Author Archives: Pramod Subbaraman

Pramod Subbaraman

Opinion: Why I believe students should vote for the Liberal Democrats

By Pramod Subbaraman | Mon 20th April 2015 - 11:05 am

I have had a hustings with students at Edinburgh University and a meeting with the Edinburgh University Students’ Association. They have produced a manifesto and I will detail my response.

  1. They have asked for a phasing out of tuition fees and better support for the diverse needs of post graduate students. 

Obviously I couldn’t commit to the former,  But I would like to point out that raising tuition fees was a Conservative policy, one that the Lib Dems could not block!

As more coalitions are formed, I’m sure the British Public will recognise the limitations of individual manifestos as well as appreciate the opportunities for wider representation and trimming of the extremes of left and right. As for the latter, I have been personally affected and I did not do a postgraduate degree as I couldn’t afford to. Not just the fees but also the time off work in my 30s.

When we talk about high skilled jobs and a new economy we really need to also discuss how we are going to train our workforce and the skills development by means of post graduate study. We need to commit to investing in what will provide excellent returns, not just financial but also the advantage of having a highly educated population which I’m sure nobody will disagree with!

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 168 Comments
Pramod Subbaraman

Opinion: So what questions do I want to answer at hustings?

By Pramod Subbaraman | Mon 13th April 2015 - 3:55 pm

hustings

I’ve now had four hustings and wherever I go, we get the same questions – nitty gritty details about spending and taxes, TTIP, deficit, debt etc. the usual stuff. Now these are the questions that politicians WANT to be asked. Very much up their street! The kind of things they’ve been preparing for.

It is sad that the run up to election is dominated by questions like these. It plays straight into politicians’ hands. The public can do better by asking questions about values which are lesser likely to change as easily as policy. Take politicians out of their comfort zone and ask them questions about things like electoral reform and reform of the systems they work in, the things that affect them and their political jobs. That will tell you more about the candidates than anything else will!

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 7 Comments
Pramod Subbaraman

Unlocking Liberalism: Life After the Coalition

By Pramod Subbaraman | Mon 9th March 2015 - 12:50 pm

unlocking liberalismA source of inspiration and optimism for Liberal Democrats and an important chapter in the body of Liberal Democrat Discourse. A book that could help provide the road for the party to take in 2015 and beyond.

On average there are over 200,000 books published every year in the United Kingdom and nobody can read them all! But if you’re a Liberal Democrat, or are interested in knowing more about how we think, the book whose title I have mentioned above could be the one book from 2014 that you may have missed and should not miss any longer!

It is a wonderful collection of essays predominantly by distinguished Scottish Liberal Democrat members, written just before the Independence Referendum, but published only after the result! Whatever else that referendum may have or not achieved, it certainly has sharpened political thinking and this book is one result of that process.

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Posted in Books | Tagged | 8 Comments
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