Author Archives: Harry Samuels

Harry is Communications Officer for the Young Liberals. He lives in South London, where he is training to be a barrister.
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What would a 2019 People’s Budget look like?

By Harry Samuels | Mon 29th April 2019 - 5:18 pm

Today is the 110th anniversary of the introduction of the People’s Budget by David Lloyd-George, then the Chancellor in the Liberal government of HH Asquith. Lloyd George’s aim was to wage “implacable warfare against poverty and squalidness” and to make poverty “as remote to the people of this country as the wolves which once infested its forests.” Backed up by radical policy in support of the Liberal welfare reforms, it was an example of what liberalism can do when it does not split the difference and sit on the fence. But 110 years on, our society faces a similar range …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged people’s budget | 23 Comments

Friends of Young Liberals: Launch

By Harry Samuels | Wed 6th March 2019 - 1:30 pm

For many of us, the Lib Dems aren’t just a political party, but a political family too. We don’t just campaign together, but we socialise together, chat together, make friends, and in some cases, meet future partners, husbands, wives. Moreover, for many Lib Dems that I have spoken to, the Young Liberals (under any of its many former names) have played an integral part in that, providing a way for liberal-minded young people to get stuck in and meet others like them.

Moreover, the Young Liberals of today carry on as the legendary “golden generation” of the past did: we work up and down the country, flooding into campaigns in by-elections, distributing Focus leaflets to students, holding social events and conferences throughout the UK, and contributing to the party at all levels.

We try to shout about our work as much as possible, but I often hear people say that they wish they could keep in touch with Young Liberals and hear about our successes as well as our views and opinions more often.

That’s why, with the help of the current Young Liberals Executive, I am today launching a scheme called Friends of Young Liberals, which aims to help people do exactly that.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged young liberals | 8 Comments

The sugar tax is as liberal as they come

By Harry Samuels | Mon 9th April 2018 - 12:48 pm

Andy Briggs recently wrote on this blog that “any Liberal government worth its salt would repeal the sugar tax”. Certainly, the justifications that the government has given are to do with deterrence, and I agree that those are illiberal – but there is a much more compelling reason to support the principle of this policy, and one which goes right to the core of liberalism.

It is undeniable that a diet of sugary foods leads to obesity, and undeniable that obesity is one of the great killers in this country. But not only that, it’s costly – according …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged public health and sugar tax | 45 Comments