Monthly Archives: February 2010

February 18, 2010 · 4:07 pm

Southwark Labour campaigns for free school meals for all

I’m delighted to see that Southwark Labour Party will be campaigning in the London Borough elections on free school meals for all children. I have supported Labour’s campaign on this in Islington and hope other Labour Parties across London will look at supporting this progressive measure.

Peter John, Southwark Labour leader writes…

This is fundamentally a policy which will help poorer families, by removing the stigma and social barriers which continue to be attached to recipients of free school meals and by offering a healthy and nutritious midday meal to those 1,800 pupils who are already entitled to free school meals but do not take advantage of that entitlement. With a recent study by Leeds university showing that only one per cent of packed lunches taken to school contain the nutritional content that a child needs, the rationale for ensuring that children eat a healthy meal at school could not be stronger.

For more details on this, read the rest of Peter’s article here.

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February 17, 2010 · 4:59 pm

Majority of Conservative MEPs oppose greater Gender Equality

Every year, at the request of the European Council, a report is produced on the progress towards the achievement of gender equality in the EU. It also presents challenges and priorities for the future. This year my fellow Socialist and Democrat (S&D) member in the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Marc Tarabella, took the lead on this report in the European Parliament. He went on to produce a very comprehensive and coherent document which was voted on during the plenary session in Strasbourg last week.

In his report, Tarabella tried to highlight  in particular the different ways that the economic and financial crisis has affected women’s circumstances. Women were not initially hardest hit by the crisis, because the sectors that they dominate are mainly the public services, for instance health and education. However, in recent months the public sector has suffered terribly as a result of the crisis, and increasing numbers of women who typically benefit from the services in question, for instance childcare, are finding themselves in a position where they must assume these tasks themselves. Tarabella has acknowledged that the crisis, while having a damaging impact on both women and men, offers an important potential for the EU and national governments to rethink and restructure their approach to policy making.

This report is highly significant for several reasons. It addresses the challenges and the policy responses for removing barriers to women’s and men’s full participation in the labour market. It also addresses the importance of correcting the gender imbalance in decision-making. Amongst other things, it calls on the European Commission to establish a European Day for combating violence against women and children; it calls for a European charter of women’s rights to be established as soon as possible; it asks the Commission and Member States to run awareness-raising campaigns in schools and workplaces to combat persistent sexist stereotyping; and it highlights that women must have control over their sexual and reproductive rights.

While I am pleased to say that the report was successfully adopted during the vote in plenary on 10 February, it is unfortunate that the Tory-led ECR group opted to vote against the report. Only eight members of the ECR group voted in favour of the report, with 24 voting against and 14 abstaining. By contrast, nearly 96% of the S&D group members voted for the report. There can be no doubt that full gender equality will be much more difficult to achieve with groups like the ECR stifling the hard work of those in the Parliament committed to its achievement.

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February 16, 2010 · 12:06 pm

The work of the Culture and Education Committee since the Election

Last  Friday I had one of my regular meetings with the British Culture Trade Unions to discuss developments in Europe. The picture shows me with from left to right Louise McMullen from Equity (thanks to Equity for hosting the meeting), Tony Lennon and Andy Egan from BECTU, Hatice Ozdemirciler of the UK Film Council and Peter Thoms from the Musicians Union. Here is the written report I provided them,  I think it is a useful summary for anybody interested in the work of the Culture and Education Committee in the European Parliament. Regular readers may be familiar with some of these subjects already!

The Culture and Education Committee in 2009

Last September, I became the Coordinator of the Socialists and Democrats on the Culture and Education Committee.  Carrying on the work from the previous Parliament, the Culture and Education Committee helped establish the European Year of Volunteering for 2011, which will help promote volunteering as an important part of our civic society.  The Culture and Education Committee was also busy with the hearings for the new European Commission.  Androulla Vassiliou, the new Culture and Education Commissioner, gave a convincing performance in her hearing and responded well to my question on how we might use culture and education to fight social inequality.  If you would like to know more then please read my blog on the subject here.

Online Content and Creative Rights

In the last few months I have had the pleasure of taking part in numerous events and panel discussions focusing on the somewhat fraught issue of online content and creative rights.  These debates have shown what a complex and emotive subject copyright can be.  I have met with people from the Creative Industries at every level from across Europe, they have been very helpful and informative about this issue and their contributions will be most useful when we eventually draft legislation.  The Commission’s recent reflections paper on the subject failed to give any concrete answers to this difficult problem and neither the Liberals nor the European Peoples’ Party seem close to developing an opinion on this important issue.  Nevertheless, we will hopefully be seeing developments in the next few months, with a new report coming from the Commission, and a public hearing being held in March in the European Parliament.  This is one of the big issues in the Culture and Education Committee, and as the Coordinator for the S&D group, I will be working with my colleagues to make sure we find the right solution.

Vocational Qualifications

One of the main things I hope to focus on in the next year is Vocational Qualifications.  There is a push now to get Vocational Qualifications mutually recognised across the member states.  Vocational Qualifications provide training and skills directly relevant to jobs, yet they are wrongly viewed by many as the “soft option”.  It is time that we in the Parliament worked to change this perception.  In this economic downturn, in a world of intensified global competition, with a high number of low skilled workers, and an aging population, Vocational Education and Training can play a key role in ensuring Europe’s future competitiveness and innovation. 

The LUX Prize

As well as the important work of the Culture and Education Committee, I also have the privilege of participating in projects such as the LUX prize.  The European Parliament awards a prize every year to a film that has relevance to issues surrounding Europe and the EU.  This year’s nominees were all excellent; with Eastern Plays and Sturm coming a close second and third to the very moving French film, Welcome. I blogged on the issue so if you would like to know more then you can read about it here.

Future Work of the Committee

Regarding the next six months in the Culture Committee, there have been some encouraging signs from the Spanish, who hold the presidency for the next six months.  Their culture minister, Angeles Gonzales-Sinde, gave an impressive presentation to the Culture and Education Committee where she stated that one of her top priorities was to consolidate culture as a significant factor in economic growth and social cohesion.  I find this particularly encouraging as an MEP for London, where the Cultural industries are second only to finance in terms of economic importance.  I am therefore looking forward to working with Mrs. Gonzales-Sinde to achieve this very important goal.

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February 15, 2010 · 1:13 pm

Tax on Financial Transactions

Given the recent publicity about the ”Robin Hood” tax, it’s perhaps not surprising that it was given an honourable mention at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week.  An amendment to a resolution on the Conference on Climate Change held in Copenhagen in December suggested a tax on financial transactions, the Tobin tax named after the economist James Tobin who first mooted the idea, to support international climate action.

Although the amendment was defeated due to lack of support from the centre-right and right wing groupings in the European Parliament, I was pleased that many, though sadly not a majority, of MEPs joined with those campaigning to make the Tobin tax a reality. 

We know that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all been strong advocates of  what is becoming known as the “Robin Hood” tax.  You couldn’t find a much better line up than that.  Gordon Brown, in fact, started to lobby for support for the Tobin tax in the City of London in the autumn of last year and I understand the International Monetary Fund is looking at such a plan, despite opposition from the United States.

It is, of course, the international nature of the Tobin tax which it such an ideal tool for raising money for matters which require action in more than one country.  The recently launched campaign in Britain by comedy writer Richard Curtis and popular actor Bill Nighy for such a a ”Robin Hood” tax to be levied on banks is rare indeed in that it is popular for its own sake and targeted at an unpopular group – the banks.  Richard Curtis’s proposal to impose a 0.5% tax on international bankers’ transactions could raise up to £250 billion per year, a huge sum half of which would be retained by the country where the deal took place and the other half split between tackling climate change and reducing global poverty.  The plan targets institutions not ordinary people and is set at a level which should not hurt the banks.

You may have thought that even bankers would be hard pushed to oppose a tax which could do so much good at little cost to themselves.  Sadly, this does not appear to be the case as Goldman Sachs apparently orchestrated moves to vote against the “Robin Hood” tax on the campaign’s website.  Fortunately the Goldman Sachs ruse, which showed both the utmost arrogance and disregard for the plight of so many people on our planet, was rumbled.  However, the fact that they tried it on in such a way shows that bankers still have a long way to go before they think the same way as the majority.  

Back in the European Parliament, you will, of course, not be surprised to know that the Tories voted against the Tobin tax amendment.  Although the resolution in question was not legislative and hence only a recommendation to EU member states, European Parliament support for a Tobin tax to fund climate change work would have sent a strong signal.  It would also have put us on the same side as Oxfam, Save the Children, Action Aid, many trade unions, most mainstream churches and celebrities such as Bono who are known for the humanitarian work.  It’s a real tragedy that the right wing in Europe prefers to peddle its reactionary ideology rather than supporting moves to combat climate change and reducing world poverty.

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February 14, 2010 · 7:29 pm

Happy Chinese New Year

It is lovely to have a second New Year and thank you to all my friends who have sent me a card for Chinese New Year today. It is the year of the tiger. I will be missing Chinese for Labour’s fundraising dinner later this month. Unfortunately, I have to be in Brussels but I will be supporting them financially.

Chinese people are under represented in public life and this needs to be addressed. I know of one excellent candidate for Labour in the forthcoming London Borough elections. Dr. Stephen Ng has been a stalwart volunteer worker for the Islington Chinese Association for many years. I’m delighted to hear he will be standing for Labour in the Islington borough elections in May and I wish him every success. I know he will make an outstanding representative.

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February 13, 2010 · 9:00 am

High Heel Shoes

THE NEW SHOE

I was very pleased to see this article recently. 

According to the venerable Guardian,  ”2010′s key shoe is semi-sensible in height terms.  Welcome back, kitten-heeled courts.  The past three years have been dominated by distinctly non-sensible shoe styles. Shoes have been vertiginously high, preposterously over-embellished, with platforms you could stage small concerts on.   The website my-wardrobe.com reports a 50% upturn in its kitten-heel sales, while mid-market store LK Bennett (spiritual home of the kitten heel) is looking like a very alluring shopping destination indeed.”

While you may not see the Guardian as a style icon, these days it’s often quite near the mark.  I should know.  A one-time subscriber to Vogue, I still regularly read the style icon’s icon.

In any case, it’s not the Guardian’s fashion sense which is in question here. Rather it’s the return of shoes which women can walk in. Hooray. I knew it would happen some day, and I for one am pleased it’s come sooner rather than later.

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February 12, 2010 · 1:22 pm

Women in Power: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

My Women in Power project continues this week with the launch of the female members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament. This group, as with the previous groups I have launched, includes a number of prominent British MEPs such as Sharon Bowles and Baroness Sarah Ludford.

While some MEPs work only in their native language, getting by in Brussels without using the two languages spoken most wildly in the Parliament, French and English, others have used their language skills as the basis for building successful careers. Bulgarian MEP Filiz Hakaeva Hyusmenova, for instance, obtained a degree in French and Russian Language and Literature from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, and went on to work as an assistant professor of French at the University of Rousse. She was also, for a time, a foreign languages expert at the Regional Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Science in Silistra. With this experience she moved into the political field and later became an MEP.

There are some in the ALDE group whose background, remote from the world of politics, has heavily influenced their political interests within the Parliament. Britta Reimers, from Germany, worked in the agriculture industry after completing her studies in Agriculture at the University of Applied Sciences in Kiel, Rendsburg. She has also worked as a farmer for her family’s business in Lockstedt. Now, as a member of the European Parliament sitting on both the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Fisheries, she has been able to put her practical experience to good use by influencing policy

Other impressive ALDE group members include Sylvie Goulard from France, and Silvana Koch-Mehrin from Germany. Silvana Koch-Mehrin had a very successful career in the world of business after completing her PhD in Economics and History. She was the co-founder and manager of a business consultancy until 2004, and is now a member of the World Economic Forum. Like many of the women described in Women in Power, she is the recipient of a number of informal awards, including ‘Woman of the Year’ (Freundin magazine) and ‘Up and Coming Politician of the Year’.

I hope that you enjoy reading these, and other, profiles of women members of the ALDE group. There remain only four sets of profiles to launch, and these will be available on the site in the upcoming weeks.

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· 9:00 am

The Tories’ shameful Voting Record

The Tories in Strasbourg this week voted against co-operation in Europe to prevent the trafficking of human beings and against a report on equality between men and women in the European Union.

 As I have often said before, the Tory attitude is to either vote against or abstain on all reports and resolutions which come before the plenary session of the European Parliament.  This is, of course, Euroscepticism gone mad, especially when it means opposing measures to help the victims of trafficking and working for a better deal for women. 

 David Cameron says he wants more Conservative women in the House of Commons.  However, his Party’s attitude in Europe tells a very different story.  Cameron says one thing while his MEPs do the exact opposite. 

 Resolution on preventing trafficking in human beings

 In voting against the resolution to prevent human trafficking, the Tories de facto disagreed with the following (to take but two examples)

  …that protection and support for the victims becomes a priority in EU actions in this field, and that victims receive all possible help from the moment they are identified as such

 …draws attention to particularly vulnerable victims, such as children, and calls for specific assistance and protection programmes for them

 The resolution asked for greater European co-operation to tackle the trafficking a human beings.  The British Conservatives obviously don’t want any such thing.

 Report on equality between women and men in the European Union

 This report by Belgian Socialist Marc Tarabella took a wide ranging view over a number of key issues.

 It included the following (amongst many other things)

 …stresses the importance of combating violence against women…….calls on the Commission to start drawing up a comprehensive directive on preventing and combating all forms of violence against women

…welcomes the significant increase in numbers of female chairs of parliamentary committees and female EP vice-presidents as well as the less substantial, though none the less real, increase in the number of female MEPs following the June 2009 European elections

 …women’s personal income and paid employment remains key to their economic autonomy….underlines that in the light of the ageing society in particular, both men and women are needed to prevent labour shortage

 It’s surely unlikely that any political party which voted against such measures would do anything for women, or the wider economy for that matter.

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February 11, 2010 · 10:26 am

Some Tories just can’t help it

What planet do those who deny the existence of man-made climate change really live on?

To get some idea, you may like to read this recent post on the ConservativeHome site.

It is really quite extraordinary that so may seeminly intelligent Tories seek to deny climate change science.  Climate change exists and is caused to a large extent by human activities.  The fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, representing 192 governments across the globe, accepts the man made nature of climate change should be enough to convince us all.  I for one am inclined to believe that something which has such overwhelming support is correct.  When you add to this another fact – that the vast majority of scientists in the field (University of East Anglia e-mails notwithstanding) also agree that climate chage is almost exclusively man-made - the proposition becomes incontrovertible.

Now stand up Roger Helmer, he who would challenge all the evidence.  In response to the post on Conservative Home Roger Helmer proclaimed the following:  

Hmmmm. “Those qualified to comment on the science”. How about Prof Fred Singer, Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Virginia, a hugely respected climate scientist with a CV as long as your arm. He is a member of the IPCC panel, and wears the IPCC Nobel lapel pin with conscious post-modern irony. He does not deny that CO2 may have some effect, but believes that if so, the effect is so small that its signal is lost in the “noise” of other factors. I’m inclined to trust him on that.

Well, I’m so pleased that Roger trusts someone.  It’s just a shame for him that he doesn’t trust the vast majority of the experts. 

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February 10, 2010 · 4:18 pm

Edward McMillan-Scott goes for the Jugular

A fascinating piece of Tory anti-propaganda recently weaved its way to me.  Edward McMillan-Scott, expelled from the Conservative Party for standing as an independent candidate and winning one of the posts of Vice-President of the European Parliament, has sent a very angry letter to Westminster Tory MPs.  McMillan-Scott, who violently disagreed with the Tory hierarchy about their decision to leave the centre-right EPP (European Peoples’ Party, the largest political group in the European Parliament), is not letting the matter rest.  His grievances are set out in this letter written on European Parliament headed paper and signed in his unmistakable flamboyant signature.

8 February 2010

Dear Westminster parliamentary colleague,

MY EXPULSION FROM THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

I am writing to many Conservative MPs (and I am sorry this is not personalised) about the Party’s treatment of a parliamentarian. Despite my restraint with the media, there is a risk of it becoming an issue in the General Election. The reputational damage to the Party is already considerable: Keira Knightley’s contemporary West End Misanthrope  opens with a speech about David Cameron’s ‘grubby fascist friend’. The Party is more important than any individual, but principles trump the Party and I will not let matters rest.

Whatever view you take about David Cameron’s pledge to leave the EPP it has been panned by every commentator, and the choice of EU allies has been controversial.  Putting the Polish MEP Michal Kaminski up for Vice-President was a disastrous choice and would have led to a furore, whether or not I stood against him.  Expelling me from the Party until after the next European Election has been a CCHQ own goal and it is time it was corrected – by politicians.
 
David Cameron may well be unaware of what has been taking place but my numerous attempts to achieve an amicable solution are being systematically blocked by CCHQ.
 
I now urge the parliamentary party to appoint an experienced MP – perhaps a member of the 1922 Executive – to conduct an inquiry and resolve this quickly. 10 Killer Points are below my signature and are expanded in Timeline and Kaminski Uncovered, attached.
The whip was withdrawn from me by Timothy Kirkhope to divert attention from political misjudgements.
However my expulsion from the Party is of another order and must not be
allowed to stand. 
You can take me out of the Conservative Party, but you cannot take the Conservative out of me.   Please let me know if you wish to help or want more information. My private email is xxxxxxxxxxx and my
mobile number is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. 
Yours, 

P.S. Correspondence and emails I have received are overwhelmingly supportive 

10 Killer Points: Edward McMillan-Scott MEP’s expulsion from the Conservative Party 

1.      I complied with the manifesto, leaving the EPP and joining the new ECR group. I said that I was ‘uncomfortable’ because of moral, constitutional and extremist issues.  I stood against a Polish MEP, Michal Kaminski, and was re-elected Vice-President of the European Parliament with strong cross-party support and NGO support (see http://www.edwardforvp.eu/) on 14 July – see attached Timeline.  This was done on a point of principle because Kaminski had recent and easily-discovered ‘anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist links’ – for some details see attached Kaminski Uncovered 

2.      Kaminski and his party represent the rise of disguised extremism in Europe.  My longstanding concern and action about extremism stems from a family secret since 1940, revealed on BBC Radio 4′s Mother was a
Blackshirt only in January by my aunt, Diana Bailey, that my maternal grandparents were interned by Churchill as senior Blackshirts (please ask for a transcript)
 
3.      Kaminski was not an official Conservative candidate. He was nominated by Timothy Kirkhope, Tory MEP leader, as part of a stitch-up to promote Kirkhope as leader of the new group without election. The Tory MEPs’ rules of procedure for nominations for EP parliamentary posts were ignored. I stood as an independent. Another Conservative stood independently the next day for another parliamentary post (‘Quaestor’ Ways & Means) but no action was taken. Only I lost the whip.
 
4.      My Brussels assistants and I were ‘sent to Coventry’ (this was ignored by Tory MEPs and staff); my UK staff were told to stop working for me by Party officials (they refused); all material carrying my name was to be expunged from constituency offices, invitations to Party functions withdrawn; my conference pass was revoked, a fringe meeting cancelled, among other petty actions. Throughout all this, CCHQ has flagrantly ignored the Party’s constitution, its principles – and its reputation
 
5.      A smear campaign was launched against me, starting with a specious letter which William Hague sent to key Conservatives in my constituency and also issued to the media although he knew that, for legal reasons, I could not reply. Six Conservative Press Officers vilified me to constituency media and the nationals while defending Kaminski. This perverse CCHQ strategy has created an issue on which, I am told, Gordon Brown has achieved electoral ‘cut-through’ on our weakest topic – Europe
 
6.      On September 15, without notice or reason, I was expelled from the Party after an email exchange between Board members. They did not meet. This decision is subject to a prolonged internal CCHQ appeal
procedure in which my lawyers and I have little faith (I was on the Board for three years) and, as a result, may lead to court action.
 
7.      My UK lawyers, the best in their field, say that my expulsion was against natural justice, disproportionate and unconstitutional: they look forward to the High Court
 
8.      The ‘blind pledge’ (signed by all Tory Euro-candidates that they would join whatever EU grouping Cameron devised) is illegal under EU law and my treatment by the Party is contrary to the EU’s ‘Race Directive’
(and the Race Relations Act) 
9.      The Party appears to seek to terminate my parliamentary career (I am 60) – as well as my livelihood -  despite 25 years as an MEP, 4 years as leader of the MEPs, 3 years on the Board and 43 years as a Party member.  I have a reputation for tenacity 

10.  The only other parliamentarians to have been expelled from the Party were Den Dover for two years, after allegedly misusing his MEP expenses; and Lord Archer for five years, after imprisonment for perjury
in the High Court. Who is CCHQ kidding? http://www.emcmillanscott.com/   

Edward McMillan-Scott’s timeline can be found here, and the dossier on Michael Kaminski can be found here.  Both make very interesting and revealing reading and I highly recommended them.

 

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