Liberal Democrat Conference 2014: Foreign Affairs and Defence

A Dods Monitoring Report

October 2014 Party Conferences 2014 Manchester | Birmingham | Glasgow

Contents

Introduction Speeches Fringe events

www.dodspartyconference.co.uk Saturday 4 - Wednesday 8 October

Introduction

Produced by Chris Fairbank and Roxana Cimpeanu Political Consultants, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development

In her speech at Liberal Democrat Conference, International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone discussed the UK’s humanitarian donations to displaced peoples in Syria, the government’s commitment of £125m to help contain the ebola outbreak, and efforts to end female genital mutilation and improve education for girls in develop- ing countries.

A policy motion on reducing poverty and discrimination was debated at conference. This motion updated and de- veloped existing policy on international development as set out in policy paper 97, Accountability to the Poor (2010). In particular, it created a new policy on eliminating tuberculosis, HIV and malaria, treating tax evasion as a development issue and integrating environmental sustainability with economic development.

www.dodsinformation.com Party Conferences 2014 Manchester | Birmingham | Glasgow

Speeches Please find below links to the relevant keynote speeches at this year’s Liberal Democrat Conference

Speech by Lynne Featherstone MP - http://bit.ly/ZsWamG

Fringe events

Please find below a selection of sector specific fringe events summa- rised by the Dods Monitoring team

Is this the generation to end poverty? - VSO and International Citizen Service International Citizen Service (ICS) volunteers and organisers discussed the importance of volunteering in the devel- oping world and the vibrancy of the younger generation alongside International Development Committee chair Sir Malcolm Bruce. http://bit.ly/1COXKOv

Tackling tax avoidance: the race to the top in election 2015? - ActionAid An informal event hosted by ActionAidUK and others on tax avoidance heard that public anger was high and that all political parties were aware of the pressure to take action. Transparency would be an important first step in tackling endemic tax avoidance on the part of large corporations, and methods to control excessive pay at the highest levels should also be considered. http://bit.ly/1pPqwGH

www.dodspartyconference.co.uk Saturday 4 - Wednesday 8 October

Progress in peril: How can we secure and build on recent gains in Afghan women’s rights? – ActionAid and Islam- ic Relief An event hosted by ActionAid and Islamic Relief heard that, while the UK and the Department for International Development remained committed to enhancing services and democracy in Afghanistan, donor fatigue, insufficient numbers of state donors, and the possibility of retrenchment were all worrying indicators in the fight for women’s rights in the country. http://bit.ly/1q1uxHi

The International Development Rally – Bond Government spokesperson for International Development Baroness Northover, and Ben Jackson chief executive of Bond outlined their priorities and hopes for the coming months and years during a fringe event sponsored by Bond. http://bit.ly/1rf4BIq

Rethink Trident: The 2015 manifesto debate - Liberal Democrats for Peace and Security At a fringe event hosted by the Liberal Democrats for Peace and Security, the audience heard that the Liberal Dem- ocrat party pre-manifesto did not entirely reflect the party policy on Trident that was agreed last year - http:// bit.ly/1riWsmk

Building a better future for our Armed Forces community - The Royal British Legion Sir Bob Russell, MP for Colchester, gave a keynote speech at the official launch of The Royal British Legion’s 2015 general election manifesto. At the Dods fringe event, he outlined a blueprint for building a better future for the armed forces community - http://bit.ly/1uwy7PV