Gainsborough Liberal Democrats   
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| "Liberal Democrats aim to provide a secure environment in which a free and democratic society can flourish to the benefit of all."Gainsborough Liberal Democrats Statement of Purpose |
Gainsborough Liberal Democrats covers the 455 square miles of the Gainsborough Parliamentary constituency, very similar to the area served by West Lindsey District Council where Liberal Democrats are the opposition to the Tories.
Forward to First Principles
- Having attended with Guy Grainger the meeting Nick Clegg held with East Midlands Lib Dems in August it set us thinking. Lib Dems are for the first time since World War Two a party of Government in a coalition yet we still function as a party of protest and opposition. Subsequent meetings attended by Guy and myself, notably the East Midlands Conference in Skegness last month, has reinforced our opinion that the party is not fit for purpose.
- The August Executive meeting empowered your chairman to go back to first principles and devise a mission statement, which the party lacks, to enable us to construct a framework in which all our future campaigns will sit.
- The preamble to the Party's Constitution, the nearest thing we have to a mission statement, is both worthy but wordy (at 113 words in total). It reads:
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives."
Guy Grainger has boiled this down to:"To work to build a free, fair and open society. To foster diversity, to nurture creativity and above all to champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals."
- Meanwhile I went back to Tom Paine, a source for President Obama in his Inaugural Address. Two statements from Paine should influence us in our deliberations.
"Security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others"
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"The more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered." - The result of Guy and myself pondering on this matter is the following statement:
"Lib Dems aim to provide a secure environment in which a free and democratic society can flourish to the benefit of all."
Motion:
This party adopts as its statement of purpose (mission statement): "Liberal Democrats aim to provide a secure environment in which a free and democratic society can flourish to the benefit of all." The Party will seek to submit this statement as a motion for consideration by the Federal Party Conference during 2012.
Proposed: Barry Coward
Seconded: Guy Grainger
This motion was passed at the Annual General Meeting held on November 5, 2011
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