Calum Miller

Saturday

Calum Miller

Debate: what’s the point of the Lib Dems?

24 min listen

As Ed Davey condemned Donald Trump's military manoeuvres abroad, Annabel Denham looked on and asked 'what's the point of the Liberal Democrats?'. Thinking about the Lib Dem's longstanding europhile stance, the senior political correspondent at the Telegraph wrote: 'the party that once stood on a tradition of civil liberties now wants us to rejoin a bloc which regulates everything'. Calum Miller MP – foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats – joins Annabel and deputy political editor James Heale to address Annabel's challenge that the party is defined more by opposition the other parties than by their own policies. So, from localism and the UK's place in the world to free markets and social care, what do the Lib Dems stand for? And what constitutes 'liberalism' today?

Monday

Calum Miller

How the Liberal Democrats conquered Middle England

17 min listen

The Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller, elected as the new MP for Bicester and Woodstock last year, joins James Heale to talk about the ambitions of the party that became the largest third party in Parliament in 100 years at the 2024 general election. They want to overtake the Conservatives to be the second party in local government – could they one day overtake the Tories to become the official opposition?  A former civil servant, Oxford University policy manager and councillor, Calum joins Coffee House Shots to talk about why he got into politics, how Brexit radicalised his desire for good governance and why, for all the fun, there is a serious point behind Ed Davey’s stunts.  Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Tuesday

Calum Miller

All-out strikes will not kill patients. An exodus of junior doctors will

Until now, it has not been clear to most people what the junior doctors’ strikes are all about. It began about a total pay cut masquerading as a ‘basic pay rise’. Then it became about protecting doctors’ family and social lives at weekends. Most recently, there have been accusations of sexism. Somewhere in the middle, the more marketable concern about patient safety was introduced, and has risen to the forefront of the junior doctors’ campaign. Last time I wrote, I considered the plausibility of these claims. I suggested that the strikes are primarily about doctors’ quality of life. This is no cause for shame: everyone has the right to campaign and work for a better quality of life.

Wednesday

Calum Miller

Jeremy Hunt is a fool, but the junior doctors’ strikes are becoming embarrassing

Today, thousands of doctors lay down their stethoscopes in a valiant defence of the state religion. More than 5,000 operations have been cancelled as a result of the latest walkout, which begins at 8am and will last 48 hours. If their placards bear the truth, those striking believe they are sacrificing themselves unto the throes of poverty for the sake of universal healthcare and the safety of their patients. Jeremy Hunt is a fool. That much is uncontroversial to say, and nobody could confuse me for a Tory-bashing leftist. I support competitive markets in healthcare, as well as the private provision of services. I support the eventual redundancy of doctors through robotisation of their roles.