Julian in Westminster

In his maiden speech in May, Julian spoke of the honour and pride he felt in representing
Cambridge. He challenged the perception that this is a uniformly wealthy city, stressing
its residents’ diversity and commitment to social justice, providing for those in need and
reducing inequality. Pledging to advocate for evidence-based policy, he emphasised the
need for expertise and understanding of science in the House of Commons. He feels this is especially important given Cambridge’s reputation as a city of technology and innovation. Julian also mentioned the need for politics to move beyond economic growth as the sole measure of success, and to focus more on wellbeing and happiness. You can read the full speech here.
 
Julian is involved in many issues in Parliament. He is the Joint Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cycling and the Vice Chair of the APPG on Local
Government. Dedicated to local transportation issues, he has called for a public inquiry into the Guided Bus fiasco and works for progress in improvements to the Cambridge Railway Station, work on the Chesterton Station, and the East-West Rail Link.
 
Serving on the Home Affairs Select Committee, Julian has strongly criticised the decision to extend 28-day detention without charge for another six months, instead advocating an immediate return to 14 days. His speech in the House of Commons helped to convince Keith Vaz, the Chair of the Committee, to vote against the extension.
 
Julian is also Treasurer of the APPG on Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He believes that the UK neither wants nor needs nuclear weapons, and that Trident weakens our moral argument for other countries to disarm. He raised the issue with David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions on the 23rd of June, insisting that Trident should be included in the forthcoming strategic defence review, and scrapped unless a strong case for it is made.
 
As Vice Chair of the APPG on Digital Economy, Julian leads discussion on the Digital
Economy Act. He has called on the government to work towards legislation to repeal clauses which allow the blocking of websites or the removal of internet access for allegedly breaking copyright laws. He has also tabled an EDM on this issue, which you can read here.
 
Julian has expressed concern about the UK Border Agency’s backlog in processing
applications. He is Chair of the APPG on Refugees. On the wider question of immigration,
he has fought flawed regulations that could affect Cambridge’s schools and businesses,
particularly attacking the bizarre policy of the previous government to allow only
those overseas students who already spoke English to learn English in the UK!
 
Julian also served on the recent Identity Documents Bill Committee which looked at plans to scrap the ID card scheme. As a supporter of the Cambridge NO2ID campaign against ID cards, Julian welcomed the bill and examined its measures to ensure their rationality and fairness.