Hounslow Lib Dems take local residents' concerns on Afghanistan conflict to national party conference

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 23rd Sep 2009

Cllr Dakers calls for improvements to the party's corporate responsibility policies at the national conference

Hounslow Lib Dem campaigner Hazel Dakers this week took the concerns of many Hounslow residents regarding the UK's continued involvement in the Afghanistan conflict on to the national stage at the party's Autumn conference in Bournemouth. Meanwhile (her son!) Cllr Andrew Dakers, prospective MP for Brentford & Isleworth constituency, also challenged the national party with a speech against various aspects of a paper on consumer policy and corporate responsibility.

Hazel Dakers said:

"With the support of Councillor Andrew Dakers, our parliamentary candidate for Brentford & Isleworth Constituency, three times this year Hounslow Borough Lib Dems submitted motions to conference committee calling for UK withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2010.

"As Simon Jenkins has said: "Britain is not the sovereign power in Kabul, nor is the Taliban a single political entity. Everyone knows that the British will go, but the Taliban will stay."

"Sixty per cent of Britons want the UK military to withdraw from or reduce its presence in Afghanistan, according to an international poll.

"The government that we have been supporting passed laws giving rights to husbands to withhold basic maintenance if a wife does not meet his sexual demands. When women parliamentarians try to fight such laws they receive threats and intimidation - including from fellow MPs."

Cllr Andrew Dakers, prospective MP for Brentford & Isleworth constituency, said in his speech:

"The paper forgets that in reality markets are not just about competition, but also cooperation between businesses. The negative social and environmental externalities that doing business can create will not be resolved by competition alone.

"For the past decade companies that take their responsibilities seriously have run scared of our current competition law framework. In the late 90s this lost both a mechanism for companies that wanted to collaborate on social & environmental issues through voluntary agreements to get these authorised by the OFT, as well as a public interest test. These mechanisms were vital when voluntary agreements involved internalising the external costs of a product and would potentially increase the price to the end consumer.

"The mess of current legislation is well illustrated by the ongoing OFT case regarding supermarkets. Blamed by the public for their low payments to dairy farmers, some supermarkets increased both their payments to farmers and the price to the end consumer. For this the OFT has fined them tens of millions.

"Sure sometimes there is going to be collusive behaviour that drives excessive profiteering and is against the interests of the consumer. This abuse of market power must be cracked down on hard. However there are also great business leaders and companies - even in the finance sector - who would encourage their peers to take more voluntary action on environmental, social and corporate governance issues if they had the tools in competition law.

"This is particularly necessary when government is one step behind public opinion and scientific evidence - or when government would be over-reaching itself by producing yet more legislation and enforcement bureaucracy. Or when achieving the vast changes in business practices required needs sector ownership of the problem.

"Unfortunately this issue of responsible collaboration was ignored by the working group. Taking this balanced view, that doesn't tarnish all business with the same brush, is so necessary if we are to shape a new era in capitalism.

"As a party we must produce policy that recognises we're all in it together: employer, owner, employee and consumer. This is why I urge Policy committee to commission more work in this area to put to spring conference."

Related Links:

Hazel Dakers full speech - 22 Sept 2009

Cllr Dakers full speech - 23 Sept 2009