Wednesday and Thursday, canvassing for our effective and personable candidate for Norwich South, Simon Wright, who lives in the constituency and is a successful campaigner already on local issues.

Today, an appointment with Mr M, haematology consultant at King's, who ordered yet more blood tests to see why my haemoglobin has declined from 13 to 9.7 over the last two years. He also said I should see Mr R, to assess whether my aortic aneurysm, which was 4.97 cm in January, was still increasing. Although surgery isn't normally recommended if its less than 5.5, it probably needs to be watched. Mr M also wanted another consultant, Mr C, to do an endoscopy on my Barrett's oesophagus. I certainly get my money's worth from the NHS.

The Bangladesh Local Govt minister and AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam came to see me at 14.00, to tell me about the progress towards implementing the war crimes trials. He said that the 1973 Act had been amended, and he thought the criticisms made in the International Bar Association's report to the Parliamentary Human Rights Group had been met. We also talked about the land problems in the CHT, which are key to the fulfilment of the Peace Accords of 1997.

After that, the Eritrean Ambassador called, to discuss the preparations for celebrating Eritrea's independence day. He kindly invited me to the launch of the Eritrea-UK Friendship Association on May 24

With Ishfaq, head of the Kashmir International Relief Fund, of which I'm Patron, at the SOAS meeting. The KIRF have donated a 50-bed hospital to Azad Kashmir, and are sending 12 volunteers from the UK later this year, to start up the hospital's IT system and train staff in various medical skills. This is a really great venture, and I hope it will be widely supported, particularly by UK Kashmiris!

SOAS meeting

At the well-attended four-party Volunteering Alliance meeting, SOAS, Tuesday evening. Each speaker had seven minutes for an introductory statement, and then it was questions from the floor for the next hour and a half.

Sue, Lyulph and Vanesa at last Sunday's joint birthday lunch for Sue and Vanessa. Sue has moved out, and Alex was moving to Edinburgh today to start his new career with the MRC, so it'll be an empty nest from now on.

Norwich South

Wednesday, drove to Norwich South with my old canvassing partner Michael Garrard, and did an afternoon and an evening's canvassing for our excellent candidate Simon Wright. He's a local man and will be a full-time MP if he gets in, unlike Charles Clarke the present incumbent who took on a consultancy job after Gordon Brown sacked him as Home Secretary. He has made a number of speeches attacking Brown and obviously recognises that he hasn't much of a future in Labour politics. Simon is young and energetic, and has already been successful in fighting for local rights. He goes down well on the doorstep and will certainly gain the seat if we can limit the Green vote. The Greens are making a big pitch for Norwich South, not recognising apparently that if they do well they could hand the seat back to Labour, reducing the support for green policies and electoral reform that only the Liberal Democrats can provide.

After canvassing we were kindly given an evening meal at the house of my distant cousins Nigel and Judith Lubbock. She is an effective LibDem councillor, and is working hard in our campaign. Then we stayed the night with hospitable and charming local activists.

Yesterday morning we were out canvassing again, and then joined a walkabout with Shirley Williams in the market square, before returning to London in time for the party leaders' final TV debate at 20.30

Vanessa at birthday lunch last Sunday

Canvassing

Yesterday Michael Garrard came over and we drove to Susan Kramer's campaign HQ in Richmnd, then went out canvassing on a long road of mainly large detached houses, at first sight Conservative territory but as it turned out with quite a few LibDem supporters. The residents all agreed that Susan was a hardworking and effective MP. But as we all know, the personal qualities of a candidate very seldom outweigh the general swing, and normally one would expect that to count against us in Tory-LibDem marginals. In Richmond Park, however, there should be some tactical voting by former Labour supporters who see the necessity of preventing a Tory win. And I think a lot of people may resent the way that Ashcroft's money is behind the Tory campaign

Thursday

Just finished watching the second of the Prime Ministerial TV debates and the instant Sun/YouGov poll afterwards that gave Nick Clegg 32%, to Gordon Brown's 29%, with Cameron in the lead at 36%. This would give the Tories the most seats, but not an overall majority. Labour would have more seats than us, perversely, such are the vagaries of our electoral system.

On immigration, Brown scored a point by saying that the LibDem amnesty for irregular migrants who had been here for at least ten years, spoke English and hadn't committed any offence, would act as a magnet for new irregular migrants. But since most irregulars now are entering as students, and that route is being closed down, and since from the end of this year migrants are going to be counted out as well as in, there will never again be the numbers that we have today. The fact is also that many of the 280,000 'legacy cases' are already being granted an amnesty under Immigration Rule 395C, which requires that before a decision is taken to remove a person, regard shall be had to his age; length of residence in the UK; strength of connections with the UK; personal history including character, conduct and employment record; criminal record and the nature of any offences; compassionate circumstances, and any representations made on his behalf. Somebody who has been here for more than 10 years with a clean record would have a very good chance of being allowed to stay here already under this Rule, of which the Prime Minister appeared to be unaware.

There are also Rules 276A to D 'Long residence' , which provides that a person who has been lawfully resident in the UK for 10 years or 14 years without being subject to notice of removal, having regard to the same factors as in Rule 395C above, should be granted indefinite leave to remain.

So these rules effectively provide an amnesty, and are designed to avoid judicial challenges that would otherwise be made under the European Human Rights Convention against the removal of long-stay immigrants.

Wednesday

Yesterday I did a recording on the election for NTD TV, and had the pleasure of discussing the campaign so far with the Chair of the Chinese LibDems, Merlene Toh Emerson, who is our Parliamentary Candidate in Hammersmith & Fulham. The Chinese community in the UK is more actively involved than at previous elections, and we have three candidates of Chinese origin.

TodayI had a copy letter from the consultant physician at Dulwich who ordered the full blood test I had there on March 30. Everything was normal except the haemoglobin, which had dropped from 10.3 in January to 9.7 this time, compared with the normal 13.0-16.5 g/dL I had been attending a haematology appointment when I broke my leg last October, and that appointment has now been resuscitated for April 30. There are all sorts of reasons for a low haemog;obin count including non-Hodgin's lymphoma which I had in 2006.

I chaired a meeting of the Gypsy and Traveller Stakeholder Group at the Department of Children, Schools and Families between 13.00 and 15.00, at which most of the members were old friends. It was a useful and constructive discussion.

In our front garden, Sunday evening

At Lyulph's, Sunday

Saturday, to the adoption meeting at Liberal Hall, Orpington, to support our candidate David McBride, who is Leader of the LibDem Group on Bromley Council. He has lived in Orpington since he was a child and knows the local problems and needs, a factor I hope will give him a bit of an edge over the Tory candidate, who is new to the constituency.

Sunday, to Lyulph's for a family party, the last opportunity to see Alex before he goes to Edinburgh to start his research project at the MRC laboratory there, on the application of artificial intelligence to the connection between genetic abnormalities and certain kinds of cancer.

Shadia

The week so far

Sunday and Monday I was zonked out with some kind of flu, and Lindsay called the out of hours doctor, who prescribed some antibiotics.

Tuesday I was better, went to see my GP who prescribed some other medication for my low haemoglobin. Shadia came to lunch (see photograph), and we had a good talk about the situation in Bangladesh. Electricity is being cut off without warning for much of the day in Dhaka, and people who can afford it are buying generators. For many people, this is a more important question than the war crimes trials.

Today I was much better, did a broadcast for Colourful Radio just after 08.00; had lunch with Maqsood Ahmed at the House, then called at Lambeth Palace for a useful chat with the Archbishop's Interfaith Dialogues Assistant.

LibDem tax policy

Liberal Democrats promise a tax cut you can believe in

Mon, 12 Apr 2010

The Liberal Democrats today set out their proposal for the most radical change in taxation for generations.

The fairer tax policy will be at the heart of the party’s manifesto for the General Election.

Under the Liberal Democrats the income tax threshold would be raised to £10,000, meaning most taxpayers would see their income tax bills cut by £700.

The move is paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy, a ‘mansion tax’ on homes worth more than £2 million and making sure that airlines pay for the pollution they cause.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“Under Labour the tax system is complex, unwieldy and most of all unfair.

“This has to change. Liberal Democrats will rebalance our tax system to make it fair once and for all.

“We are proposing the biggest tax switch in generations. A radical overhaul to make sure those at the top pay their fair share in order to put money back in the pockets of people who need it.

“Unlike the Conservative party, we are setting out in full, in detail, where every last pound of the money will come from.

“That’s why this is a tax cut you can believe in.”

Underlying all Liberal Democrat tax policy is a strong framework of principles to which all Liberal Democrat tax policies will conform. These are:

Fairness – tax policies should be equitable and ensure that the payment of taxes is linked proportionately to people’s ability to pay.

Simplicity – tax policies should be clear to taxpayers and new policy should aim to eliminate complexity in existing legislation.

Certainty – tax policies should not be retrospective and should provide the taxpayer with certainty over the correct treatment.

Efficiency – tax policies should provide revenue to the government on an efficient basis and minimise tax leakage.

Transparency – the reasons behind the introduction of new tax policy and the intention of spending of revenue raised should be clearly stated to the taxpayer.Mon, 12 Apr 2010The Liberal Democrats today set out their proposal for the most radical change in taxation for generations.

The fairer tax policy will be at the heart of the party’s manifesto for the General Election.

Under the Liberal Democrats the income tax threshold would be raised to £10,000, meaning most taxpayers would see their income tax bills cut by £700.

The move is paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy, a ‘mansion tax’ on homes worth more than £2 million and making sure that airlines pay for the pollution they cause.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“Under Labour the tax system is complex, unwieldy and most of all unfair.

“This has to change. Liberal Democrats will rebalance our tax system to make it fair once and for all.

“We are proposing the biggest tax switch in generations. A radical overhaul to make sure those at the top pay their fair share in order to put money back in the pockets of people who need it.

“Unlike the Conservative party, we are setting out in full, in detail, where every last pound of the money will come from.

“That’s why this is a tax cut you can believe in.”

Underlying all Liberal Democrat tax policy is a strong framework of principles to which all Liberal Democrat tax policies will conform. These are:

Fairness – tax policies should be equitable and ensure that the payment of taxes is linked proportionately to people’s ability to pay.

Simplicity – tax policies should be clear to taxpayers and new policy should aim to eliminate complexity in existing legislation.

Certainty – tax policies should not be retrospective and should provide the taxpayer with certainty over the correct treatment.

Efficiency – tax policies should provide revenue to the government on an efficient basis and minimise tax leakage.

Transparency – the reasons behind the introduction of new tax policy and the intention of spending of revenue raised should be clearly stated to the taxpayer.

Phil paid us a flying visit on Wednesday, arriving for breakfast, and then came to lunch at the House. In between I had to attend the last meeting of EU Subcommittee F

It was the last week of the Parliament, and the election is now under way. The 'wash-up' was a stitch up, with bargains made between the Government and the Tories, to the exclusion of any input from the Liberal Democrats. 'That's the way its always been done', say the Labservatives, and in the next breath they shamelessly pretend to by about to make real change. The Constitutional Reform Bill was emasculated, with the proposals for House of Lords reform taken out altogether. If the Tories win the election, probably 100 new peers will be created, taking the House of Lords to an obese 800 Members, instead of reducing it to around 350, the number that are required to do the job of scrutinising legislation effectively. So the cost of operating the Lords will shoot up, at a time when as everybody agrees, a squeeze on public spending greater even than Mrs Thatcher's is needed. How is it going to look if the House of Lords is just about the only institution to get a lot more expensive when savage cuts are being made everywhere else?

Tuesday I initiated a debate on the Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules (www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100406-0008.htm#10040626000167). Normally these changes are introduced after at least 12 weeks consultation, but on this occasion nobody got more than 10 days to comment, and in the case of Universities UK, it was 24 hours! Unusually, there was no analysis of the responses, and the Impact Assessment was published 3 hours before the debate began. The Code of Conduct on consultations was completely ignored, on the basis that it was not a 'formal' consultation. And since the Order had already come into effect, nothing said in the debate could affect the changes already made. For the Conservatives, Viscount Bridgman was also critical of the lack of genuine consultation, and he said the changes were

"yet another quick fix, an ill thought-out policy direction that will do more damage than good in the long run".

Earlier, William Wallace asked a Private Notice Question about the Government's decision, taken during the Easter recess, to declare the whole of the Chagos Archipelago a no-take 'marine protection area'. The people who were summarily evicted from the islands to make way for a US military base on the main island, Diego Garcia, had objected strenuously to this proposal, because if they are allowed to return when their case is heard at the European Court of Human Rights, fishing would be the main source of livelihood for them, As usual, the Government has simply ridden roughshod over the islanders, this time cocking a snook at the European Court as well.

Wednesday, the first day of the 'washup', the House sat until 02.50, a very rare occurrence nowadays. I suppose the reason why the Government had embarked on far more legislation than it was ever going to be possible to debate properly in the Session was to have plenty of stuff to put in the shop window at the election.

Thursday was a much lighter day, with the debate ending at 16.46, followed by prorogation at 17.15. This is an occasion when a few of the bigwigs of the House dress up in robes and funny hats and one of them, described as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is actually the Leader of the House, our normally unpretentious Jan Royall, reads out a speech said to be the words of Her Majesty the Queen who, 'not thinking fit personally to be present here at this time, has been pleased to cause a Commission to be issued under the Great Seal', had given Jan the task of delivering it. Surely this sort of flummery will have to be eliminated when the House is reformed, because it distances Parliament from the public.

Letter to Foreign Secretary on the Chagos MCA

From Lord Avebury

April 2, 2010

Dear Foreign Secretary,

As vice-chair of the Chagos All-Party Parliamentary group, I write to express my shock and dismay over your decision to make the Chagos Archipelago a no-take marine conservation area, announced during the Easter recess and with only three sitting days left before Parliament is dissolved. You are well aware of the concern in both Houses of Parliament about the rights of the islanders, and the timing of your statement makes it impossible for the issue to be debated until after the new Parliament sits on or about May 19. Furthermore, while the statement says the decision is without prejudice to the appeal by the islanders to the European Court of Human Rights, you are making their return impossible in practice, because the only immediate means of sustenance available to them would be fishing. Actually, this looks like an improper attempt to bring pressure to bear on the Court, as well as being in contempt of Parliament and in total disregard for the interests of the Chagossian people whom Parliament, if not your Government, is morally obliged to defend

Neither the islanders, nor the APPG, have the power to challenge the decision, or even to discuss it with Ministers as was promised by Ivan Lewis MP on behalf of the Government in a parliamentary debate on March 10. I can only say I hope you are proud of the way you have trampled on the principles of Parliamentary democracy and transparency of government.

The Rt Hon David Milliband MP,
Foreign & Commonwealth Office,
London SW1A 2AH

Shahriar Kabir is on my right, Emir Bajramovic on my left, and Sujt far left

Friday

During yesterday I managed to speak to Universities UK, the UK Council for International Student Affairs and English UK about the way the Government held the 'consultation' on the changes to the Immigration Rules that affect students, on which I have a motion for debate next Tuesday.

Had a good conversation with Maurice on Skype in the evening.

This morning, had a visit from Juanda Djemal, Secretary-General of the Achehnese Civil Society Task Force (see above). The resolution of Acheh's political status was a model which deserves far wider coverage than it gets, and the reconstruction programme after the tsunami is making good progress. But I think the UK, and the EU, should consider what more can be done to help train young Achehnese in the skills they need both in effective local government and in agriculture and fishing, still the mainstays of the local economy.

Then, a visit from Shahriar Kabir, President, Forum for Secular Bangladesh, who I know well from a number of meetings both here and in Bangladesh. He was accompanied by Emir Bajramovic an activist from Bosnia, and my friend Sujit Sen. He has made a number of documentary films, and is particularly interested in the war crimes of 1971, the perpetrators of which are to be tried. We talked about the need to amend the War Crimes Act of 1973 to bring it into line with internationally agreed norms for war crimes legislation, and the proposals made in a report to the Parliamentary Human Rights Group by the International Bar Association. It would be a tragedy if after all these years, the credibility of the trials were to be undermined on grounds of nonconformity with natural justice.

JW and I had a game of ping pong this afternoon, the first since August 31 last year which left him the leading the series 129-120. Today I won 2-0 making it 129-122, showing that seven months out of action and a broken leg hasn't rendered me utterly decrepit!