Monthly Archives: June 2010

June 24, 2010 · 12:00 am

Cameron supports changes to the Lisbon Treaty, but where is the promised referendum?

It seems David Cameron is prepared to renege on his election promise to put all changes to EU treaties to a referendum in the UK.

In a speech to the House of Commons following his first meeting of the European Council,  made up of the prime ministers and presidents of the 27 EU Member States, Mr Cameron was full of bravado about not letting any agreement ‘alter member state competences’ .  However, despite quoting Margaret Thatcher,  in reality Cameron is supporting Germany’s desire to make changes to the Lisbon Treaty in the wake of the financial crisis and the problems caused by the situation in Greece.  If these treaty changes are to go forward, where, Mr Cameron, is your treasured referendum? 

David Cameron also supported the EU 2020 Strategy and Millennium Development Goals in his speech to MPs.  I found this a little strange since, as Harriet Harman rightly pointed out in her response, Conservative MEPs have either abstained or voted against these measures in the European Parliament.  Cameron didn’t even have a response, deciding instead, rather pathetically, to say that he would be keeping an eye on the Labour and Lib Dem MEPs.  I wonder what the Tories’ coalition partners made of this.

Following George Osborne’s deeply damaging budget, David Cameron’s antics in Europe add depth and context to the picture of the Coalition Government which is beginning to emerge, an image of a Conservative Party that really does not know what it is doing over some of the most important issues currently facing us.

Part of me almost feels sorry for David Cameron.  He must have been a lonely figure in Brussels last week.  Seeing the leaders of centre right parties from across Europe meeting before the European Council summit in order to discuss strategy, whilst he was left to ‘strategise’ with one far right Polish MEP.  That is price you pay for isolating yourself from the biggest political grouping in European politics (the European Peoples’ Party) and allying yourself with the far-right, eurosceptic fringe.  Sarkozy and Merkel gave an impressive press conference afterwards, detailing the decsions reached in the summit.  Not too long ago, the British Prime Minister would have been standing right beside them.  Not now.

There was a telling moment in the debate in the House of Commons where one of Cameron’s own MPs (William Cash) asked a question regarding the “30 European directives in the pipeline which will deeply affect our financial regulation and economic governance” and questioned how we might regain and retain control over economic issues.  David Cameron could only rather weakly respond that the European Parliament had made things ‘a lot more burdensome’ and that it was ‘not a satisfactory situation’.  Now I happen to think that these financial regulations are necessary, but perhaps Cameron’s political position would be a good deal more ‘satisfactory’ if they could actually engage and influence European politics.  Cameron needs to realise that euroscepticism may win him the support of the back benches, but in Europe he’ll be left standing on the sidelines with the nutters, looking lonely and confused.

2 Comments

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 23, 2010 · 5:16 pm

Piece in the “Parliament Magazine”

Our in-house publication, The Parliament Magazine, recently asked MEPs for their views on the first year of the Barosso European Commission, either policywise or as comments on individual Commissioners.

For me the subject was obvious, and I happily penned the piece below on the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, our very own Baroness Catherine Ashton.  The problem was not to find positive things to say about Cathy but rather to meet the 200 word limit.

My thanks to the Parliament Magazine for not only printing my contribution, but also putting it first in the pecking order before all the other MEP offerings.

Mary Honeyball

Catherine Ashton was a brave choice for the new EU high representative for foreign affairs. A former leader of Britain’s House of Lords, she won her spurs steering the Lisbon treaty through the upper house. Ashton has had major hurdles to overcome. A socialist and a woman to boot, she has endured ritual humiliation at the hands of the eurosceptic British press and, sadly, also from some of my non-socialist colleagues in parliament. Yet she has come through all of this. Her parliamentary committee hearings went well and she was endorsed as enthusiastically as any of her fellow commissioners. Since her background is not in foreign affairs, this was no mean achievement. Ashton had to hit the ground running. Setting up the external action service is just about the hardest task any of the commissioners has had to undertake. She is now making progress and I welcomed her timely intervention on the Gaza flotilla crisis. I have always been impressed both by Ashton’s obvious intelligence and her innate ability to get on with people. She persuades and is an able negotiator – both essential skills standing her in very good stead.
 
 

 

1 Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , ,

· 7:35 am

Liberal Democrats discomfited by the most right wing budget since Margaret Thatcher

Business Secretary Vince Cable, according to Harriet Harman, has gone from ‘national treasure’ to the ‘Treasury poodle’. Referring to both Mr Cable and his beleaguered Lib-Dem Coalition colleagues, Harriet told the House of Commons that while the Labour Party fought to support jobs for people, the Lib-Dems sought to secure jobs for themselves.

Harriet is, of course, right.  By any stretch of the imagination, yesterday’s budget, the most right-wing since the Thatcher Government, demonstrated just how hollow the Lib- Dems election campaign pledges have turned out to be.

A mere 50 days ago the Deputy PM (Nick Clegg) denounced the public expenditure cuts favoured by the Tory Party in their general election campaign. Yet in yesterday’s budget the Lib-Dems showed support for virtually everything they had fought so hard against. It was difficult to watch, both in terms of content and the reactions of the junior members of the Coalition.

While the Chancellor told us to brace ourselves for a series of cuts and VAT hikes, I watched closely at how uncomfortable Deputy PM, Nick Clegg, and Treasury Secretary, Danny Alexander, looked despite being perfectly positioned either side of their Conservative Chancellor.

In contrast, I have not seen a performance as good as the one given by Harriet Harman for a very long time. She spoke with great passion and directed her reaction to the Budget not at the Conservatives, or the Con Lib-Dem coalition, but at the Liberal Democrats themselves. ‘How could they let down everyone who voted for them – how could they let the Tories so exploit them?’ she bellowed to the chamber. This budget she said was driven by ideology rather than economics.

In questioning quite how the Lib Dems could approve decisions they did not support less than two months ago Harriet exposed the fragility of the Con-Dem coalition.  In this budget the Lib-Dems have had to swallow almost everything they have always fought against. It begs the huge question, “will they be able to deliver their MPs and activists a second time?”

5 Comments

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

June 22, 2010 · 9:47 am

Coalition and food industry in cahoots as MEPs reject “traffic light” labelling

There is, it would appear, a breathtaking and unholy alliance between the Coalition Government and the food industry.

The UK’s health watchdog, NICE, has just released a damning report on the food we eat.  The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence states that tens of thousands of lives could be saved if major changes were made to processed and convenience foods.

And what, you may well and justifiably ask, is the Government’s reaction to NICE’s damaging indictment of the food we eat?

Unbelievably, the Coalition has told us it is up to the individual to make healthy choices.

“The best way to prevent cardiovascular disease is for people to eat better and be more active,” says a spokesperson.  This inane comment aside, it beggars belief that the Con-Dem Government does not believe the nation’s diet is important enough for a Minister to take responsibility.

The food industry, those responsible for the junk food, which is at best unhealthy and at worst deadly, are taking their usual line defending putting profit above well being.  The Food and Drink Foundation have, predictably, said NICE is out of touch with what is happening and claims voluntary measures by the industry have already brought down levels of salt, sugar and saturated fat in food as well as the dangerous artificially created trans fats.

However, it is really not easy to make healthy choices when we are continually bombarded with extremely unhealthy products which are often cheaper than the less damaging versions.

Less than two months into office, the Con-Dems are coming down firmly on the side of big business regardless of the consequences.

And the food industry is extremely big business.  Last week in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs rejected “traffic light labels” for processed food.  These labels would have allowed consumers at a glance to see how good or bad a particular product was.

But the food industry was having none of it.  They lobbied extremely hard and stopped this important measure which had the potential to improve health across the EU from going through.

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for at least 150,000 deaths a year and 40% of those who die are under 75.  In today’s Guardian Klim McPherson, professor of health epidemiology at Oxford University and Chair of the NICE committee responsible for today’s report states: “These are eminently preventable deaths……..commercial organisations are very good at exploiting people who make choices on price and convenience.”

The NICE report seeks to safeguard the people of Britain as a whole.  The report calls for concrete measures to improve what we eat and thereby reduce the number of premature deaths, including:

  • bringing in the “traffic light” colour coding system to show whether a product has high, low or medium levels of salt, fat and sugar
  • a total ban on trans fats
  • halving the individual daily salt intake
  • encouraging manufacturers to reduce hidden saturated fats, legislating if required
  • ensuring low salt and sugar foods are cheaper than unhealthier versions
  • banning TV adverts for high salt and high fat foods before the 9.00pm watershed

Improving our diet would be a huge public health measure.  It’s tragic that in the 21st century we have to fight this battle to give people the nutrition they need.  It’s now important that the NICE report is not forgotten but acted on, however difficult that may be to achieve.

1 Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , ,

June 21, 2010 · 3:12 pm

My most recent interview for “The Record Europe” who also talked to David Miliband

I recently appeared on the BBC Record Europe  talking about discrimination in the film industry against older female actors, a topic I blogged about last week.

Please click here if you would like to watch the Record Europe

Unfortunately it is not possible to put the video up directly on this blog and also that those of you outside the UK may not be able to access it.

It was, I have to admit, rather pleasing to see that my nominee for the Labour leadership, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband, was interviewed by Shirin Wheeler directly after me.  David had been in Brussels talking to Labour MEPs, making a strong pitch for his election as leader.  I believe David will win the leadership ballot.  He will be a strong leader to fight the Con-Dem Coalition and win the next general election.

1 Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as ,

· 1:21 pm

Tomorrow’s budget shows huge lack of empathy for middle income families

The Treasury is hurriedly preparing papers and briefing those who need to know in anticipation of tomorrow’s emergency budget.  This budget will be searingly painful to millions of people across the country and will finally signal to the British people what the coalition government is all about.

Although many of us will be affected, I fear for middle income families the most as I think they will be so badly hit. These families have worked hard to achieve the comforts they now enjoy and they have been supported by a Labour government with tax credits and child care voucher schemes in an effort to achieve this.

Tomorrow the Chancellor will strip millions of middle income families of child related benefits when it slashes the number of families who are eligible for the child tax credit.

The chancellor says tough measures are necessary and he will unveil an estimated £30bn of savings which must be made in an effort to beat the deficit. However, I find it difficult to see how he can possibly understand how his cuts will affect middle England.   He is after all, the son of a wealthy wall paper entrepreneur (Osborne and Little), he is fully ensconced in Anglo-Irish aristocracy and is heir to the Osborne Baronetcy. He  has never experienced the kind of burden he will place on ordinary families.

Along with middle income families Osborne is expected to cause panic among a staggering six million public sector workers who will face cuts to their pay and pensions.  This even includes front line staff who we thought were to be protected.  Labour had identified its own plans which included an increase in national insurance contributions in an effort to reduce the deficit – surely a more equitable way forward.

What leaves a bad taste in my mouth is the ‘we are all in this together’ mentality – that we must all make sacrifices to reduce the deficit. The truth is Osborne, Cameron and his pals come from an incredibly privileged backgrounds.  While this on its own isn’t a problem, their ability to show empathy towards those the budget will impact upon, is, I believe, severely limited by the fact that they are rich and, as a result, have never had any meaningful contact with the real world.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , , ,

June 18, 2010 · 12:56 pm

European Parliament debates regulating Football Players’ Agents

As we all watch the World Cup, we should reflect that Europe is lucky that some of the most talented sports men and women come from all over the world to compete here. Unsurprisingly, the increased internationalisation of sport of over the last few years has seen a steady increase in the activities of players’ agents across borders.

However, this is still a largely unregulated area across many member states, with general employment laws being used to regulate the activities of players’ agents, with no specific rules or legal recognition of their status, or for sports governing bodies to introduce their own regulations.

Unfortunately this has led to some abuse, with reports of corruption, money laundering and exploitation of underage players.

Leaving regulation up to organisations like FIFA, though they have done what they can and should be commended, is not enough as breaches of their regulations cannot be prosecuted in a criminal court.

It is very important to regulate this area or we risk seeing it being taken over by the dishonest and the criminal.

It is especially important to take care of young sportsmen and women, who may be coming from the least developed countries, who could find themselves particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

I am sure that all the countries in Europe want to remain an attractive prospect for talented sports men and women from across the world.  To make remains the case,  we must regulate players’ agents.  I f we do not, we will risk bringing sport in Europe in to disrepute.

Following the efforts of the Culture Committee, the oral debate on the issue of players’ agents in sport took place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week.  I spoke in the debate, which achieved a high level of agreement, the only dissenting voice being Emma McClarkin, the Tory speaker who did not see a European role for cross border regulation.

1 Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , ,

June 17, 2010 · 9:51 am

Tory MEPs Refuse to Support EU Targets on Aid to Developing Countries

David Cameron is today attending a summit of European leaders which will seek to agree the EU’s approach at a major United Nations summit on the UN Millennium Development Goals due to be held in September.

Meanwhile a large proportion of his Tory MEPs yesterday refused to vote in favour of a report in the European Parliament on the EU’s progress in meeting these very same Millennium Development Goals.  Fortunately the report was adopted by a large majority, which only goes to show just how out of touch the Tories are with mainstream opinion.

In the final vote on the report authored by my Labour colleague Michael Cashman MEP, there were no Tory votes for the report and no outright rejections.  However, the following Tory MEPs abstained: Jacqueline Foster, Ashley Fox, Daniel Hannan, Roger Helmer, Syed Kamall, Sajjad Karim, Emma McClarkin, Kay Swinburne, Charles Tannock and Marina Yannakoudakis.

The refusal of such a large proportion of the Conservative MEPs (10 out of a total of 25) to back the report must call into question the wider support for international development within the Tory party.  It also makes you wonder about David Cameron’s attitude in that most of these MEPs supported Cameron for Tory leader and are clearly close to him.

In yesterday’s vote, the European Parliament specifically expressed its support for policies on voluntary family planning, safe abortion, treatment of sexually transmitted infections and the provision of reproductive health supplies consisting of life-saving drugs and contraceptives, including condoms. Maternal mortality claims over half a million women’s lives a year and progress has been negligible. Teenage pregnancy is still high and contraceptives and family planning have become only slightly more accessible.

Yet the Tories refused to support amendments to the report on these issues.  The first part of amendment 42 dealing with safe abortion and the provision of condoms was rejected by Richard Ashworth, Robert Atkins, Giles Chichester, James Elles, Vicky Ford, Daniel Hannan, Malcolm Harbour, Roger Helmer, Syed Kamall, Timothy Kirkhope, Emma McClarkin, Struan Stephenson and Charles Tannock while Ashley Fox, Sajjad Karim, James Nicholson, Kay Swinburne and Marina Yannakoudakis abstained.

Both these Conservative MEPs and more importantly Prime Minister David Cameron need to explain why they do not wish to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and improve the lives of women in poverty in developing countries.

We know that David Cameron has promised there will be no cuts to overseas development aid.  The big question now is: “Will Cameron make good on this promise or will he renege on all those vulnerable people who so badly need our assistance?”

2 Comments

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , ,

June 16, 2010 · 2:15 pm

Submitting my Supporting Nomination for David Miliband

I sent my supporting nomination for David Miliband to the Labour Party yesterday afternoon.  Catching up with my blog surfing later in the day, I came across this excellent blog post from Tom Harris MP on why David Miliband is the only Labour leadership candidate the Tories fear.

Tom’s main argument is:

“This isn’t about which candidate we, as party members, feel most comfortable with. It’s not even about which candidate has the best policies; there are processes in place for deciding the party’s programme.

It is not about making us feel good as party members. And it’s certainly not about being comfortable about, or even remotely acquiescent in, choosing someone who will lead us to a noble defeat. That would be a betrayal of our party and our country.

It’s about winning the next election.”

David is the only one of the five candidates who has the credibilty to lead us to victory.  Unlike my younger readers, I remember the 1980s and have very strong memories of opposition.  Not only is opposition, ie not being in power, extremely frustrating as we cannot put our values into practice, it also has the potential to be extremely divisive.

Labour was out of power from 1979 to 1997 to a large extent because we all fell out with each other.  We had the soft left, the Trotskyist left, the Militant Tendency, the Labour Co-ordinating Committee, the right wing, etcetera.  More damaging than the plethora of labels was the poisonous atmosphere of hate, destruction and general lack of trust.

Since my involvement in London Labour politics began in 1976 I was there when all of this took place.  And I never want to go through it again.

It’s for these powerful reasons that I am grateful that this leadership contest has so far been good natured, constructive and conducted in a fair and reasonable fashion.  Let’s keep it that way.  We want to be back in govenment not in 18 years time but at the next general election with David Miliband as our Prime Minister.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , ,

June 15, 2010 · 2:27 pm

Boris set to bring disgraced former Deputy Mayor back to City Hall

I’m not sure who is more insane – Bonkers Boris or Mad Melanie.

The absurd Ms Phillips extols the virtues of the sadly nutty mayor in both the Spectator and today’s Metro.

Melanie Phillips is hugely pleased that Mayor Johnson has brought Ray Lewis back to City Hall. You may remember that Mr Lewis resigned in disgrace from his position as deputy mayor with responsibility for young people two years ago. The reason for his departure? Ray Lewis had falsely claimed on his CV that he had been a magistrate.

Mayor Boris has brought Ray Lewis back as an unpaid adviser to help recruit 1,000 men as mentors to prevent boys from troubled backgrounds entering into the culture of gang violence. With the best will in the world, I’m not at all sure that someone who tells outright lies on their CV is the best person to work with youngsters from difficult and disturbed backgrounds. The boys with whom Lewis is set to work will, rest assured, know about his antics and their reaction will not be good. They will see someone who is meant to be a role model getting away with it, thereby undermining what Lewis is trying to achieve.

Come on Boris. See sense for once. Ray Lewis is just not the right person for this job. He had not been a magistrate, and the fact that he felt he could claim that he had speaks volumes. Mr Lewis told a serious lie. As a result there will always be questions about his trustworthiness.

1 Comment

Filed under Labour Party

Tagged as , , , ,