Tag Archives: evan harris

Julian Huppert MP writes… A new Lib Dem science and research policy

By Julian Huppert MP | Published 30th January 2012 - 4:23 pm

Britain has an excellent track record in science and research, with many great figures in natural sciences, humanities, computing, computing, engineering and mathematics over the years. We continue to outperform other countries in our achievements in these fields, in terms of outputs per person and per pound. We publish 13.8% of the world’s most cited papers, and massively outperform other countries on papers and citations per pound spent or per researcher.

However, we should not just assume that this will just continue automatically, and the UK needs both a thorough vision and policies that support science and research. It is in …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged phil willis, science | 10 Comments

Baroness Liz Barker writes… The Health and Social Care Bill in the Lords

By Baroness Liz Barker | Published 17th October 2011 - 2:53 pm

I have spent my entire working life in the field of health and social care. For many years I worked for Age Concern and for all my time in the Lords I have been a member of the Health and Social Care team. I am, and always will be, a passionate supporter of an NHS which is free at the point of need and open to all regardless of their ability to pay.

Although the Health and Social Care Bill only came to the Lords this week I have been working on it for several months along with Liberal Democrat colleagues, including …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged derek wanless, health and social care bill, john pugh, NHS, nick clegg, norman lamb, shirley williams | 16 Comments

Join the Liberal Youth invasion

By Harry Matthews | Published 30th September 2011 - 12:26 pm

After a very successful Federal Conference earlier this month, Liberal Youth will hold its Autumn Conference on 22nd & 23rd October. It’s in the Roman town of Colchester* (home to the UK’s oldest market on record).

Conference, as all Liberal Democrats know, is a fantastic opportunity for party members to shape policies and hold elected officers to account – and Liberal Youth is no different.

Along with all the usual reports from officers (and the odd constitutional amendment), there will be policy debates on the Arab Spring, MMR jabs, Women’s Rights & Bank Shares. As we have seen from this year’s conference with the Employment and Support Allowance motion, Liberal Youth policy can become federal policy – and might now even become Government policy. This is a brilliant opportunity for young Liberal Democrats to get involved with policy making and gain experience in public speaking!

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged bob russell, colchester, graham watson, helen duffett, liam burns, liberal youth | 1 Comment

The Independent View: The public does support the Big Society

By Matt Boyes | Published 6th June 2011 - 9:53 am

David Cameron’s “re-launch” of the Big Society last week didn’t generate the revival of enthusiasm for the scheme that some had hoped for. Many people still claim not to understand the term “Big Society”, with critics continuing to suggest it’s little more than PR spin for budget cuts.

With the rise of faith-based organisations taking ownership of community services, and in light of Evan Harris’ warning about “proselytising on the public purse”, it’s clear that non-discriminatory, non-partisan, non-denominational and fair services are needed, both to support the more vulnerable members of the community, and to compensate for local council spending …

Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged big society, david cameron, streetlife | 10 Comments

NHS reforms will be altered significantly and in a Lib Dem direction – Paul Burstow

By Mark Pack | Published 22nd May 2011 - 1:50 pm

The NHS Bill will be substantially changed – that was the message from Liberal Democrat MP and Health Minister Paul Burstow at Lewisham Liberal Democrats on Friday night. It won’t just be changed, he said, it will be changed in a distinctively Liberal Democrat direction.

At the heart of the likely changes is the role of Monitor, the proposals for which Paul bluntly said were got wrong first time round. Though he was careful not to directly criticise Andrew Lansley, he did say that the original proposals for Monitor were to adopt the model of regulator used with privatised utilities and …

Posted in News | Also tagged andrew lansley, featured, lewisham liberal democrats, NHS, nhs reform, paul burstow, shirley williams | 17 Comments

Overwhelming public support to end sexism in Royal succession

By Mark Pack | Published 3rd May 2011 - 3:53 pm

Last month Nick Clegg took up the issue which Lynne Featherstone and Evan Harris had previously been pushing, namely changing the rules of Royal succession so that men and women are treated equally, rather than men being given preference over women.

One of YouGov’s post-Royal Wedding questions was about Royal primogeniture and found overwhelming backing for the change:

Currently male children of the monarch take precedence over female children in terms of the succession. Do you think men and women should be treated equally in the line of succession to the throne?

Should 76%
Should not 14%
Don’t know 10%

A slightly different …

Posted in News | Also tagged lynne featherstone, nick clegg, royal family, royal primogeniture, yougov | 5 Comments

The Yes2AV campaign has persuaded me to change my mind

By Mark Pack | Published 20th April 2011 - 8:55 am

I’ve long been sceptical about the scope for online fundraising in British politics. That’s partly because I’ve seen a sequence of American political consultants come to the UK, say they know much better than Brits, promise lots and then raise not very much – across the political spectrum. I’ve also seen a sequence of people from Britain go, “Oooh! American! Shiny! Must be better!”, promise lots and then raise not very much – again, across the political spectrum.

Having been responsible for (along with Ashley Lumsden and Martin Tod) the first candidate website in the UK to take credit card donations, …

Posted in Online politics | Also tagged ashley lumsden, av referendum, boris johnson, martin tod | 13 Comments

In other news… Croatian justice, the monarchy, death penalty impeded and elections news

By Mark Pack | Published 17th April 2011 - 11:57 am

More good news on the increasing reach of international justice: “Two Croatian military leaders have been convicted of atrocities against Serbs during the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s” (BBC)

Both Lynne Featherstone and Evan Harris have previously pushed for the rules of royal succession to be changed to remove the precedence given to males over females. As Lynne has put it previously, the monarchy is about symbolism – so it should have the right symbolism. Now Nick Clegg is also on the case: “Mr Clegg, who is responsible for constitutional reform, told the BBC the issue …

Posted in News | Also tagged bedford borough council, croatia, lynne featherstone, rochdale, royal family, royal primogeniture | 3 Comments

Libel Reform Bill published

By Mark Pack | Published 15th March 2011 - 7:38 pm

Earlier today, the government published its draft Libel Reform Bill. It’s an issue that Liberal Democrats, along with many others, have been campaigning on for a few years now and one on which Lib Dem minister at the Ministry of Justice Tom McNally has said his reputation should be judged on.

So it is good news for both our freedoms and Tom’s reputation that the Bill published today proposes major reforms and has met with a warm response, including:

Major changes to Britain’s antiquated defamation laws will be outlined by ministers today with the publication of a bill to provide greater

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david allen green, libel, lord mcnally, roy greenslade | 2 Comments

PODCAST: Who controls the internet?

By Alex Foster | Published 13th March 2011 - 3:45 pm

Here is a full podcast of our fringe last night, “Who controls the internet?”

Libel law reform campaigner and former MP Evan Harris, website pioneer Mary Reid, James Blessing of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) and Jim Killock of the digital rights champions Open Rights Group debate recent issues about free speech and the internet with chair Mark Pack.

Posted in Conference, Podcasts | Also tagged ipsa, james blessing, jim killock, mark pack, mary reid | 2 Comments

The party strategy debate: rolling highlights

By Mark Pack | Published 13th March 2011 - 10:05 am

Note: If you’re catching up with this post after it was published, read it from the bottom up.

Final result – both amendment and motion passed overwhelmingly. The overall tenor of the debate was more good natured than might have been expected – people did not take the opportunity to express any unhappiness in strident tones, and the party being in coalition with the Tories until 2015 was accepted and expected, explicitly or implicitly, by all speakers. Tuition fees and NHS got mentions, but brief ones. Norman Lamb’s comments about the health debate (see below), however, were unexpected and welcome.

James Gurling, …

Posted in Conference, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged david abrahams, david matthewman, david rendel, gordon lishman, higher education, james gurling, norman lamb, shirley williams, simon hughes, suzanne fletcher, tim farron, triple lock, tuition fees, universities | 1 Comment

Ten comments on Saturday at party conference

By Mark Pack | Published 12th March 2011 - 7:00 pm

1. Being introduced at a meeting or in a debate as a “Minister” is still a plus point, often triggering a round of applause. People at conference like the fact that the party is in government.

2. The Social Liberal Forum (SLF) is growing quickly in influence in the party, partly thanks to a smartly organised set of fringe meetings, amendments and motions. However, the SLF is very keen to repeatedly stress that it is not anti-coalition.

3. The NHS debate was a decision delayed. All sides are happy with the idea that a conference debate is used to set out or …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged caron lindsay, featured, lembit opik, nick clegg, paul burstow, shirley williams, social liberal forum, tim farron, vince cable | 14 Comments

PODCAST: (almost) the full NHS debate

By Alex Foster | Published 12th March 2011 - 2:10 pm

Earlier today we brought you Mark Pack’s live coverage of the two key debates happening this morning in Sheffield, followed by his view of the aftermath.

To amplify that, we can now bring you an almost full recording of the debate. Thrill at procedural niceties! Coo at the applause for Baroness Williams! And bask in the self-righteous glow from delegates that no other party still has debates like this.

Apologies that the recording starts halfway through Paul Burstow’s introductory speech. It took longer than expected for me to ~~wake up and eat breakfast~~ clear security at City Hall.

The …

Posted in Conference, Podcasts | Also tagged NHS, paul burstow | 1 Comment

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