Ming Campbell » Articles

Menzies Campbell: I am proud to be Scottish. And British. And European

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I was born in Scotland, went to school and university in Scotland, practised law in Scotland, have always lived in Scotland, and for nearly 25 years have represented a Scottish constituency. I state these qualifications, for it has become commonplace i...

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Menzies Campbell: Clegg has to steady the nervous Lib Dems

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Coalition is the only way forward for a country in such deep trouble, but supporters of its junior partner need to be reassured

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Sir Menzies Campbell: there is an unanswerable case for retaining RAF Leuchars

Web Team — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:52:25 +0000

In a special article, MP Sir Menzies Campbell tells The Courier why the UK Government should keep RAF Leuchars open.

Sometime this week it will be D-Day for RAF Leuchars.

Ever since Leuchars was unexpectedly included in the discussions about the future of the RAF bases in Scotland there has been a powerful and persuasive campaign for its retention.

Particular tribute must be paid to the local community, which has argued its case with good judgment and great energy. By this time next week we shall know if it has been successful. It most certainly should be because the case for retention is overwhelming.

All the indications are that the RAF, at every level, support retention because it recognises that Leuchars is in the right place at the right time, doing the right job, and should be allowed to continue doing so.

What is that job? It is to protect the people of the northern half of the United Kingdom from any danger from the air. It does so by maintaining aircraft ready at any time of the day or night to repel intruders into UK airspace and to protect us all from terrorist attacks.

Already 6 Squadron, equipped with Typhoon jets, is operating from Leuchars with professionalism and distinction. Millions have been spent in providing the necessary facilities, including the resurfacing of the runway.

Moving the Typhoon from Leuchars will impact not only on RAF personnel but their families as well. There are private sector contracts based in Fife that are essential to the Typhoon. They cannot be compelled to move.

Aircraft at Leuchars, in addition to protecting the population, are able to do the same for sensitive installations in Scotland such as Torness nuclear power station, the oil and gas operations at Grangemouth, and the nuclear submarine base at Faslane.

They are easily able to support operations elsewhere in the UK.

The strategic argument for Leuchars as a base to defend our air space is unchallengeable and no one has ever tried to do so.

Alternative use for Leuchars as a large army base does not stack up. It does not have easy access to necessary training areas and is relatively small.

The road network which surrounds it is inadequate and would require substantial investment and expansion.

Leuchars fits well not only with the local community but with nearby St Andrews. Large scale army deployment would turn St Andrews into a garrison town for which it is ill suited.

The first responsibility of any government is the proper protection of its citizens.

Typhoons are already keeping guard over the population of the northern part of the UK with the same professionalism and commitment that we have come to expect from the RAF.

The convenience of the army as it contemplates the return of so many troops from Germany or the understandable anxiety about the impact of other base closures elsewhere should not be used as a justification for meddling with the established and effective pattern of air defence in the UK.

If it isn’t broken why should we fix it?

Menzies Campbell: Historic UN vote reveals a step change in attitudes

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

IN THE end, it was easier than anyone thought or even hoped it might be. The United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Thursday evening in New York had been a long time coming, but since it represented a serious step change in collective int...

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Our duty to protect the Libyan people

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:36:00 +0000

The experience of Iraq should not make us deaf to Libyan calls for international support

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Book review: Decision Points

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

George W Bush Virgin Books, £25

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Menzies Campbell: Nasty, brutish and refusing to go away

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0000

As leaked documents tell of 109,000 violent deaths in five years, will the war's supporters finally admit they were wrong?

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Think again before Trident is all at sea

Recent articles by Menzies Campbell — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:27:00 +0000

B ritain is engaged in a strategic defence review. Nothing, we are told, is off the table. So precarious is our economic position that tradition and nostalgia must be put to the sword. But then there is Trident, whose capital cost is about £20bn, and ...

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Leading the fight against climate change

Web Team — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:36:18 +0000

Ming Campbell has written an article for the Liberal Democrat Voice website on the issue of climate change:

The role of our Party on this issue has always been to lead the way and we will continue to do so. Not only that, we’ll continue to press for Britain to take global leadership on fighting climate change.

Read the full piece here.

A rescue plan for politics

Web Team — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:50:03 +0000

Writing in The Guardian newspaper today, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell argues the case for a written constitution for the United Kingdom.

Ming is calling for a constitutional convention at least 50% of which would be made up of members of the public drawn by lot, part of new proposals for British politics to be debated at the Liberal Democrats’ conference this month.

Ming writes:

If British democracy is not to slip into terminal decline, the public must be alerted to the dangers and motivated to participate in its radical reform. Revival of our representative democracy is too serious to be left to politicians.

At our conference this month, the Liberal Democrats will provide a blueprint for Gordon Brown to follow if he is serious about reforming the obsolete political process. We have developed a 21st-century vision of Britain where people would be trusted, not patronised; involved, not just “consulted”.

The proposals include:

The introduction of citizens’ juries, similar to those in criminal trials, to assess new public policy
Strengthening the Human Rights and Freedom of Information Acts
Stopping new governments from taking power after an election until Parliament has endorsed its legislative programme
Introducing more scrutiny of government appointments and decisions

Ming’s full article is on the Guardian website.