Author Archives: David Howarth

David Howarth writes… The Public Bodies Bill is sloppy, lazily drafted and must be radically amended

By David Howarth | 20th November 2010 - 4:02 pm

On Friday, Mark Pack wrote on Lib Dem Voice about Public Bodies Bill – Abolition of Parliament: it was wrong then and it’s wrong now – highlighting how some parts of the Public Bodies Bill echo the proposals previously made by Labour and against which David Howarth led the opposition. Now David Howarth gives his take on the Bill:

The Public Bodies Bill gives ministers powers to abolish, merge, reform or change the functions or financial arrangements of public bodies (i.e. quangos). Ministers will be able to use these powers by issuing unamendable statutory instruments that require a single vote …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged mark pack and public bodies bill | 19 Comments

David Howarth writes … Now is the time to reform our penal policy

By David Howarth | 2nd April 2010 - 10:45 am

Last month the Howard League for Penal Reform launched its Take Action 2010 campaign, with the general election in its sights. The campaign reflects a growing consensus among experts and campaign groups that penal policy has reached a crisis point.

The Howard League’s campaign covers four policy areas – investment in the community not prison, ending short prison terms, justice for children, and creating a scheme of real work inside existing prisons. All four of these themes echo Liberal Democrat thinking and I very much welcome the campaign.

Billions of pounds are spent on maintaining our prisons and …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged crime, david howarth, howard league for penal reform and prisons | 1 Comment

David Howarth MP writes… My top priorities as Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for justice

By David Howarth | 13th February 2009 - 5:05 pm

The main responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice are the criminal justice system, including prisons and probation, and constitutional reform. Crime has not been seen as a political strength for us in the past, but I believe that it could be, because we have very distinctive things to say. Constitutional reform is one of our traditional strengths, but the task there is to make it relevant to current politics.

There is a crisis in the criminal justice system of staggering proportions. The prison population is at a record high, and is eating up £ billions in public expenditure. 70% of …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged crime, electoral reform, house of lords, justice and prisons | 5 Comments

David Howarth MP writes… How to reform party political funding

By David Howarth | 11th December 2008 - 5:45 pm

This country faces a crisis of confidence in democracy just as profound as the crisis of confidence in the financial markets. Both are ultimately about trust – trust in the quality of what is being sold in the one case, trust in what political leaders say, and what their motives are, in the other.

The series of scandals about party funding – from cash for honours to the Ashcroft affair – damage democracy deeply by sending the constant message that politics is not about values and ideas, but about buying power and access, and if you are not a rich donor …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david howarth, lord ashcroft and party funding | 16 Comments

Opinion: Why Lib Dems Need To Reinvent The State

By David Howarth | 13th September 2007 - 11:25 am

The new book Reinventing the State is an attempt to update social liberalism for the present day. The origins of social liberalism lie in the party’s re-creation of itself in the early 20th century as a party not just of political reform but also of social reform, when radical Liberals added a commitment to social justice and democracy to the older Liberal commitments to expanding civil and political rights. The question is what that tradition means now.

Unlike socialists, liberals never allowed the desirability of greater equality to undermine their …

Posted in Books and Op-eds | 8 Comments