and most important event at Conference will be the Keynote Speech from the Green Party's newly-elected Leader or Co-Leader on Monday morning, with a Deputy Leader's or co-leader's speech on Monday afternoon. Information on booking Stall / Exhibition Space Interested persons should contact Leila Kiersch (01974 261340), Clover Events, in the first instance. Information for Conference Booking The timing and format of Conference has changed this year due to constitutional changes, and so Friday is a half day and Monday is now a full day so do please remember to make your plans accordingly, and make sure you take the whole of Monday off work so as to not to miss the climax of conference. For those who can only make it on one day, Monday has a one-off half price discount. Pre-bookers receive a 25% discount compared to paying on the day and you can pre-book using the booking form on www,greenparty.org.uk. Accommodation The Green Party has also secured overnight accommodation within 10 minutes walking distance of the SOAS campus at Russell Square and you can take advantage of a pre-reserved single room for less than £30 a night, including a choice of continental or cooked breakfast! All rooms are at preferential rates that are very reasonable for London, and the communal facilities, with shared kitchens, will contribute to Conference's convivial atmosphere. Children Free crèche space for members is being organised by Clover Events. The crèche will run throughout conference on the main site and will be run by qualified childcare workers. Children from 6 months to 12 years catered for. Please contact Leila (01974 261340) to book in your child/ren.

Details Dates: 5th to 8th Sep 2008 Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Early September conference

Booking discount applies until the end of July, but the cheaper accommodation will get booked up so if you plan to go now is the time to act!

FRIDAY 5th September to MONDAY 8th September

To quote for our organisers "Conference this year - for the first time in over a decade - is in the capital London, and the prestigious venue of SOAS - the School of Oriental & African Studies - next to Russell Square is the perfect place to match the Green Party's rising status, after a record-breaking London mayoral campaign, the successful returning of our two London Assembly members despite fierce competition, and local results seeing the Norwich Greens become the first ever official Green opposition party on a local council.

This Conference will be an historic one also, seeing members vote for the Green Party's first ever Leader, and hustings, voting and the leader's keynote speech will all take place at Conference." http://www.greenparty.org.uk/nextconference

However before you get too carried away, you might want to cost it all up - train fare (book now and you might get tickets for under £100 for both of us) £30+ per night for the room, conference fee (about £150). For the four day attendance Friday to Monday, all in, we are looking at £400 plus food and drink for two of us to go for a weekend in London, for the priviledge of wrangling about wording of some policies and witnessing the coronation of our new 'Leader' (however wonderful and inspiring she might be!). Perhaps we'll wait until it is held in Scarborough again. Now how much was that cheap flight?? (joke)

Spring 2008 conference report

The conference was formally opened on Thursday in the grand setting of the late Victorian Old Town Hall by Rob White, target candidate in Reading, who spoke of how he'd seen the local party grow, from meetings in a members' kitchen to last year getting within 100 votes of a council seat - something that  members are working very hard to achieve this May.

The keynote speech was given by Caroline Lucas, MEP and principal speaker, who received a standing ovation for the speech in which she said: "Never has the muddy middle ground of the grey parties' policies been less up to the job." More: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3326.

Caroline's new website was launched with appropriate ceremony, and some very nice organic chocolate - you can find it, if not the chocolate, at http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/.  Many were also checking out the new website of our London mayoral candidate: http://sianformayor.org.uk/.

Derek Wall, principal speaker, used his speech to outline a vision of a Green economy, which "would be more democratic and more reliable, as well as more sustainable". More:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3329

The first emergency motion, passed on day one of conference, condemned the 'disgraceful' corporatisation of the NHS, citing the recent health contracts won by American health firm United Health Europe. It called on the Government to engage in proper consultation with main stakeholders in the NHS: British citizens. More: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3323

Among the policy motions, three were passed directing the preparation of new or substantially revised sections of the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society. Conference directed the revision of the population policy, the creation of a gender and equity policy, and work on the details of our citizens' income policy. (If you would like to join an email discussion list on any of these, please contact internalcommunications@greenparty.org.uk - input is always welcome.)

Conference also completed in large part a substantial revision of the party's energy policy, although some aspects of the proposed policy were referred back for future work.

The proposed policy linking our sustainable agriculture policies to the huge climate impact of livestock farming was passed, as was a motion backing reforms to the existing abortion law, and (with a small amendment), a policy on "justice for the Palestinians", and a policy opposing the government's decision to leave hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers without access to funds or healthcare,  or the right to work.

Among the organisational matters, a new post on the Green Party executive, of equality and diversity coordinator, was created -- the first coordinator will be elected at autumn conference - and a decision made that should a change to the constitution be considered through referendum, the result of that cannot be revisited for two years.

Further emergency motions were passed on support for efforts to oppose a third runway at Heathrow (two),  against fluoridation (two), on arts funding (http://www.greenparty.org.uk/emergencymotions/112), ownership of railway companies, on the plan to return child asylum-seekers to their country of origin, and on government attacks on unwaged people.
NB: This is a summary - more details can be found on the members' website and the national site.

(You can also read lively unofficial reports of conference at the Green Despatches blog: http://greendespatches.blogspot.com/. And a decision was made by a group of Green Party bloggers to start a Green Party home joint blog - if you are a blogger who is interested in participating, please contact jimjepps@hotmail.com.)

Full Responsibility

Power corrupts, so they say, and all the evidence I have seen leads me to support the 'Green empowerment' rather than 'Yes to a Leader' camp in the internal discussion currently underway in the Green Party. The referendum of the membership later this autumn might have to be delayed if Gordon Brown calls a snap election. What is certain is that the debate is drawing away a lot of energy and focus that we should be giving to getting our first MPs elected. If you want an antidote to party conferences, try this little rap, made up of real extracts from the recent party conference in Liverpool (party hacks will be able to recognise a few voices of our lead activists who are always on their feet at conference). A certain ex councillor who supports the notion of a single leader was a little lost for words for once when asked to explain the meaning of 'full responsibility' - it does take a while to load but is worth it!

http://ntt.dyn-o-saur.com/gpconfliver/THE_MIX_AsAtConf.mp3

 www.greenempowerment.org.uk

 

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