Browsing Category Parliament/Party politics

Extended podcast interview: David Owen on the upcoming election and current geopolitical crises. “The political duopoly is failing.”

Extended interview on ‘The News Agents’ podcast of 19 January 2024 (42 mins), plus related Press Release.

Read the associated press release here: Lord Owen Upcoming Election Press Release

Listen on the Global Player platform (sign in required) here: Lord Owen Interview Global Player

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, here: LordOwen Interview Apple

“The writing is on the wall for the two party alternation of power between Labour and the


Red Box interview: Hubris Syndrome. ‘Liz Truss was described as acting like a Queen. Power goes to your head’

Lord Owen discusses breaking away from Labour—having become their Foreign Secretary aged just 38—with the ‘Gang of Four’ to form the SDP.  He reviews this defining moment in UK political history; the SDP’s legacy; which PMs suffer ‘hubris syndrome’; the economy; the NHS; and much more.

Listen to the TalkRadio podcast (starts c. 23:50) here  or view the YouTube interview here


‘Planet Normal’ interview with David Owen on current topics

Lord Owen speaks to the Planet Normal podcast of the UK’s Daily Telegraph (22 April 2021). In a wide-ranging interview, he discusses the Government’s response to Covid, the various lobbying scandals and the wisdom of proper Cabinet Government. In particular, in the wake of the death of Shirley Williams he talks of the ‘what ifs’ of history if she had become, as he wished, leader of the Social Democratic Party …


Lockdown thoughts: revisiting ‘Labour’s Love Lost’

“As we all settle into isolation for, I hope, only a few more weeks, I have been sorting out papers from the past and I thought it worth posting one or two on my website for a few people to read.

“The article ‘Labour’s Love’s Lost’ was published in a journal called Queen on 2 October 1962.

“It appeared just after I had been chosen as the prospective Labour candidate …


This is no SDP rerun, but a younger socialist could still take Labour to power.

Lord Owen writing in The Sunday Times, 24 February 2019.

Read the full article here: Sunday Times article

Extracts:

“…Disowning the largest democratic vote in our history, and commitments made as recently as the 2017 general election to deliver in parliament the referendum result, is, to put it mildly, an odd basis for starting a new centre grouping intended to destroy the other two parties, as the Independent Group of …


Lord Owen speaks in the House of Lords about establishing a UK-wide Constitutional Convention.

Lord Owen’s speech on 13 December 2018 in the Debate on the current constitutional challenges within the UK and the case for the establishment of a UK-wide Constitutional Convention to address issues of democratic accountability and devolution, particularly in England.

View the speech here: Constitutional Challenges

Read the text here: HL13.12.18

 

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Lord Owen sets out proposals for a Federal UK Council

Addressing a seminar on ‘Politics post-Brexit’ at Cardiff University’s School of Law and Politics, Lord Owen today (Thursday 3 November) set out proposals for a UK-wide Federal Council in a comprehensive pamphlet drawing comparisons with the German Bundesrat.

Download the pamphlet here: a-federal-uk-council-3

“This pamphlet argues for a focused cross-party investigation of the German federal Bundesrat, without any commitment as to the outcome. It is something which needs to be …


Lord Owen on the Chilcot Report. “Let us be courageous enough to face the need to examine this issue in Parliament.”

Read the full speech here: HLIraqInquiry12.7.16

Extracts: It would have been much easier if the former Prime Minister had made an open confession that he had made many mistakes. Unfortunately, on the day of the report, having no doubt had access to it for some time, he produced a written statement of defiance. That defiance – the only word to describe it – cannot be left unchallenged.

He said: “If …