“To live like a tree, lonely and free / To live as brothers like trees in a forest”

About David Owen

David Owen: Under Labour Governments, David Owen served as Navy Minister, Health Minister and Foreign Secretary. He was co-founder of the Social Democratic Party and its Leader from 1983-87 and 1988-90. He was created a Life Baron – Lord Owen of the City of Plymouth – in 1992 and sits as an independent Crossbencher in the House of Lords. He was a Member of Parliament for Plymouth for 26 years from 1966-92.

Articles by David Owen

Are Blair and Cameron subverting the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq?

David Owen 1 June 2013

A revealing analysis of how the British political class is attempting to keep the lid on its disastrous and dishonest participation in the invasion of Iraq

Lord Owen condemns “conspiracy of silence” on the EU-US trade deal

David Owen 16 May 2013

Introducing his revised NHS bill, Lord Owen calls today for transparency from Prime Minister David Cameron over the secret mandate for the EU-US Trade Negotiations which he hopes to boost at the G8 Summit in five weeks time in Northern Ireland.

The NHS Reinstatement bill and explanatory notes - updated

David Owen 16 May 2013

David Owen's Reinstatement bill continues to be improved and the below shows the latest text of both the bill and the accompanying explanatory notes.

Changes to the NHS Reinstatement bill

David Owen 16 May 2013

The reinstatement bill continues to be improved and sharpened, including an important adjustment to ensure any international trade deal ro treaty would require parliamentary approval if legislating for the NHS.

Flaws in the NHS go deeper than the Health & Social Care Act

David Owen 8 February 2013

In the wake of the Mid-Staffs report on hospital failure, David Owen has written to the Royal Colleges urging them to re-examine their role in securing high professional standards. Have relations with the Department of Health become too close?

The NHS reinstatement Bill text and explanatory notes

David Owen 5 February 2013

Owen's Bill may become an important tool for campaigners and the public in pushing prospective MPs to publicly endorse a democratic health system. It is published in full, below, with explanatory notes.

A bill to re-instate the NHS?

David Owen 28 January 2013

A new bill to reinstate the legal and democratic basis of the NHS in England has been laid before parliament in the House of Lords by David Owen. Here, to launch our new NHS section, Owen writes for openDemocracy on why it is both essential and urgently needed, to re-establish the principled public health service so valued by the English public.

England's NHS: the third constitutional outrage and the Lib Dems

David Owen 9 March 2012

Still fatally flawed – the proposed NHS for England

David Owen 8 February 2012

David Cameron should respect the evidence and stop the unamendable Health and Social Care Bill, says former health minister Lord David Owen

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A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
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Mali: the plot thickens

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