Tag Archives: simon singh

Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 2 April 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 2nd April 2010 - 7:00 am

2 General Election/statistics-themed stories

Holding general election on May 6th would save £7m says Government
Which is nothing compared to, say, scrapping the Child Trust Fund – but Gordon Brown’s timing of the election has only ever been about saving political skins, not money.

Figures disclosed in a Parliamentary written answer show that it will cost £82.1m to stage the election on the most likely date, five weeks today.

But if the country went to the polls on any other day, it is estimated that the cost would rise by more than £7m to reach £89.6m.

The 2005 general election, which also coincided with regional votes, is said to have cost £80m.

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Prateek Buch

Conference fringe: Defending free speech – keep libel laws out of science

By Prateek Buch | Mon 7th September 2009 - 7:02 pm

With a harsh economic recession continuing to bite, with Westminster politics remaining in the doldrums and with a global climate change summit fast approaching, legal action taken against a science writer may be far down your priority list as party conference season approaches. And yet, the British Chiropractic Association’s attempts to silence Simon Singh’s critical comments reveal fundamental flaws in Britain’s libel law, and threaten to undermine the freedom of expression that insulates us from the very worst consequences of public and private sector failures.

It is in this context that I invite all Lib Dem Voice readers to attend a fringe event I’ve organised at this year’s conference. The event is entitled Defending free speech – keep libel laws out of science, and will take place in the Marriott Highcliff Hotel’s Blandford Syndicate room 3 at 13.00.

We will hear an illustrious panel of speakers discussing how legal threats are being used to suppress scientific debate, and how Britain’s libel laws must be reformed:

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