It was the Bear wot won it.
"This is a victory for people power - and TB's blog. By showing how messy these things can be in public, we've forced Elaine to give the members their forum back."
That's right, Liberal Youth Chairman Elaine Bagshaw is on the back foot and in full retreat. She has restored the Liberal Youth forums after her once loyal membership decided to show her just how unpleasant it could be to air their laundry in public. The number of people still giving their full backing is now minuscule. Even ultra-loyal Edwin Loo - London LY hack and devoted Bagshaw follower during her re-election has
broken cover
:"Just to add to the controversy (I do love a good bitch-up)..If Elaine stands again I might just have to try and get her sectioned to save the party from another year of underwhelming crap. Same goes for Sara Scarlett although I'm quite sure she's having too much fun destroying everything from PPC's to Party Policies in her blue frock to take heed....
This pathetic navel-gazing is going to be the downfall of Liberal Youth. Most of the main party (Councillors, some legislators who will remain unnamed) agree off the record that this 'youth movement' has managed to degenerate into a useless, bureaucratic quagmire."
Ouch, well the forums are back so TB is expecting most of the dead-duck party bitching to return back there, but fear not yellow chums...
He'll be watching.
Posts
17 comments:
Yahn
Yet another non story about Liberal Youth TB! It was always planned to restore the forums when the new website was finished. The fact is that very few Liberal Youth members ever look at them, let alone care what they say!
bagshaw couldn't run a bun shop.
stick it to them you big blue shit stirrer.
Nice Brown nosing Chris. At this rate you might get that vacant spot on the committee.
No Chris, that's not true.
-By their own admission, the exec is on record as having decided to take the old forums down.
-The status of the forums was that the exec was 'in discussion' about what their continued role and relevance was, i.e. "isn't it pretty damn inconvenient having ordinary members come along and ask us tricky questions about how we cock up everything we touch? Couldn't we just take them down?"
-Even if forums HAD gone up in some form later on, the exec was determined it would be the new short-lived 'snuggleskunk' forums which had years of awkward questions (and awkwarder answers) deleted, so that when Elaine starts applying for safe seats in parliament, Google won't show all the humiliating things she's been responsible for.
This was all based on the lie we were told - and it was a lie - that the site was down and the info was lost forever due to 'technical' reasons.
I wouldn't buy a second-hand car from the current LY exec, if you know what I mean.
The LDYS Forums were the best forum for inter-party debate on the internet.
I'm mourning their passing.
CF bitching at Liberal Youth for naval gazing. Oh dear.
Hey anonymous,
Elaine actually asked me to put my name forward for one of the other co-options but I didn't because some of us are too busy actually running successful branches who are increasing their membership and helping to get Liberal Democrats elected.
The Voice of Treason -
You know what? I don't really care. The vast majority of Liberal Youth members never even looked at the forums and most of those who did realised that almost all the bitchiness on there came from a tiny clique of people who were by no means representative of the membership!
Andy,
They never reallr left...and now I believe they are back!
Chris Lovell, that don't impress me much.
OF COURSE Elaine asked you to be co-opted on the exec. Just you and half the party. She keeps approaching EVERYONE to plug the gaps, as anyone with half a brain bails out of the exec before it's too late.
"You know what? I don't really care. The vast majority of Liberal Youth members never even looked at the forums"
That says it all about the way LY is run at the moment, really.
It wasn't supposed to impress you, voice of treason. It was supposed to make the point that if people like yourself put as much energy into campaigning for the Lib Dems as you spent bitching about Liberal Youth maybe you'd actually achieve something!
Chris, you've no idea how much work I put into campaigning for the Liberal Democrats.
But Liberal Youth is an embarrassment to everyone who calls themself a Lib Dem, and to take LY to task for systematic disorganisation, hypocrisy, deceit, intolerance, bullying, and illiberalism, is to distance the party from the Deadly Nightshade that is this organisation which poisons everything it touches.
For all Elaine's shameful attempts at sucking up to the leader's office, don't expect Clegg to be seen at an LY event anytime soon...
I love the new website.
I am glad the forums are back (who knows or cares if this was planned or not).
I haven't seen any real evidence of a massive dispute that TB, poorly sourced, claims.
I don't think Elaine is planning on running for a further term.
And the new campaigns on tuition fees (rubbish Tory/Labour Policy) and freedom are brilliant.
TB is just a little scared I think.
Also, Chris Lovell is a really hard-working campaigner, and open about who he is (I know am not).
Voice of Treason should spend a little less time naval-gazing in the forums.
Anon.
Tuition fees are necessary for a better education and to prevent 43% of students ending up needlessly in higher education when their skills are best honed elsewhere, like apprenticeships. As Liberals, the party should support higher tuition fees and their reintroduction in Scotland. Free education should only last as long as it is mandatory and necessary to freedom of the individual.
In 5 weeks, I have started a student newspaper from scratch. We launch on the 19th - check out our website (shameless plug www.vox-pop.org.uk). It was built by students on a budget of £0. Also look at the CF site, built likewise. LY delayed 6 months and three grand for something only half as good as what we've produced. Hardly value for money.
Forums are important if members want them. They're also important for keeping a tyrannous exec and egotistical chair in line.
The dispute is evident throughout TB's blog, on Facebook, in the forums themselves, in Snuggleskunk's forums, on TB's comments, and in debate ever since they came about. If you can't find it, look harder. A simple google search will bring it up.
Chris is clearly wearing rose-tinted glasses, as are you. Ha - having said that, the socialism with which the majority of LY views life, you're all in rose tinted specs. Go join Labour like Bagshaw.
I'm voting Tory.
Alex,
Glad there is a bit of a policy debate.
I agree a target of 50 per cent in higher ed. is absurd, derogatory to other forms of qualification, and just plain silly.
But this was Labour's reason for introducing tuition fees.
Without increasing the numbers, the increase in funding is no longer needed. So you can reduce student numbers, increase the quality, and abolish tuition fees.
To say I should agree with you 'as a Liberal' is a weak point polemically (I fairly obviously think you are wrong).
On the other points, you will notice I didn't argue that there wasn't a dispute. In fact I was well aware of it. And I didn't defend the website costs, though at least it is done now.
And I was merely glad the forums were online and re-instated. They are a good way to hold an exec. to account; though again, I think your use of the word 'tyrannous' to describe the exec is a bit of an over reach.
Summary: Good policy point, though I disagree for the reasons stated. Disappointing polemics.
The reason I suggest you should agree "as a liberal" is that liberals would ordinarily disagree with the interference of the state in our personal lives and higher taxation. Low, if any taxes, and very small, limited government should be our aim. Higher tuition fees would help achieve that.
One of the reasons I find myself at odds with the LibDems so much (despite having joined them) - they seem to believe the government should fund things.
Alex,
I think this speech captures distinctions in a non-offensive way (non-offensive to any group):
https://www.liberal.ca/en/michael-ignatieff/speeches/16008_isaiah-berlin-lecture-liberal-values-in-tough-times
It is up to Liberals, in a controlled and releatively small state to promote freedom.
I personally find little traction with a either 'pro-state' or 'anti-state' view of the debate.
In fact, I don't think government is inherently anything (good or bad), though my understanding of human nature would suggest it should be very small ideally.
But there we are. Liberals do agree with you that freedom should be promoted. It is simply that our view is that freedom can be trampled upon by much more than just government.