Author Archives: Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert

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

By Julian Huppert | Mon 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 …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… Boris Island is no more than an election ploy

By Julian Huppert | Sat 21st January 2012 - 11:45 am

Just one week after the Government gave the green light to a multi-billion pound high speed rail network, taxpayers are being asked to consider another tranche of infrastructure investment.

But the case for a £50 billion Thames Estuary Airport, dubbed ‘Boris Island’ after London’s inimitable Mayor, is so confused that it no longer constitutes a coherent proposal at all.

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… Liberal Democrats have convinced other parties about High Speed Rail

By Julian Huppert | Tue 10th January 2012 - 10:23 am

Today’s announcement that the Government will go ahead with HS2 is a huge win for the Liberal Democrats, the first UK party to commit itself to a national high speed railway.

Back in 2004 we announced ambitious plans for the UK’s first high speed network. We argued that faster train lines would reduce carbon emissions in the long-term and ensure a reliable train service available to all.

In contrast it took Labour 13 years of Government to announce their commitment to a high speed network, conveniently not in time to actually start doing anything about it. And while the …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: Cheering news about credit and debit card surcharges

By Julian Huppert | Fri 23rd December 2011 - 11:59 am

In the midst of the grim economic data this Christmas it’s nice to see the newspapers (even the Daily Mail!) focusing on some good news today.

On Tuesday I secured a debate in the Commons and called on the Government to ban unfair credit and debit card surcharges. I am absolutely delighted that today the Government has heeded those calls. I have been working with Which? since July to stop businesses from charging people ridiculous fees just to buy their goods.

The Government has recognised that debit and credit card surcharges are not only extremely unfair …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: promoting innovative science and technology, safeguarding NHS data for research

By Julian Huppert | Tue 13th December 2011 - 11:00 am

Science and research are absolutely key to our economy, both now and in the future. That’s why I and others have been pressing the Coalition Government to protect the £4.6 billion revenue budget for science and research programs. And we’ve managed more; since January, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills has announced £495 million of investment in capital projects to maximize our research capacity.

This funding is extremely welcome. But it is how this money is spent – not just how many millions are pumped into the economy – which will determine whether the economy recovers and whether we will be …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… The Public Order Act: More than a little insulting

By Julian Huppert | Mon 24th October 2011 - 3:25 pm

What do Peter Tatchell and the Christian Institute have in common? Before you answer, this isn’t some deeply unfunny jibe from a Coalition colleague, but one of many unexpected alliances which have formed to oppose Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

This rather insidious Section criminalises all those who use “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour” within the hearing or sight of a person “likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress”. It also applies to those who display “any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting”.

A rather wordy …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: High Speed Rail no longer the transport of the future, but a logistical imperative

By Julian Huppert | Tue 18th October 2011 - 11:53 am

Birmingham in 49 minutes, Leeds in 80, and 45 minutes shaved off the journey to Scotland’s major cities. For some, this is reason enough for the Government’s new High Speed Rail line (HS2) – stretching from London in the South, to Manchester in the North-West and Leeds in the North-East.

Many, including myself, would love to see the line extended all the way up to Scotland, providing a real boost to domestic tourism and sustainable growth.

But in amongst the disputes over cost benefit analyses and NIMBYism, there are some startling figures which remind us why High Speed Rail is vital …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: Hargreaves and site-blocking: a good start

By Julian Huppert | Thu 4th August 2011 - 3:27 pm

I was pleased when Vince Cable announced, yesterday, the government’s response to the Hargreaves Report. Like many people who are interested in IT & IP, I was pretty worried that it might turn out to be another damp squib, where an eminent academic publishes a set of excellent proposals, only for the government to fail to act. This, of course, is what happened after the Gowers Review.

Thankfully the Coalition is supporting all ten of Professor Hargreaves’ recommendations. They are important copyright reforms that could add as much as £7 billion, or 0.6%, to the UK economy – …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: 20mph – A local say on local safety

By Julian Huppert | Tue 5th July 2011 - 10:25 am

Liberal Democrats are passionate about localism. We want decisions on local issues to stay where they belong. Giving towns and villages the ability to establish 20mph speed zones empowers local communities and allows them to set speeds that are best for local people.

Unfortunately, the system in place until recently focused much less on local government than on micromanagement from Westminster. The story of the parish council of Whiteshill & Ruscombe illustrates this well. The council representing these two Gloucestershire villages paid £1000 out of its own budget to have several “20 is plenty” signs set up. But Whitehall, working from …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: It’s time to bail out TPIMs

By Julian Huppert | Wed 29th June 2011 - 11:55 am

Labour’s approach to dealing with the threat of terrorism was illiberal and ineffective. The regime they built was topped off by control orders, which remain one of the most odious elements of their legacy. These orders totally bypassed due legal process, establishing a bewildering clandestine world of secret evidence, special advocates and draconian restrictions that would have made Kafka blush.

The irony was that all this authoritarian paraphernalia, which did great damage to civil liberties many of us had previously taken for granted, failed utterly to achieve its intended purpose. Not a single person subject to a control order has ever …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: Under-18s must have the right to choose their future

By Julian Huppert | Wed 22nd June 2011 - 10:54 am

Our constitution has many interesting anomalies, but to me one of the most obvious has always been the way we treat the ‘nearly-adults’ in our society. Our 16 and 17 year olds are subject to a whole set of rules that are thrown out of the window when they turn 18; similarly, they are unable to do a whole set of things that they are suddenly allowed to on that most auspicious day. We don’t let these nearly-adults vote, have credit cards or bind themselves into a credit agreement. They can, however, commit themselves to an extended period in the …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes on Trident: We don’t need to keep fighting the Cold War

By Julian Huppert | Wed 18th May 2011 - 3:53 pm

I have believed for a long time that we don’t want nuclear weapons, we can’t afford them, and they weaken our moral authority to persuade other people not to obtain them. I proposed the emergency motion on this which we passed last year.

So how do I feel after today’s statement on the Initial Gate for Trident replacement?

Disappointed – but also encouraged and heartened by what we have achieved. Nick Harvey, our Minister, has helped to secure a 25% reduction in the overall number of warheads, and cost reductions to ease the financial burden. But this is not enough to …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes… Digital Policy in a Coalition Government

By Julian Huppert | Thu 21st April 2011 - 2:54 pm

Here’s a $64,000 question: how can we possibly expect decent digital policy to be made when too many of our politicians are technologically illiterate, and when our main political institution itself refuses to change with the times? I do not mean, of course, that most MPs are incapable of using a computer or sending an email. In fact, a survey in 2009 found, perhaps surprisingly, that 92% of MPs use email, while 83% have a personal website of some kind. (Perhaps we should be wary of how much even that means, given what some of these sites look like!)

However, in …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes… The future of universal jurisdiction

By Julian Huppert | Wed 30th March 2011 - 12:48 pm

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill about to complete its ride through the Commons, contains a range of items under ‘social responsibility’. One of these relates to changes to the way arrests for crimes under Universal Jurisdiction would be implemented (Clause 152). These are crimes such as genocide, torture, piracy and hostage taking, where the UK asserts the right to try people regardless of where the crime may have taken place.

This has been controversial in the past, particularly with the attempted arrest for private prosecution of Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli Foreign Minister, in 2009. She avoided arrest …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes… Winning the fight on student visas

By Julian Huppert | Thu 24th March 2011 - 8:55 am

One area of division within the coalition government is about immigration. A number of Tory MPs are keen to keep foreigners out of the country, whereas Lib Dems and some Tories emphasise the need to ensure that businesses and educational institutes can get the best people, wherever they come from.

This has been a long fight, and will continue. The first round was over work visas – Tiers 1 & 2 – with Vince Cable and others ensuring that it would continue to be possible for companies to get the high-skilled staff they need, although there were some serious constraints on …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert: Winning the battle on the Digital Economy Act

By Julian Huppert | Tue 1st February 2011 - 2:33 pm

In common with many Liberal Democrats, I have opposed the Digital Economy Act since its introduction as a Bill during the dog-days of the Labour government.

Along with Bridget Fox, Obhi Chatterjee and an army of activists online and offline, I helped to get an emergency motion passed almost unanimously at Spring Conference last year that condemned the Bill, in particular for its provisions on website-blocking.

The motion also called for a working group to be created to draw up policy papers on information technology and intellectual property. I now act as chair of that working group, and you can find details of its progress at www.makeitpolicy.org.uk, among other places.

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert: Why I’m supporting calls for a PFI Rebate

By Julian Huppert | Wed 8th December 2010 - 12:43 pm

Ask most people about the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and they will associate it with just one individual: Gordon Brown.

In fact, the PFI was introduced by the Conservatives as long ago as 1992, when Norman Lamont announced it in his Autumn Statement. On the surface, it was a simple idea, aimed at increasing the involvement of the private sector in the provision of public services. Rather than simply building public facilities, the PFI enables the design, financing and operation of public services to be carried out by the private sector.

There were obvious benefits to be gained from such partnerships – …

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Julian Huppert

Dr Julian Huppert MP’s maiden speech

By Julian Huppert | Sat 29th May 2010 - 2:45 pm

Back when Cix was the main way of talking to other Lib Dems online, a tradition emerged of posting Lib Dem MPs’ maiden speeches so that people could read them and respond – a tradition LDV would like to continue. The first new Lib Dem MP to speak in the 2010 Parliament was Gordon Birtwistle, with Julian Huppert shortly after.

Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD): Thank you for giving me this chance to speak so early in this Parliament, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is great to see you in the Chair. There has been a long succession of maiden speeches …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert: Nick Clegg’s visit to Cambridge

By Julian Huppert | Sat 27th February 2010 - 10:40 am

Julian Huppert with Nick Clegg and students
My campaign to take over from David Howarth in Cambridge was given a huge boost on Thursday, when we were visited by Nick Clegg, who did a Q+A session for students in Trinity Hall.
The turnout was huge – we overflowed the meeting room that was prepared for us. As we walked in, it was clear that there was a great energy in the room.

Nick didn’t do a preamble speech – the idea was just to …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes … Campaigning in Cambridge

By Julian Huppert | Tue 19th January 2010 - 4:45 pm

Liberal Democrat members in Cambridge met last Friday evening to select the person to succeed David Howarth – as candidate, and we hope, as the city’s MP at the next election. Julian Huppert was the winner, and we invited him to introduce himself to LDV’s readers …

Being selected to stand for Parliament is always an honour. Being selected for Cambridge is especially so for me; it’s where I grew up, went to school and university, and still live.

And, of course, it’s a seat we hold, and have great hopes of continuing to hold. This is in no …

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Julian Huppert

The DNA Database: Making faking easier

By Julian Huppert | Mon 16th November 2009 - 10:30 am

So, the government has decided that it should keep DNA data for six years on people who have not been convicted of any crime, despite most consultation respondents disagreeing with retention.

Why is this a problem? Is it just that we have some strange out-moded belief that people should be treated as innocent until proven guilty? It’s certainly true that the government’s argument is precisely that people who have been arrested are more likely to offend in the future (‘re-offend’ was the revealing term used on radio). We are therefore saying to people that although they have not been convicted, we …

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