There is an urgent need to re-evaluate our strategy in Afghanistan with respect to the poppy crop.
Cool Earth
The only effective option for controlling carbon emissions and halting climate change is by tackling tropical deforestation. Cool Earth is a unique organisation that works with the world’s biggest names in business and the world’s biggest eco-resources to arrest global warming.
Poppy Relief
It is clear that the current policy of attempting to eradicate the crop in an effort to stem the flow of opiates into the illegal drug trade in this country is failing and, because it enhances disaffection of local people, exposes our troops to even greater dangers.
I, with a small group of others, have formed a campaign group, Poppy Relief, which seeks to work with the Afghan Government to look at the option of Western nations buying the crop for medicinal purposes, on a transitional basis only, whilst capacity in alternative agriculture and manufacturing is developed. This would not only supply an income for farmers but would also help alleviate what the World Health Organisation has called a ‘global pain crisis’.
Poppy Relief is composed of myself and:
• Mark Lancaster, the Conservative Member for Milton Keynes, North East;
• Lady Finlay of Llandaff, Professor of Palliative Care, Cardiff;
• General Sir Mike Jackson, former Chief of the General Staff;
• Gordon Smith, former Canadian Ambassador to NATO; and,
• Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Bournemouth, East.
I Want A Referendum Campaign
It is estimated that four out of every five national laws now originate in Brussels.
In its 2005 manifesto, the Government promised a referendum on the EU Constitution, so that UK voters have the final say on whether they wanted even more decisions to be taken by the EU. Despite this, Gordon Brown is now back-tracking.
Britain never got the chance to vote: the Constitution was rejected by French and Dutch voters before our turn came around. But EU leaders refused to listen.
They are now trying to re-introduce the rejected Constitution in the form of a new treaty. This is a deeply dishonest process, as is made clear by the author of the original Constitution, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing: "All the earlier proposals will be in the new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way," he said.
I have joined the advisory group of the I Want A Referendum campaign to lobby the Government for a referendum. You can find out more by visiting their website.
Pensions Reform Group
The Pensions Reform Group, of which I am Chair, believes it is possible to achieve the basic objective of pension policy: an adequate minimum pension for the entire population.
As such, its Universal Protected Pension (UPP), which will shortly be laid before parliament, has five key features:
•a pension of 25-30% of average earnings throughout retirement;
•universal membership;
•redistribution;
•funded; and
•independent from Government.
The UPP is set out in full in the Pensions Reform Group's paper ‘Universal Protected Pension: The Follow-Up Report', which is available on-line at
www.pensionsreformgroup.org.
Church Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust was set up to care for Church of England churches no longer needed for parish use. Set up in 1969, it now has over 330 wonderful churches. When we take over a church, our aim is to get the building and its contents into a sound condition as speedily as possible. We are committed to the principles of conservative repair primarily because they are the best for the buildings but also because they are sustainable as well as cost-effective.