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Welcome to the website of Nick Harvey

Nick Harvey MP in Ilfracombe

Welcome to Nick Harvey's website, outlining his varied work as MP since 1992, including in North Devon and more. Please don't hesitate to use the contact details to get in touch with questions, comments, opinions and offers of help.

Recent updates

  • Job Vacancies
    Page: Jun 14, 2013

    Constituency Organiser

    North Devon Liberal Democrats, based in Barnstaple

    Salary: £18,000 - £24,000

    To develop the local party's campaigning capacity and abilities, co-ordinate its election planning and help the MP and councillors with issue campaigning, communications, media/social media activities

    Needed:outgoing personality, communication skills, versatility, calmness under pressure, aptitude for managing volunteers and budgets, IT literacy, intellectual firepower, an affiliation to the Liberal Democrats and campaigning experience.

    Job Description and Person Specification available from the "Downloads" section of this website.

    Apply with CV to: Nick Harvey MP, The Castle Centre, Barnstaple, North Devon, EX311DR

    More info: 01271-328631 E-mail: mail@nickharveymp.com

    Deadline: 12th July 2013

  • Recruiting former Gurkhas into the Army reserves is a no-brainer
    Article: Jun 11, 2013

    Gurkhas are a widely admired, loved and revered part of the British Army. But strangely, five years after allowing them to settle here after completing their service, we still don't routinely recruit them to the reserves when they leave, despite their desire to continue to serve. At the same time, there are serious concerns about whether we can meet the ambitious new targets as part of the Army 2020 vision and restructure in which the reserves will play a vital role. It seems a no-brainer that we should retain some of the toughest and bravest fighters we have, and instead help them lead the way for the future reserves.

    The 2010 defence review, which I was involved in as a minister, triggered a mass restructure of our Armed Forces. What we have now is an ambitious plan for a future Army that relies in part on a highly-trained and deployable reserve force. In practice, it means that we need to double the number of trained and ready reserves from what we currently have in the Territorial Army.

    A huge recruitment drive and massive rejuvenation of the reserve forces will be far from easy. We're already lagging behind: we will need a serious culture change within the Ministry of Defence and the Army of how we view the reserves if we're achieve our targets. Currently, public concerns persist that reserves are simply "making up numbers" after troop redundancies, that they are just an add-on to the "real" Army. Countering such perceptions is essential and the Gurkhas can lead the way. That is why I am asking that we begin signing up our former Gurkha soldiers as part of the culture shift towards a battle-ready, fully integrated reserve force rather than losing them completely as we currently do.

    Gurkhas have been an integral part of the British Army for almost 200 years, characteristically loyal, courageous and dedicated - earning 13 Victoria Crosses between them, and they lost 45,000 lives during the two world wars. More recently, their contribution in Afghanistan highlighted not only their bravery, but also a unique affinity with our Afghan partners culturally and linguistically. Above all, these fierce fighters are one of the most highly regarded, robust and respected elements of our Army.

    At the moment, unlike most ex-service personnel who have a reserve liability on leaving the forces, former Gurkhas are not routinely recruited into the reserves. As Nepalese citizens, they can only join the voluntary reserves - the Territorial Army (TA). By and large they don't join the TA: there isn't a culture of them joining as they could not stay in Britain until the Liberal Democrats led the campaign to change that.

    Sadly, just like the rest of the regular Army, the Gurkhas have faced the bitter pill of forced redundancies as we bring down our record budget deficit. Their much-sought-after talents are currently helping private security companies, but their willingness to continue serving this country does not disappear. Instead of allowing this loss of talent and dedication to happen, the MoD must do more to retain the Gurkhas' unique skills. We should start by giving them the reserve liability, recognising the contribution they still have to offer.

    As regular reserves they can lead the way in building the Territorial Army and the regular reserve into the new future reserves. This will send a strong signal that the new, rejuvenated reserve force is more robust and battle-ready than ever.

    Recruiting Gurkhas into the reserves is not only good for defence, but good for the Gurkhas too. Gurkha communities continue to feel a huge sense of prestige about the legacy of Gurkha regiments. That was why the successful campaign to give them residency rights was such a proud moment for the Liberal Democrats. It remains as important as ever that we look out for them in return for the sacrifice they have made for Britain.

    A reserves White Paper is due to be published this summer. How better to build on the Gurkhas' heritage in that White Paper than to extend reserve liability to the Gurkhas, re-form some of them as reserve regiments and offer a pathway into a second Army career as a reservist?

    Nick Harvey is the Member of Parliament for North Devon and a former Minister of State for the Armed Forces

  • Nick Harvey: Loyal Gurkhas deserve a special place in our Forces
    Article: Jun 11, 2013

    THE Army 2020 vision outlined a number of ambitious targets last year for the mass restructure of the British Army.

    Alongside plans to reduce the Army's size by 20,000, it called for the full integration of a 30,000-strong future reserve 
force into the regular Army - no mean feat.

    The changes were triggered by 2010 defence review, which I was involved in at the time, in response to the need to make savings after the last government left the defence accounts in a dire state. Moreover, leaving our 12 year operations in Afghanistan meant reconfiguration was essential in order to meet future security challenges.

  • MP backs Plymouth City of Culture bid
    Article: Jun 10, 2013

    Nick Harvey, MP for North Devon, has backed Plymouth's bid for UK City of Culture 2017.

    Nick has indicated his support for the bid in a letter to Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture. The bid emphasises Plymouth's unique coastal location and maritime heritage, as well as the transformational potential of the City of Culture award to revitalise the South West.

  • Nick backs south west renewable energy manifesto
    Article: Jun 7, 2013

    Local MP Nick Harvey demonstrated his commitment to the development of a world-leading renewable energy industry in North Devon and the wider south west by signing up to the UK's first regional renewable energy manifesto.

    Launched by renewable energy not-for-profit Regen SW, the manifesto sets out an ambitious target to drive forward the renewable energy industry and deliver high-value jobs.

  • Nick with Gurkhas launching the campaign today
    NICK: GURKHAS CAN LEAD THE WAY FOR BATTLE-READY RESERVE FORCE
    Article: Jun 6, 2013

    North Devon MP and former Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey has today launched a campaign to open up the Reserves to retired Gurkhas, so they can lead the way in making the future Reserve forces more skilled and stronger than ever.

    The MoD plans to fully integrate 30,000 fully-trained Reserves into the Regular Army by 2020, but Nick believes we need to do more to achieve this. As Nepalese citizens, the well-respected Gurkhas do not currently have a Reserve liability, unlike other soldiers.

  • North Devon's access to justice under threat - Nick
    Article: Jun 4, 2013

    Local MP Nick Harvey has added his voice to those opposing proposed changes to legal aid.

    Lawyers from local firms gathered this morning outside North Devon Magistrates Court in Barnstaple to protest against Government proposals to reform legal aid provision.

    The proposals aim to reduce the legal aid budget by £220million over the next 5 years. Under the new legal aid contracts, allocated to only a limited number of firms, legal aid fees will be cut by up to 30%.

  • Big thanks to local volunteers - Nick
    Article: Jun 3, 2013

    At the start of this year's Volunteers' Week (1 - 7 June), Nick Harvey MP has expressed support for North Devon's volunteers.

    Volunteers' Week is a nationwide celebration of the work of millions of volunteers who give up their time to help others. Many of the 130,000 registered charities in England rely on the help of volunteers to function.

  • MP Nick battling for buses
    Article: May 29, 2013

    Local MP Nick Harvey has asked the Treasury for measures to protect local bus services in the next Spending Round.

    In a joint letter with Liberal Democrat colleagues representing rural areas, Nick stressed to Chief Secretary Danny Alexander the importance of bus links to enable people to travel to work, school and healthcare appointments.

  • North Devon food outlets top food hygiene ratings investigation
    Article: May 23, 2013

    A new Which? investigation has placed two North Devon postcodes in the top ten areas in the UK with the best food hygiene ratings.

    Food outlets in Barnstaple and Braunton received an average score of 4.9 out of 5. Only 1% of those surveyed in these areas scored below a 'generally satisfactory' level. The worst postcode inspected was Bexley in London, which recorded an average score of 2.62.

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