Hello, I am Stephen Dorrell. I was a Conservative Member of Parliament for 36 years. I served in John Major's Cabinet as Health Secretary, and I later chaired the Health Committee of the House of Commons.
I left Parliament in 2015 to pursue a life outside politics. I have recently returned to the forefront of politics because I strongly agree with John Major's view that Brexit is, in his words, "a historic mistake." I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2019 and I am the candidate in Buckingham.
Why is Brexit a mistake?
It's not just economics - trade and jobs - though, goodness knows, those are important.
The European Union is the most successful peace project in history; to leave it is to unlearn the lessons of the twentieth century.
No government has the right to tell us we must do that to our children; after three and half years of argument, only the people can have the final say.
Climate Change
In addition, modern science demonstrates that carbon emissions threaten sustainable life on this planet. The only way we can reverse that is through effective international action. The European Union is at the forefront of action both through the political system and through the world trading system to reverse global warming.
To weaken our position the European Union is threaten the environment we leave to future generations.
Public Services
There's another reason as well.
I believe this country needs a new approach to Public Services. At election time we always hear politicians promising they are going to spend more money on schools or the NHS; they tell us they are going to recruit more doctors, nurses and teachers - and they usually tell us at the same time they are going to spend less on administrators.
What they don't tell us is how they are going to ensure these extra resources are going to deliver better results for citizens.
The Liberal Democrats offer something different. Instead of national posturing we believe that public services should be part of the local community. They should engage with local people and they should reflect their changing needs.
We need sports fields at schools; we need support systems for disabled people; we need extra facilities for our growing elderly population. And we need to listen to the views of the people who use them and rely on them.
So, use your vote on the 12th of December to help the Liberal Democrats deliver a Brighter Future.
Thanks to Liberal Democrat policies in government, the UK has made major strides in cutting emissions from power generation; wind power is now the cheapest form of electricity generation. Now we can go further: we aim to decarbonise the power sector completely, supporting renewables and household and community energy to create jobs and cut fossil fuel imports.
Stephen Dorrell is the current chair of the European Movement. Its patrons include Lord Heseltine, Baroness Kennedy, Lord Patten and Baroness Shirley Williams.
Mission
Founded in 1949 after World War II, the European Movement is an independent, cross-party, non-governmental movement centred upon fostering peace and cooperation with our European neighbours and partners.
Stephen Dorrell is standing in the Buckingham constituency both as a Remain Alliance and as a Liberal Democrat candidate. The Green Party generously stood aside to give Stephen Dorrell a clear run against the Brexit-supporting Conservative.
A statement on the need for climate action at Winslow hustings:
Stephen Dorrell, Lib Dem candidate for Buckingham constituency, answering a question on providing more for GPs in Buckinghamshire at the Buckingham University hustings, 28/11:
I'd be very keen to see increased numbers of GPs. How do you do that? Well, you need to invest in training through the medical schools. You also have to have a migration policy which recognises where there are shortages, and you have to ensure that this is a country that is welcoming to people with medical qualifications from all over the world.
Actually, there is good reason to do that, not just in order to make certain we've got enough doctors and nurses and professionals to deliver our health and care system. Our health and care system has always been, throughout its post-war history, and probably before as well, enriched by having foreign doctors, foreign nurses, working here. And some of our doctors, and our nurses going to work in other countries in order to have a more diverse, a better, more broad-based experience.
So I'm in favour of ensuring that we continue to have an open door across the range of the health care professions. It's also, since we're talking about GPs, important to make the point that it isn't just about GPs; if you want to deliver primary care, the secret is in the word. It isn't just about GPs; it's about pharmacists, about nurses and critically it's about social care. Today is the day when the Association of Directors of [Adult] Social Services are reporting than in 90% of cases that they are worried they won't be able to maintain the quality of social care this winter.
Now it's no good investing in GPs and undermining the security of social care, because that's what delivers the care support for the medicine delivered by the National Health Service. We need to think of it as a joined up health and care system. The thing that makes me cross, having been involved in the healthcare system for the last twenty-five years, is virtue signalling by politicians. People say "Of course we care, we're great champions of the National Health Service"; if you really care about health, other than just the treatment of acute illness, what you should be concerned about is the quality of the full range of public services: social housing, education, social care, the full range of public services, because that's what creates demand for the Health Service when they are not maintained at the level they should be they should be.
