Norman Baker
Encyclopedia
Norman John Baker is a British
Liberal Democrat
politician who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Lewes
in East Sussex
since 1997
. Since May 2010 he has been Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Department for Transport
.
, Baker's family moved to Hornchurch
in East London
in 1968. He was educated at the Royal Liberty School
in Gidea Park
, near Romford
, and at Royal Holloway College
, University of London
, where he earned a BA
degree in German & History in 1978.
Baker was a regional director for Our Price Records
for five years from 1978. He worked at Malling Street Service Station from 1983 to 1985. He taught English as a foreign language from 1985–97, with a spell as a Liberal Democrat environment researcher in the House of Commons in 1989–90. In 1987, he was elected as a councillor on the Lewes District Council
, and two years later was also elected to the local county council of East Sussex
. He became the Leader of Lewes District Council in 1991, a position he held until his election as an MP.
, but was defeated by the sitting Conservative Party
MP Tim Rathbone
. He stood again at the 1997 election
, and this time won the seat with a majority of 1,300 votes over Rathbone, becoming Lewes's first non-Conservative MP since 1874.
Baker is known for uncovering scandals and conflicts of interest among MPs and the government, and has one of the highest profiles of any backbench MP.
In his first three months in the House of Commons, he asked more questions than Rathbone had asked in 23 years. A dogged investigator and exponent of Freedom of Information
, his consistent questioning of Peter Mandelson
led to Mandelson's second resignation from government, and he has also raised issues about Lord Birt
and his role as Tony Blair
's adviser. After compiling figures in 2002 which revealed that the government's fleet of ministerial cars had grown to its largest ever size, he began in January 2005 to campaign to force disclosure of the details of MPs' expenses under the Freedom of Information Act
, finally succeeding in February 2007. He suffered embarrassment when The Daily Telegraph
published details of his own expense claims, which included £3000 for "office rental", although he in fact uses a room in his home for office purposes. In October 2001 he won a test case in the High Court, when the National Security Appeals panel ruled that the Data Protection Act required the Security Service MI5
to allow him access to information which he believed the security service holds on him, the first time this had happened in the 92-year history of MI5. The Daily Mail
described him as having 'consistently been a thorn in the Government's side'. In 2001 he was named "Inquisitor of the Year" in the Zurich/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and, in February 2002, he won the Channel 4 Opposition MP of the Year Award.
Baker is regarded as coming from the left-wing of the party, and is a member of the Beveridge Group
within the Liberal Democrats. A staunch republican
, he is also well-known for his vocal support for animal rights groups, and he is a strong proponent for greater protection of animals under law. Described in 1997 by The Times
columnist Matthew Parris
as a "classic House of Commons bore", his speeches were compared by Labour MP Stephen Pound with "root canal surgery without anaesthetic", but Parris added in 2001 "You underestimate him at your peril. He has a habit of being right."
, and was appointed as Shadow Environment Secretary
in 2002, a post he held until his resignation in 2006 following the election of Sir Menzies Campbell
as party leader.
As Shadow Environment Secretary, he joined in May 2005 with two former environment ministers, the Labour MP Michael Meacher
and the Conservative John Gummer
, to table a cross-party Early Day Motion
No. 178 in support Climate Change
Bill drafted by Friends of the Earth
. The motion called for a Bill to be "brought forward in this Parliament so that annual cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of 3 per cent can be delivered in a framework that includes regular reporting and new scrutiny and corrective processes" and attracted 412 signatures. Baker also opposed nuclear power, describing it as "hopelessly uneconomic", and warning that new nuclear power stations "would generate vast quantities of nuclear waste and divert essential funding away from energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy."
He returned to the front bench in July 2007, when he was appointed as Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
. In December 2007, after the election of Nick Clegg
as party leader, Baker (who had supported Clegg in the leadership contest
) returned to the front bench as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
.
Baker announced on 19 May 2006 that his decision to step down from the shadow cabinet had been based on a decision to pursue a quest to establish the truth behind the death in 2003 of Dr David Kelly, an expert in biological warfare employed by the Ministry of Defence
and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. Kelly's discussion with BBC Today programme
journalist Andrew Gilligan
about the British government's dossier on weapon of mass destruction
(WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal. Kelly had been found dead days after appearing before the Parliamentary committee investigating the scandal.
The Hutton Inquiry
, a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, ruled that he had committed suicide and that Kelly had not in fact said some of the things attributed to him by Gilligan. Baker said that Hutton had "blatantly failed to get to the bottom of matters", and that "the more I look into it the less convinced I am by the explanation and the more unanswered questions appear which ought to have been addressed properly by the Hutton inquiry or by the coroner."
In July that year, Baker claimed that evidence showing David Kelly's death was not a suicide had been wiped from his hard drive. In April 2007 he announced his findings, telling a meeting in Lewes:
His book The Strange Death of David Kelly was published in October 2007, and serialised in the Daily Mail
. Some relatives of David Kelly have expressed their displeasure at the publication. The husband of Kelly's sister Sarah said "It is just raking over old bones ... I can't speak for the whole family, but I've read it all [Baker's theories], every word, and I don't believe it." However, in his book Baker says that other relatives of Kelly also think his death was suspicious.
In February 2008 he released a statement to mark International Mother Language Day
saying "The Chinese
government are following a deliberate policy of extinguishing all that is Tibetan, including their own language in their own country. It may be obvious, but Tibetan should be the official language of Tibet." In fact, Tibetan
is the official language of Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas in China. In school, the younger grades are taught in Tibetan, and then Mandarin Chinese is co-introduced for concepts in sciences and maths.
On 18 March 2008 he addressed Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese embassy in London, and also delivered a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
from six Tibetan students in the UK who were supporting Tibetan rioters in the 2008 Tibetan unrest
. The students' letter called for an end to the unrest's suppression, a UN investigation into it, and for unfettered media access in Tibet.
In March 2010 the BBC ran an investigation detailing 37 occasions that Baker failed to declare a financial interest in Tibet during parliamentary debates and questions, despite receiving hospitality from the Tibetan Government in exile. Baker released a statement saying that it was an oversight.
.
. His daughter, Charlotte, was born in 2000. he also has 2 step daughters, Alice (born in 1995) and Sukey (born in 1991)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
politician who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Lewes
Lewes (UK Parliament constituency)
Lewes is a constituency located in East Sussex and centred on the town of Lewes. It is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a safe Conservative seat until 1997, but the Liberal Democrats have gained a strong foothold.-Boundaries:The constituency is...
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
since 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. Since May 2010 he has been Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
.
Early life
Born in AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Baker's family moved to Hornchurch
Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...
in East London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1968. He was educated at the Royal Liberty School
Royal Liberty School
The Royal Liberty School, once a traditional English grammar school, now a state comprehensive boys senior school in Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering in east London, United Kingdom.-Admissions:...
in Gidea Park
Gidea Park
Gidea Park is a place in the London Borough of Havering, east London, England. Gidea Park is a part of Romford post town.-History:Gidea Park is the location of the "Romford Garden Suburb" constructed in 1910 to 1911 on the Gidea Hall and Balgores Estates as an exhibition of town planning...
, near Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, and at Royal Holloway College
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, where he earned a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in German & History in 1978.
Baker was a regional director for Our Price Records
Virgin Megastore
Virgin Megastores is an international chain of record shops, founded by Sir Richard Branson on London's Oxford Street in early 1971. Virgin Megastores are best described today as entertainment retailers....
for five years from 1978. He worked at Malling Street Service Station from 1983 to 1985. He taught English as a foreign language from 1985–97, with a spell as a Liberal Democrat environment researcher in the House of Commons in 1989–90. In 1987, he was elected as a councillor on the Lewes District Council
Lewes (district)
Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex in southern England covering an area of , with of coastline. It is named after its administrative centre, Lewes. Other towns in the district include Newhaven, Peacehaven, and Seaford. Plumpton racecourse is within the district...
, and two years later was also elected to the local county council of East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. He became the Leader of Lewes District Council in 1991, a position he held until his election as an MP.
Parliamentary career
Baker contested Lewes at the 1992 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, but was defeated by the sitting Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Tim Rathbone
Tim Rathbone
John Rankin "Tim" Rathbone was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the seat of Lewes between 1974 and 1997....
. He stood again at the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, and this time won the seat with a majority of 1,300 votes over Rathbone, becoming Lewes's first non-Conservative MP since 1874.
Baker is known for uncovering scandals and conflicts of interest among MPs and the government, and has one of the highest profiles of any backbench MP.
In his first three months in the House of Commons, he asked more questions than Rathbone had asked in 23 years. A dogged investigator and exponent of Freedom of Information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
, his consistent questioning of Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
led to Mandelson's second resignation from government, and he has also raised issues about Lord Birt
John Birt, Baron Birt
John Birt, Baron Birt is a former Director-General of the BBC who was in the post from 1992 to 2000.After a successful career in commercial television, first at Granada and then at LWT, Birt was brought in as deputy director-general of the BBC in 1987 for his current affairs expertise...
and his role as Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's adviser. After compiling figures in 2002 which revealed that the government's fleet of ministerial cars had grown to its largest ever size, he began in January 2005 to campaign to force disclosure of the details of MPs' expenses under the Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
, finally succeeding in February 2007. He suffered embarrassment when The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
published details of his own expense claims, which included £3000 for "office rental", although he in fact uses a room in his home for office purposes. In October 2001 he won a test case in the High Court, when the National Security Appeals panel ruled that the Data Protection Act required the Security Service MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
to allow him access to information which he believed the security service holds on him, the first time this had happened in the 92-year history of MI5. The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
described him as having 'consistently been a thorn in the Government's side'. In 2001 he was named "Inquisitor of the Year" in the Zurich/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and, in February 2002, he won the Channel 4 Opposition MP of the Year Award.
Baker is regarded as coming from the left-wing of the party, and is a member of the Beveridge Group
Beveridge Group
The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service provision....
within the Liberal Democrats. A staunch republican
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Republicanism in the United Kingdom is the movement which seeks to remove the British monarchy and replace it with a republic that has a non-hereditary head of state...
, he is also well-known for his vocal support for animal rights groups, and he is a strong proponent for greater protection of animals under law. Described in 1997 by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
columnist Matthew Parris
Matthew Parris
Matthew Francis Parris is a UK-based journalist and former Conservative politician.-Early life and family:...
as a "classic House of Commons bore", his speeches were compared by Labour MP Stephen Pound with "root canal surgery without anaesthetic", but Parris added in 2001 "You underestimate him at your peril. He has a habit of being right."
Front bench career
In the 2001–05 Parliament, Baker was a member of the Joint Committee on Human RightsJoint Committee on Human Rights
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, and was appointed as Shadow Environment Secretary
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
in 2002, a post he held until his resignation in 2006 following the election of Sir Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
as party leader.
As Shadow Environment Secretary, he joined in May 2005 with two former environment ministers, the Labour MP Michael Meacher
Michael Meacher
Michael Hugh Meacher is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton since 1997. Previously he had been the MP for Oldham West, first elected in 1970. On 22 February 2007 he declared that he would be standing for the Labour Leadership, challenging...
and the Conservative John Gummer
John Gummer
John Selwyn Gummer, Baron Deben, PC is a British Conservative Party politician, formerly Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal, now a member of the House of Lords. He is Chairman of the environmental consultancy company Sancroft International and Chairman of Veolia Water...
, to table a cross-party Early Day Motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
No. 178 in support Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
Bill drafted by Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth (EWNI)
Friends of the Earth is one of 70 national groups around the world which make up the Friends of the Earth network of environmental organizations...
. The motion called for a Bill to be "brought forward in this Parliament so that annual cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of 3 per cent can be delivered in a framework that includes regular reporting and new scrutiny and corrective processes" and attracted 412 signatures. Baker also opposed nuclear power, describing it as "hopelessly uneconomic", and warning that new nuclear power stations "would generate vast quantities of nuclear waste and divert essential funding away from energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy."
He returned to the front bench in July 2007, when he was appointed as Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
. In December 2007, after the election of Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
as party leader, Baker (who had supported Clegg in the leadership contest
Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2007
The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary...
) returned to the front bench as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
.
David Kelly
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. Kelly's discussion with BBC Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
journalist Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
about the British government's dossier on weapon of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
(WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal. Kelly had been found dead days after appearing before the Parliamentary committee investigating the scandal.
The Hutton Inquiry
Hutton Inquiry
The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
, a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, ruled that he had committed suicide and that Kelly had not in fact said some of the things attributed to him by Gilligan. Baker said that Hutton had "blatantly failed to get to the bottom of matters", and that "the more I look into it the less convinced I am by the explanation and the more unanswered questions appear which ought to have been addressed properly by the Hutton inquiry or by the coroner."
In July that year, Baker claimed that evidence showing David Kelly's death was not a suicide had been wiped from his hard drive. In April 2007 he announced his findings, telling a meeting in Lewes:
I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this could not be suicide. The medical evidence does not support it and David Kelly's state of mind and personality suggests otherwise. It was not an accident so I am left with the conclusion that it is murder."
His book The Strange Death of David Kelly was published in October 2007, and serialised in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
. Some relatives of David Kelly have expressed their displeasure at the publication. The husband of Kelly's sister Sarah said "It is just raking over old bones ... I can't speak for the whole family, but I've read it all [Baker's theories], every word, and I don't believe it." However, in his book Baker says that other relatives of Kelly also think his death was suspicious.
Censure
In December 2007, Baker was criticised but not fined by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges for a newsletter which contained an "advertising feature" about a Liberal Democrat MEP. The Committee's report concluded: "We agree with the Commissioner that this element of Mr Donovan's complaint should be upheld, and we reiterate that the inclusion of material of a party political nature is not permissible in publications funded from parliamentary allowances."Tibet
Baker is President of the Tibet Society, and a member of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.In February 2008 he released a statement to mark International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999...
saying "The Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
government are following a deliberate policy of extinguishing all that is Tibetan, including their own language in their own country. It may be obvious, but Tibetan should be the official language of Tibet." In fact, Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
is the official language of Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas in China. In school, the younger grades are taught in Tibetan, and then Mandarin Chinese is co-introduced for concepts in sciences and maths.
On 18 March 2008 he addressed Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese embassy in London, and also delivered a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
from six Tibetan students in the UK who were supporting Tibetan rioters in the 2008 Tibetan unrest
2008 Tibetan unrest
The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region...
. The students' letter called for an end to the unrest's suppression, a UN investigation into it, and for unfettered media access in Tibet.
In March 2010 the BBC ran an investigation detailing 37 occasions that Baker failed to declare a financial interest in Tibet during parliamentary debates and questions, despite receiving hospitality from the Tibetan Government in exile. Baker released a statement saying that it was an oversight.
Coalition Government
Following the 2010 United Kingdom general election, Norman Baker was again returned as MP for Lewes. The Liberal Democrats entered a coalition agreement with the Conservative Party on 11 May 2010, and Baker was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for TransportDepartment for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
.
Personal life
Baker married Elizabeth Sleeper in May 2002 at St Peter's church in HamseyHamsey
Hamsey is a civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles north of Lewes on the Prime Meridian...
. His daughter, Charlotte, was born in 2000. he also has 2 step daughters, Alice (born in 1995) and Sukey (born in 1991)
External links
- Norman Baker MP official site
- Profile at the Liberal Democrats
- Lewes Liberal Democrats