BRC at Lib Dem Conference 2024
This week, the BRC were in sun-dappled Brighton for the Liberal Democrats Autumn Conference.
It’s fair to say that the Lib Dems arrived on the south coast in a jubilant mood, following their record results in July’s general election which has left the party with 72 MPs in the Commons – a huge increase from their 2019 haul of 11.
It is worth noting, that two days after conference, the Liberal Democrats have reshuffled their policy spokespeople – essentially, their shadow cabinet – expanding and changing portfolios from the situation at Conference. This means a few key MPs at the Business Day have since changed roles – most notably Sarah Olney, who has moved from Business & Treasury spokesperson, to Cabinet Office spokesperson, and Daisy Cooper, who has added Treasury spokesperson to her role as Deputy Leader. You can see all the new roles here.
Senior members of the party made it clear that they want to use this sizeable group of MPs to ensure Government policy and regulation supports growth. The key theme of their Business Day was industrial strategy, with party leader Sir Ed Davey, deputy leader Daisy Cooper, and then-Treasury and Business spokesperson Sarah Olney (now Cabinet Spokesperson) all speaking to the need for partnership between government and business to develop and implement a comprehensive plan.
In terms of policy, Business Day saw a reiteration of Lib Dem manifesto commitments, including replacing business rates with a commercial landowner levy: turning the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible skills levy; working with the National Grid to tackle barriers to decarbonisation; and rejoining the Single Market and forging a closer relationship with the EU. There should be plenty of opportunity for us and members to engage with the Lib Dems on these policy priorities, given the emphasis placed on industry with partnership. We’ll be keeping Lib Dems up to date on our campaigning as key bills go through Parliament, leveraging their help to ask questions and raise awareness, and as Government begins its longer term work on areas such as rates reform.
Some key retail issues – including crime and resources and waste regulations – did not feature in discussions but we will be engaging with the Lib Dems on these priorities as part of our follow up.
There was also a call for less siloed working within government, better assessment of regulation to understand its impact on investment and growth and better engagement with business to avoid unintended consequences.
We had some great discussions with senior Lib Dems and new MPs, with several follow up meetings agreed in principle, including with Sarah Olney. We’ll keep members updated on how these go.
Read on for more details on the main sessions and issues discussed on Business Day.