Hackney Liberal Democrats
Upcoming events in Hackney
We have had a huge selection of social and campaigning events here in Hackney as you can see below;
Tuesday 16th June, 6.30pm for 8pm start.
Hackney Liberal Democrats Summer Dinner; Police Under Fire - will they protect our civil liberties?
Liberal Democrats want an effective police force that protects our safety and civil liberties. We are committed to recruiting more police from the money saved by scrapping national identity cards. So we are definitely pro-police. However we have seen under the current Labour government a politicisation of the police in which in some instances they have become more authoritarian and illiberal. This is something Liberal Democrats would also like to urgently address and we will look at examples of that for this evening.
We are delighted to welcome former Liberal Democrat candidate for mayor of London, Brian Paddick as one of guest speakers at our summer dinner. Brian was, until his retirement in May 2007, Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London's Metropolitan Police Service and the United Kingdom's most senior openly gay police officer. Brian has a unique insight, both from the point of view from running the police, AND one who passionately believes in civil liberties.
The inspiration for this event came from a vigorous campaign by Lib Dem member Andy May, also a speaker at this event. Andy attended the recent G20 demonstrations and witnessed at first hand the unacceptable heavy handed police tactics that made the national headlines. As a result, Andy set up a Facebook group that has over 2000 members, "Defend peaceful protest" (see here) and has presented evidence to Parliament about what happened on the day.
For a long time now Muslim members of Hackney Liberal Democrats have been expressing concern about their experience of police harassment and Islamophobia. So our third speaker is Ozcan Keles, Director of the Dialogue Society (DS), an organisation of study and engagement for community development, see www.dialoguesociety.org. Ozcan recently spoke at an event jointly organised by DS, Islington Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrats Friends of Turkey, and he impressed all of us by making a strong case for a moderate interpretation of Islam, made more likely by a better understanding of Islam.
This event will be held at one of our favourite restaurants, Shish. There will be a delicious buffet meal with good vegetarian options.
To see a map for Shish, visit their website here . You can see it is just 5 minutes walk from Old St tube in the City of London.
Entry is £12 waged, £10 low income. It is recommended you book in advance whilst places are still available. You can pay by paypal by clicking the button below;
Alternatively you can send a cheque made payable to "Hackney Liberal Democrats" to this address;
Shaun Sanders,
2 Cleveleys Road,
Clapton.
E5 9JN.
We look forward to seeing you!
Pizza and Politics
We hold regular events where a speaker gives us an overview on a salient issue and then we tuck into a lovely meal of pasta or pizza whilst debating the issue at hand. It's a great evening out for a bit of lighthearted political discussion with friendly, like minded people.
Pub night
We meet the second Thursday of the month at the Globe Public House opposite Tesco in Morning Lane for a beer/cider/glass of wine/orange juice. From 8pm.
Campaigning events
We are actively campaigning across Hackney. To see how you can get involved in your area please contact us or see our get involved page.
Recent events
Thursday 30th April. Can we stop the BNP getting a Euro-MP elected in London?
Meeting at a members house in Stoke Newington, 8pm - 10pm.
Recently the BNP got a councillor elected to the Greater London Authority (GLA). Next they want to get elected a Euro MP, and they need just 8% to do it in London. We want to stop them, and we have invited a speaker from Hackney TUC to outline the campaign they are running locally on this. Also we will be discussing the appeal of the BNP and how we in the Liberal Democrats should oppose them.
Book online now - £8 or £5 low income
| £8 click here; | |
| £5 click here; |
Autumn Dinner
Tuesday 28th October. The Obama Phenomenon - A British Liberal Perspective
A black Liberal politician is on the brink of becoming president of the richest and most powerful nation on Earth.
Yet the contest is close, and if he wins he will take over from a government that has suffered catastrophic failures in both their foreign policy, and more recently in their economic policy.
Barack Obama stands for change, and along the way he has re-energised the US Democrat party, and reached out to previously apathetic sections of the electorate, such as young people and ethnic minorities.
What lessons are there to be learnt for British Liberal Democrats in this epic presidential campaign?
Our speakers for this event are Lord Tom McNally and Matthew Sowemimo (see picture).
Matthew Sowemimo is a former Editor of the Reformer and was researcher for the Lib Dem Treasury team. He has a PhD in Political Science. He has studied the rise of African-American politicians in the post-civil rights era, including the opportunities and challenges for candidates at state and national level.
Lord McNally is the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Prior to joing the SDP in 1981, he was a foreign policy advisor to the then Prime Minister James Callaghan, and accompanied him to meetings with the Presidents Ford and Carter, Dr. Kissinger, Mr. Breznev and Mr. Gromyko, the Heads of Government of all the European Community countries, and a wide range of Government and political leaders in Africa and the Middle East.
This event is in the basement at Shish restuarant on 313 Old Street, 7.30pm.
Details about Shish are on their website; http://www.shish.com/restaurants/index.htm
A buffet meal with vegetarian options will be served. Drinks can be bought at the bar seperately.
Book in advance to guarentee a seat - £10
7th September 2008 - Annual garden party
London, Liberal Democracy and the post-Ken agenda
Speakers: Caroline Pidgeon AM, Cllr Fiyaz Mughal (previously chair of Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats) and Josh Ryan-Collins of the New Economics Foundation (NEF) have agreed to speak at this event.
Josh Ryan-Collins published a book last year presenting a critique of the Olympic games in London and he is an advisor to Camden Borough Council. The NEF is a think tank that advocates economic policies that are ecological and socially sustainable.
Ken Livingstone looked unasailble as London mayor. Even though his radical policies were sometimes unpopular, he was very effective in mobilising ethnic minorities to shore up his base support.
This time it was not enough, and the kind of politics he brought to London looks as though it is gone forever. Despite having a good candidate, the Liberal Democrats were unable to present a compelling vision in the last London elections. How should Liberal Democrats pitch themselves in London given the next choice is likely to be between and mainstream Labour and Conservative candidates?
15th May 2008 - Gordon Lishman on "The Theory and Practice of Community Politics"
Author of the classic book on the subject, Gordon Lishman will be joining us in May to discuss the Theory and Practice of Community Politics.
12th March 2008 - Fiyaz Mughal on "Can Sharia Law co-exist in a Liberal Society" (Pappadum and Politics)
Liberals welcomed the ordination of Rowan Williams as the Archbishop of Canterbury as he was clearly one of us; a liberal.However in a speech that was seeking to improve community cohesion between the different faiths, the Archbishop inadvertantly discovered the incendary nature of the words "Sharia Law", prompting alarm and controversy that he was not seeking.Liberals in general now face a dilemma; we want a positive and sensible debate about Sharia, but at the same time we do not want to be tainted with the more well known extreme interpretations of Sharia such as harsh punishments and the subjugation of women that Liberals are clearly against.So how do we navigate this moral maze? Start by coming along to our Popadom and Politics event and join the debate!
Annual Dinner
We were delighted to welcome Steve Webb MP to Hackney on 25th February to address our annual dinner on the subject of the manifesto for the next General Election.
AGM with Rt. Hon. Charles Kennedy MP
We were delighted to welcome former Liberal Democrat leader and Member of Parliament for Skye, Charles Kennedy MP to Hackney on November 21st as the guest speaker at our Annual General Meeting at the Alevi Cultural and Community Centre in Dalston Lane. Full details and Charlie's speech will be posted here very soon.
Upcoming events
Below, you'll find a list of some of our upcoming events. Stay tuned as we expect to see some more big names here in Hackney before the end of the year.
A Gala Dinner with Vince Cable at the Reform Club (Thursday, July 9th, 2009)
Social event on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 7.00 pm. London Region Liberal Democrats are proud to be hosting a gala dinner with special guest speaker Vince Cable MP.The event will be held in the lavish surroundings of the Library in the Reform Club.Tickets cost pound;95 per single ticket, or you can book a double ticket for the special price of pound;170. The price includes a full three course meal with wine and coffee - plus of course the opportunity to have dinner with Vince Cable, and hear him speak. [Dress code: Gentlemen - closed collar, jacket and tie. Ladies - similar formality] If you confirm your attendance using Flock Together, we will send you a message with details on where to send your cheques.We hope to see you on the 9th July for this great fundraising event.
Many thanks to Flock Together for providing this feed.
