Author Archives: Azi Ahmed

An independent commission is the only cure for the NHS funding crisis

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When I stood as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in 2015, I remember preparing notes on every conceivable subject for my first hustings. But when it came to the NHS, I couldn’t bring myself to follow the party political line and just bash my opponents; no one has fixed it and no single party is to blame.

What I said, instead, was that we should have an independent commission to decide the future of the NHS and put it above party politics. It was a line that went down very well with the audience; when politicians throw numbers at each other we all get lost and a mature debate proves impossible.

So I strongly support the position Norman Lamb has developed as the party’s health spokesman, calling for an NHS and Health Convention to instigate a national conversation involving charities, professional groups and patients’ groups as well as politicians. In January, he was backed by 75 organizations and it’s a shame this policy attracted so little interest from journalists despite getting such widespread support from those closest to the health service.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 29 Comments

I’m proud to be a be a Lib Dem newbie

During last month’s election campaign, I made the most important political decision of my life. I resigned from the Conservative Party, for whom I had stood as a parliamentary candidate in 2015, to join the Liberal Democrats.
As I explained in an article for The Guardian, I could no longer support a party trying to drive through an extreme Brexit with disastrous consequences for our country. Unlike Theresa May, I was not prepared to campaign for a cause in which I did not believe.

I was honoured to be asked to introduce Vince Cable at a packed election

Posted in Op-eds | 62 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Mohammed Amin
    Many congratulations....
  • Simon R
    I'm not sure I like the idea of being 'populists' - with all the connotations of simplistic solutions that don't actually work. So I'd prefer to think of the d...
  • Mike Peters
    Congratulations! Well deserved....
  • Simon R
    @Bigtalltim: Net migration has added around 4 million to the UK population in the last 10 years alone. Every one of those people needs somewhere to live. It is...
  • David Raw
    @ Steve Trevethan, you ask : "Has our Royal Family benefited for the considered welcoming of immigrants ?" To be perfectly honest, Steve, as a radical Libera...