Conference reflections

On Saturday, 1^st April, I attended my first party political conference - the Global Greens and European Greens Congress in the great city of Liverpool. As the day approached I felt a growing sense of anticipation and intrigue about what I was going to encounter. Would I be inspired and motivated? Would I meet lots of like-minded people who share my values, beliefs, my worldview? As a result of the day would I feel inclined to get more actively involved in Green politics? Or would it be the complete opposite - would most of the people I meet conform to the media stereotype of sandal-clad, liberal, tree-hugging do-gooders most of whom are out of touch with the realities of the modern world?

On the train journey to Liverpool I could not resist the temptation to play a timely April fools trick on my daughter, Katie (a Young Green herself) by texting her to say that I was sitting next to Caroline Lucas, the leader of the Green Party - not only was I sitting next to her, but Caroline actually wanted to speak with Katie on the telephone having met her briefly at a Brexit event last summer. Sadly for me, Katie, being the bright young lady that she is, saw through the joke pretty quickly!

On arrival at the conference I headed straight for the Auditorium for the day’s opening session entitled “Green Political Democracy - From Grassroots to Government”. The first thing that struck me was the composition of the panel - there were speakers from Burundi, Mexico, New Zealand, Germany and the UK, a truly international debate which focused on ecological sustainability, social justice, non-violent and participatory democracy. Within a very short period of time I felt at home and really pleased that I had made the effort to attend.

During the break I met an interesting guy from Suffolk who told me he was standing in the local council elections for the first time. We chatted about my childhood growing up on the Essex/Suffolk border, his early years in South London, the delights of Constable country and the challenges of the Greens securing political representation in a predominantly Conservative county. Our discussions then moved on to the idea of the Greens forming alliances with other political parties in order to secure greater influence at Westminster. This prompted him to suggest that I join him at the next session which was debating progressive political alliances in the UK, which I duly did. And what an interesting session it was - powerful speakers included the environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, Tommy Shepherd MSP and Neil Lawson, Chair of Compass, a progressive left leaning campaigning organization. The debate was passionate and exceptionally well informed, with arguments presented on both sides; however it was pretty clear to me where the consensus of opinion lay - in favor of electoral alliances as the best practical step towards securing fundamental reform of the UKs deeply unfair electoral system, away from first past the post to proportional representation.  

After lunch I attended the session where the progressive alliances issue was put to the vote, but not before we heard more passionate and robust debate conducted in a remarkably mature and cordial manner. My instincts provided right  - when the vote eventually came it was unanimously in favor which prompted a spontaneous round of applause. I cast my vote like everyone else which I have to say made me feel quite emotional and proud!

The next session I attended was equally fascinating - a discussion on the causes of the rise of authoritarianism in Europe and the USA and ways of reversing the trend. Experts from Poland, Germany and the USA led the debate, with the speaker from the University of Warsaw, Adam Ostolski, displaying the sharpest of intellectual and political minds which brought a clarity to the debate that I have rarely witnessed before. 

  

My final session was on fighting global tax injustice. Once again there was an impressive line up of speakers, this time from New Zealand, Belgium, Peru and Burkino Faso. During the Q and A session I felt confident enough to stand up to ask a question, but sadly we ran out of time. At the end, delegates were invited onto the stage for a group photo after which I put my question relating to citizenship education to one of the panel speakers Philippe Lamberts, a Belgium MEP, and we had a nice courteous discussion.

Three other subjects in the conference programme particularly grabbed my attention - Green policy on basic income (I think they are broadly in favor although I’m not sure if this is yet party policy), responsible agriculture and sustainable food production, and addressing the roots of the refugee crisis - sadly I was not able to attend any of these sessions due to lack of time.  

I left the conference to be greeted by glorious sunshine, which rather provided a metaphor for the way I was feeling - positive, optimistic and happy! My overall conclusions from the day can be summarized as follows.

The Green Party is a party of hope and optimism about the future, a radical party with radical policy ideas designed to address some of the most urgent problems in our world.

The Green stereotype is only partially true (I did see some bearded men in sandals, and some others wearing very loud shirts!). More significantly however, I got a sense that the Green Party is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion and to genuine participatory democracy, but still has some way to go on these issues, most notably on diversity (I did not see many ethnic minority delegates for example, and I sense it is also predominantly middle class). It is a globally engaged and connected political movement with a genuine global reach, full of intelligent, articulate, decent hard working people committed to securing a better world for our children and for future generations.

However, the Party is also having to respond to some powerful forces which makes it more difficult to get its voice heard - key being the continued dominance of neoliberal political values, a media dominated by right wing vested interests (at least in the UK) and the growing tide of nationalism in Europe, the USA and some other parts of the world. Despite these barriers significant progress is still being achieved, most notably in Holland where, against the odds the Green Party did rather well in the recent general election.  

I need to take more time to reflect on my conference experience before deciding what to do next. However what I can say is that this has been a significant experience for me which is likely to influence and shape my priorities for the future. Many of the topics being discussed resonated strongly with my values, beliefs and worldview; some even touched my heart and affected me at an emotional level. These are things I feel I simply cannot ignore.

The Green Party certainly gets my vote and my membership support. Beyond that I’m not yet sure - I guess time will tell….