Author Archives: Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP writes… High Speed 2: Transforming our national rail network

By Norman Baker MP | Mon 28th January 2013 - 1:53 pm

High speed rail Medway - Some rights reserved by Matt's photostreamIn the two centuries since the Golden Age of British railways, from the opening of the Stockton and Darlington line in 1825, Stephenson’s Rocket and the railway boom of the 1840s, Britain has tumbled from the position of being the envy of the world, to lagging sadly behind. The busiest sections of our old Victorian railways are now struggling to cope as the railways become increasingly popular. As anyone who travels regularly by train as I do will know, the West …

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP writes… Green light for more green buses

By Norman Baker MP | Wed 7th November 2012 - 3:23 pm

Last year there were an estimated 2.3 billion bus passenger journeys in England. More people up and down the country get to work by bus than by all other forms of public transport combined, and over 50% of students use them to get to classrooms and lectures. More than that, they provide a life-line for rural communities and just as vital in cities in terms of reducing traffic jams and air pollution by getting people out of cars. But even while people are reducing their carbon emissions by hopping on the bus rather than using their cars, we want to …

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker writes … Rail fares

By Norman Baker MP | Tue 9th October 2012 - 1:18 pm

I passionately believe in the railways. They have the potential to bring the UK huge economic and environmental benefits. But ever-increasing train fares could also turn people away and back onto the roads. As a sustainable form of transport, trains need our support and in return they will help deliver growth and a cleaner, low carbon economy.

It’s so important that we let rail passengers and the public know that we really are on their side.

Ending inflation-busting rail fare hikes has been a Lib Dem policy for a long time, …

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP writes… A virtuous circle for cycling

By Norman Baker MP | Wed 27th June 2012 - 1:53 pm

Many of you will know that I don’t need to be asked twice to wax lyrical about the benefits of cycling. Cycling isn’t just about getting from A to B. Quite often it’s the quickest way of getting around, not to mention the healthiest, most environmentally friendly and the most predictable. It’s wallet-friendly, for those of us with an eye on rising fuel prices, and it’s space friendly, at a time when parking spaces in town and city centres are both at a premium and becoming increasingly expensive to use. Each car parking space could fit up to 20 bikes, …

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP writes… Helping people make smarter transport choices

By Norman Baker MP | Fri 25th May 2012 - 10:20 am

Transport accounts for around a quarter of the UK’s emissions, but people want to travel and they want to travel further and more often. Good transport infrastructure is also essential to a well-functioning economy, so how do we square the circle?

The Lib Dem approach is to say that it isn’t about choosing between growth and carbon reduction: it’s about reducing carbon emissions from transport. That’s why the Lib Dems in Government are overseeing the of spending £2.4bn on transport improvements; the biggest rail expansion programme since Victorian times; electrification of over 800 miles of railway compared to the 9 miles …

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker responds to tar sands campaigns

By Norman Baker MP | Fri 2nd December 2011 - 9:00 am

Over the last week or so, visitors to the Lib Dem Voice may have seen articles purporting to outline my position, and that of the government’s, on the EU Fuel Quality Directive and the treatment of tar sands within it.  These articles have been misleading to say the least.  We in the Lib Dems have a proud history of fighting climate change and campaigning for environmental causes.  This is no different in the coalition and no different to the approach I am taking on the Directive.  I wanted to take this opportunity therefore to provide some facts which

…

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Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker writes… Towards a smarter public transport system

By Norman Baker MP | Mon 11th April 2011 - 1:23 pm

As readers of Lib Dem Voice will know, it has long been our party’s aim to create a transport system in this country that moves people towards low carbon options, including modal shift to public transport. This is not only crucial to achieve our environmental goals, but is also important to move away from our reliance on oil from, in particular, politically unstable countries.

So how do we do this at a time of austerity, when the Department for Transport has had to reduce its budget by £638million? We need to be smarter. We need to look at …

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Norman Baker MP

Opinion: Why the death of Dr David Kelly simply will not go away

By Norman Baker MP | Thu 15th November 2007 - 3:44 pm

More than three years after Lord Hutton published his Inquiry report, the death of Dr David Kelly simply won’t go away.

It won’t because Lord Hutton, charged with examining the circumstances of his death, did nothing of the sort, instead devoting nearly all his energies to refereeing the spat between the Government and the BBC. It won’t because his report was widely derided upon publication as a whitewash which might as well have been written by Alistair Campbell. But most of all it won’t because the conclusion that the government weapons inspector took his own life cannot be supported by …

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Recent Comments

  • User AvatarSimon 19th May - 1:29pm
    The Guardian and Telegraph stories are accurate. They include the words "it was reported". As the picture makes clear, it was indeed reported. Neither newspaper...
  • User AvatarHelen Dudden 19th May - 1:14pm
    @RC, nothing that is extreme I can assure you. If you join a coalition you are part of the Government in power, you mostly will...
  • User AvatarDavid 19th May - 1:09pm
    @Helen Tedcastle: Religious freedom does not mean catering only to those élite religions which tout themselves as "mainstream." It should not be the business of...
  • User AvatarHelen Tedcastle 19th May - 1:02pm
    It's intereseting that Nick Clegg does not mention the benefits of the EU as a community built on co-operation and mutuality - he refers to...
  • User AvatarSadie Smith 19th May - 1:00pm
    Thanks. But there is an if only. If only David had listened to Jo and Judy about nuclear weapons.