Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Budget - a triumph for Liberal Democrat internal communications people

Danny Alexander talking right now to Party Members

I have got to say, I think the party has been fantastic in the way it's been getting information out to members about the Budget.

I still wake up in a cold sweat at the memory of some of the horrendous e-mails that went out in the early days of the Coalition, but these days I'm having more and more confidence that when I see a party e-mail in my inbox, all stress toys within the vicinity will be safe and the information within it will be useful.

The Party has bent over backwards to make sure that we have the information we need when we need it. No, I'm not going to tell you all that they've done, but there has been a willingness on the part of some Very Important Bubble People to actually talk to scumbags and lowlife like me to explain the thinking behind some of the stuff.

What was really good was an e-mail dropping in to our inboxes just in time for people going out canvassing tonight with detailed information on the age related allowances as the "Granny Tax" is more appropriately called. The only thing it didn't have in it was to say that Labour had been freezing this allowance themselves for their last couple of years in office as Sara wrote on Liberal Democrat Voice, but it was probably all written by the time that post went up. And if our friendly bureaucrat had got his post out earlier, then they might have been able to include his conclusion that nobody is going to really lose out because those on higher incomes don't get the allowances, those on the lowest don't pay tax and those in between will have their losses more than made up by the additional state pension.

And I'm just about to log into a "webinar" with Danny Alexander - just me and 1000 Liberal Democrat members from around the country.

So, I'm feeling kind of snuggly and cuddled and appreciated by the party at the moment. I only wish they'd thought about this for the Health Bill or the Welfare Reform Bill - we might have spared ourselves some resignations. I'm really feeling that them inside the Bubble are getting what we need to know and bothering to give it to us.

I suggested back in January that the party take note of what was happening for Obama's State of the Union and it seems that they have taken note. They've done really well on this. They can maybe think about how to extend it to engaging with the general public. So far in this webinar, Danny Alexander hasn't said anything he couldn't say in public, so maybe at least bits of it could find their way onto You Tube?

So, a big thank you and promise of ice cream and/or alcohol to everybody who has been involved in this excellent effort.

3 comments:

James said...

If it hasn't already been raised, can you ask him about the 10billion in savings from the welfare budget, and where he thinks these savings will be found. Many thanks.

priggy said...

I liked the webinar but I wish there was more diverse questions because Danny ended up repeating himself.

Martinb said...

Do the party's internal communications people behave as if they truly understand that communications go both ways? (And, ideally, inward more than outward)

If so, they'd save themselves feet full of bullets...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails