Author Archives: Jamie Hewitt

The Independent View: The case for ending unfair, out of date prescription charges for people with long term conditions

We are now just over two years away from the next general election and political parties are starting to develop their manifestos.

In this age of austerity, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s team has already identified “alarm clock Britain” as a key demographic in need of help – these are the basic rate taxpayers who get up early, take their children to school and then go to work only to find their living standards squeezed by current economic circumstances. If Liberal Democrats are indeed committed to helping this section of the population, they need look no further than delivering reform on …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , and | 7 Comments

Thoughts on this World Arthritis Day

To mark World Arthritis Day, Jamie Hewitt, Government Affairs Manager at the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) peers into Norman Lamb MP’s ministerial inbox and takes a look at the forthcoming Long-Term Conditions Outcomes Strategy.

Things move on quickly in politics. Just shy of one year ago today I posted a blog for Liberal Democrat Voice on the subject of a live webchat we had conducted with the Minister for Long-Term Conditions at the time, Paul Burstow MP.

During our public tête-a-tête the Minister was challenged squarely about the merits of introducing a musculoskeletal strategy and indicated that the Coalition Government …

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged | 4 Comments

The Independent View: World Arthritis Day

I suspect few of you know this, but Wednesday was actually World Arthritis Day. For charities in the musculoskeletal sector this can be a pretty big deal, as we jostle to publish new research and try and ensnare policy makers in dialogue.

And so it proved to be when NRAS participated in a live webchat with the Health Minister, Paul Burstow MP, the man with responsibility for long-term conditions, like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Needless to say we were cock-a-hoop that the Minister agreed to participate. He could have quite easily cancelled on us due to all the palaver surrounding the passage of

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
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  • Matt Wardman
    On Topic. This is a good focus, but I think some numbers would be helpful. In September alone, AIUI, £75 billion of FTSE 100 companies are being taken pr...
  • Matt Wardman
    Off-topic (sorry). I'm trying to find the docs and the policy proposals passed from the Young Liberals Summer Conference Manchester 14th - 16th August 2026 t...
  • Jana
    Interesting to see the vote for pro-independence parties fell by just 1.5% in both Edinburgh seats - down to 52.1% in Portobello/Craigmllar and down to 40.8% in...
  • expats
    @Jana 5th Sep '26 - 9:55am.’m afraid I don’t like us spending time attacking ReformUK on issues around party funding.. Jana, Reform are falling down in t...
  • Jana
    “ A less rigidly pre-Keynes orthodox financial strategy…” Was this a typo? Did you mean ‘pro-Keynes’? As I understand it, pre-Keynes financial o...