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cosmolinguistWhat's your name, where are you from, and which committee(s) are you standing for?
Jonathan Brown, from Chichester in the Southeast, and I'm standing for the International Relations Committee.
I've lived in Syria and Jordan but I'm not from either country.
Are you standing for the first time or restanding? If first time what new thing do you bring that nobody else could; if restanding, what about your record are you most proud of that you think should make us vote you back in?
This is my second time standing but I've not been on the committee before. I came close to winning last time but didn't quite make it.
I propose a tightening of focus around a single word: agency.
An academic term but one that explains a lot about what liberalism is all about and I think we should apply it to our international relations. Specifically, it's about listening to and learning from people in other countries and people in those countries' disaporas and then applying our principles. Rather than assuming or stereotyping.
Are you standing for any other committees, if so which ones; and if elected to more than one how do you plan to divide your time?
I'm not standing for any other committees.
Are you an active member of any SAOs, and if so which ones?
I have set up the Lib Dems for Syrian Freedom, Peace & Reconstruction. I'm an exec. member of the the Ethnic Minority Lib Dems, the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine and the Lib Dems 4 Seekers of Sanctuary (full disclosure: I'm new to that and haven't done much for it... yet).
I'm a member of the Social Liberal Forum, Lib Dem History Group, Green Lib Dems, Feminist Lib Dems and Rock the Boat.
If someone asked you on the doorstep, the hustings or on TV to sum up in one or two sentences what the Lib Dems, uniquely, stand for – and then why anyone should vote for us – what are your answers?
We think people are basically good and should be trusted with power over their own lives. We will give them that power: to provide for themselves, to live and work with dignity and to participate as fully as they wish in the communities they're a part of.
What is your view on diversity quotas for committees? Should they be extended to cover more than just gender, scrapped totally, kept as is or something else?
For the foreseeable future they should be extended to cover underrepresented groups. This would make it harder for me to be elected but so be it.
Quotas are an imperfect but effective way of achieving rapid change - a change that we need to make. It's easier to break down hidden barriers when you've already changed the culture than it is to do so from outside.
Secrecy rules prevent the party knowing what committees are doing. What will you do to communicate with members; and in what circumstances is confidentiality justified?
I support changing the rules to make committees more accountable and open.
I think secrecy is justified if the alternative is to give damaging strategic information to political opponents (not to cover up wrongdoing).
I will use my facebook page to communicate: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanBrown.InternationalRelations/.
Also, one of my priorities is to create a network of foreign policy contacts which will include party members and non-party members. This would be email lists and a Facebook group at a minimum, but preferably a nationbuilder-type website which would be all about interacting with citizens with foreign backgrounds and interests. It would be about learning from them and involving them in informing, shaping and leading on policy - and on promoting it.
What does your committee do, and why should you be the one doing it?
The committee manages party relationships with international partners; organises and trains sister parties outside UK and advises the party on international policy.
I want to focus on taking a more open mind to who our international partners are and should be. Looking for partners who don't necessarily define themselves primarily as liberal, but who perhaps share more of our values than some nominally liberal parties do.
I want to build up the party's position within diaspora communities in the UK - making party policy making more informed, but also using the opportunity to make one of the least diverse parts of the party more representative.
Members of diaspora - typically but not exclusively ethnic minorty communities - who share our values and who have great insight into other countries should be helping us make policy and manage our international relations. We should be seeking to bring these people into the party, recognising their talents and promoting them.
It should be win-win. The party should become more representative, will better understand and speak for diverse communities (because people from those diverse communities will be speaking on our behalf and with our support) and will be a better, more informed party.
The list of all candidates who have answered can be found here.
Jonathan Brown, from Chichester in the Southeast, and I'm standing for the International Relations Committee.
I've lived in Syria and Jordan but I'm not from either country.
Are you standing for the first time or restanding? If first time what new thing do you bring that nobody else could; if restanding, what about your record are you most proud of that you think should make us vote you back in?
This is my second time standing but I've not been on the committee before. I came close to winning last time but didn't quite make it.
I propose a tightening of focus around a single word: agency.
An academic term but one that explains a lot about what liberalism is all about and I think we should apply it to our international relations. Specifically, it's about listening to and learning from people in other countries and people in those countries' disaporas and then applying our principles. Rather than assuming or stereotyping.
Are you standing for any other committees, if so which ones; and if elected to more than one how do you plan to divide your time?
I'm not standing for any other committees.
Are you an active member of any SAOs, and if so which ones?
I have set up the Lib Dems for Syrian Freedom, Peace & Reconstruction. I'm an exec. member of the the Ethnic Minority Lib Dems, the Lib Dem Friends of Palestine and the Lib Dems 4 Seekers of Sanctuary (full disclosure: I'm new to that and haven't done much for it... yet).
I'm a member of the Social Liberal Forum, Lib Dem History Group, Green Lib Dems, Feminist Lib Dems and Rock the Boat.
If someone asked you on the doorstep, the hustings or on TV to sum up in one or two sentences what the Lib Dems, uniquely, stand for – and then why anyone should vote for us – what are your answers?
We think people are basically good and should be trusted with power over their own lives. We will give them that power: to provide for themselves, to live and work with dignity and to participate as fully as they wish in the communities they're a part of.
What is your view on diversity quotas for committees? Should they be extended to cover more than just gender, scrapped totally, kept as is or something else?
For the foreseeable future they should be extended to cover underrepresented groups. This would make it harder for me to be elected but so be it.
Quotas are an imperfect but effective way of achieving rapid change - a change that we need to make. It's easier to break down hidden barriers when you've already changed the culture than it is to do so from outside.
Secrecy rules prevent the party knowing what committees are doing. What will you do to communicate with members; and in what circumstances is confidentiality justified?
I support changing the rules to make committees more accountable and open.
I think secrecy is justified if the alternative is to give damaging strategic information to political opponents (not to cover up wrongdoing).
I will use my facebook page to communicate: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanBrown.InternationalRelations/.
Also, one of my priorities is to create a network of foreign policy contacts which will include party members and non-party members. This would be email lists and a Facebook group at a minimum, but preferably a nationbuilder-type website which would be all about interacting with citizens with foreign backgrounds and interests. It would be about learning from them and involving them in informing, shaping and leading on policy - and on promoting it.
What does your committee do, and why should you be the one doing it?
The committee manages party relationships with international partners; organises and trains sister parties outside UK and advises the party on international policy.
I want to focus on taking a more open mind to who our international partners are and should be. Looking for partners who don't necessarily define themselves primarily as liberal, but who perhaps share more of our values than some nominally liberal parties do.
I want to build up the party's position within diaspora communities in the UK - making party policy making more informed, but also using the opportunity to make one of the least diverse parts of the party more representative.
Members of diaspora - typically but not exclusively ethnic minorty communities - who share our values and who have great insight into other countries should be helping us make policy and manage our international relations. We should be seeking to bring these people into the party, recognising their talents and promoting them.
It should be win-win. The party should become more representative, will better understand and speak for diverse communities (because people from those diverse communities will be speaking on our behalf and with our support) and will be a better, more informed party.
The list of all candidates who have answered can be found here.