Over the summer the ‘Go Home’ vans came onto our streets.  At the time I joined Sarah Teather and, oddly, Nigel Farage to oppose them. (Who says politics doesn’t give you strange bedfellows!)

My view was clear both then and now: The vans represented the worst kind of divisive politics and they wouldn’t work.

It is important that our borders are protected and secure, but this policy – driving a van around some of the most diverse communities in London – is not the way to deliver that.

Full story: http://bit.ly/18HDD7n

The hugely unsuccessful campaign was described by Lib Dems as “stupid” and “divisive”. Even Conservative MPs came out and stated that the scheme had made “people less willing to report if they were in the country illegally rather than more willing”. Furthermore, the statistics that the campaign was based on came into question when arrest figures displayed on the side of the vans were criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority for being inaccurate.

Norman says:

“Liberal Democrats believe we should have a firm but fair immigration system that is tolerant to those who live, work and contribute here but intolerant of abuse. However, these vans crossed a line. They were divisive and, ultimately, counter-productive.

 “The ‘go home’ poster vans were not cleared or agreed by Liberal Democrats in Government and we made clear we would not support any expansion of the scheme.”

But Monday’s moving of the deckchairs produced one change that sent my head spinning. The maverick Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker has been promoted to a number two position in the Home Office.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was not told  in advance of the appointment by Downing Street.

Her reported fury will certainly be shared by the security services for which she is responsible — and whose views she takes exceptionally seriously.

For this same Norman Baker has written a book claiming that our very own British spooks covered up the murder of the weapons scientist Dr David Kelly by an Iraqi hit squad in July 2003. The verdict delivered by Lord Hutton in his official report was ‘suicide’.

Mr Baker’s promotion has already been attacked  by Establishment-minded commentators. Some more neutrally-minded people may also think that on the subject of Dr Kelly’s death, the Lib Dem MP took leave of his senses.

I disagree. As it happens, I don’t share Mr Baker’s belief that Dr Kelly was murdered, but it seems that there are disturbing questions which have never been answered by the authorities. It remains incredible that there has not been a full inquest into his death.

Far from being a crazed conspiracy theorist as his detractors allege, Mr Baker is a brave and sensible man who wrote an analytical book, having given up his place on the Lib Dem front bench to undertake the research. Is it too much to hope, now he is at the centre of government, that his questions might finally be addressed?

Full story: http://dailym.ai/1hAg1CT

Norman with his awards for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Transport’

The award is in recognition of Norman’s services over the last three-and-a-half years as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport. In which he was

responsible for, amongst other things, doubling the cycling budget, the new £1bn Local Sustainable Transport Fund, as well as helping drive forward the biggest rail investment programme since Victorian times including the electrification of 880 miles of track compared to just 9 under the previous Labour government.

Campaign for Better Transport chief executive Stephen Joseph paid tribute to Mr Baker, saying: “Many in the transport sector will be very sorry to see Norman Baker go. It’s rare that you get a minister who has such a strong understanding of his brief. It’s also unusual for them to be given enough time to make a real difference in the way Norman has, through things like the Local Sustainable Transport fund. He’ll be a very tough act to follow.”

Norman says:

“I am very honoured to receive this award and I hope the various policies and projects that I established will make a real difference, and be a marked improvement to public transport across the country.”

There can hardly be a newspaper reader in Britiain who has not now heard that Norman Baker, the new junior billeted on Thresesa May at the Home Office after last week’s ministerial reshuffle, was a ‘conspiracy theorist’ who ‘believed the weapons scientist Dr David Kelly had been murdered’ – and that Mrs May was ‘spitting tacks’ at the arrival of ‘the green-ink brigade’. Well, Norman, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. The leaks, giggles and anonymous sneers struck me as a concerted Tory strategy to rubbish Mr Baker.

Wise? I’ve been a Baker-watcher ever since, as a parliamentary sketchwriter, I described him as so boring it was riveting how boring he was. But he is also hard-working, clever, careful, persistent, patient and principled. And he’s a himan; if you prick him, he bleeds; he will have been wounded over the campaign to trash him before he even started.

Now he’s embedded right at the heart of the Home Office – that ant hill of muddle, incompetence, cover-up and low politics – with access to records, memos and documents, with all the time in the world; and with hatred in his heart.  

Murder in Marsham Street. My guess is that if there’s a  ministerial resignation at the Home Office before 2015, it won’t be Mr Baker’s.

Figures show crime overall is down by seven per cent across the country compared with the same time last year and has hit the lowest level since the records began in 1981.

Crime reduction is Norman’s main role in his new position in the Home Office where he builds upon a strong legacy which has seen the crime rate be lower under the Coalition Government than during every single year Labour was in power.

Norman says: 

“Police reform is working and crime is falling. Recorded crime has dropped yet again, by more than ten per cent under the coalition government and the crime survey says that crime has more than halved since its peak in 1995.

 “This is really positive news. Forces are rising to the challenge of making savings whilst cutting crime and delivering a better service to the public.

 “England and Wales are safer than they have been for decades but we will continue to deliver measures which keep pace with the changing nature of crime and improve our ability to combat emerging issues. That is why we have recently launched the National Crime Agency to tackle the growing threat of serious and organised criminality. The agency also incorporates the new National Cyber Crime Unit to relentlessly pursue cyber criminals.”

I am very pleased to have been appointed as Minister for Crime Prevention, and continuing the good work which Jeremy Browne has done in the Home Office. Jeremy made significant progress tackling anti-social behaviour and provided thoughtful leadership on drugs policy. I look forward to continuing his work into international drug policy, and have an open mind when it comes to deciding what is working, and what isn’t, in other countries.

Full story: http://bit.ly/GTztPx

Last month’s unemployment figures show that the number of those unemployed in the Lewes constituency has fallen by 283 from September last year.

Nationally, employment figures have taken a huge jump with 29.87 million people aged 16 and over in work in the UK in June-August 2013. The number of people in employment was up 155,000 on the previous quarter and up 279,000 on the previous year.

Norman says:

“It is pleasing to see we appear to be coming out of the economic downturn, both at a national level and in the local area. Nevertheless, we must of course not be complacent and have to continue to stimulate job creation because times continue to be tough, but these local unemployment figures, which have been replicated nationally, are encouraging.  It is particularly good to see that full-time employment is on the rise.”