"The Social Liberal Forum welcomes the vote by the Liberal Democrat conference not to support Andrew Lansley's Health and Social Care Bill. It is a poorly-conceived, muddled mess that exposes patients to increased risk and lands frontline health professionals with greater levels of bureaucracy and uncertainty.
"Liberal Democrat peers have made valiant efforts to improve the Bill in the House of Lords. We applaud them for that. But it is still a bad bill, which rightly has very little support from either health professionals or voters.
The British public has been waiting to hear what ordinary grassroots Liberal Democrats think of Lansley's Bill. We are proud to be a democratic party and we have considered all arguments in a thoughtful and passionate debate. Now the public have their answer: in deleting the following lines from the so-called "Shirley Williams" motion on healthcare
Conference... calls on Liberal Democrat peers to support the Third Reading of the Bill provided such further amendments are achieved.Liberal Democrat conference has affirmed that the majority of the membership opposes the Bill."