Ilford North Liberal Democrats

Sarah's bulletin: 22 January 2010

Haiti - and the EU response to the quake

Nine days after the earthquake struck in Haiti, the country is still in a major humanitarian, security and soon-to-be economic crisis. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims of this terrible disaster, whether they be mourning the loss of their kin, nail-bitingly awaiting any news of missing persons or sitting outside makeshift hospitals hoping that injuries will not be too severe. With hopes of finding people alive under the rubble declining, rescue teams are retreating and the clean-up and reconstruction is starting to begin.

EU authorities have pledged a generous €420million in humanitarian aid, on top of national contributions. But the disaster relief response of the European Union is open to improvement. Individual member states were quick off the blocks, but there is much room for improvement in the coordination and delivery of relief supplies and personnel. The US's rapid deployment of military resources, far from being criticised as the French development minister did (likening it to an occupation, although he was slapped down by President Sarkozy) should be welcomed as a vital logistical contribution - something forces are trained in - and they have been careful to present it as subordinate to the UN.

In my press release I repeated the call - promoted this week by our group leader Guy Verhofstadt - of having a 'EU-FAST', a European first aid and support team. This would not be a standing EU disaster relief corps, but a specialised team with the power to coordinate member states' relief efforts by for example organising transport and common delivery of aid and maybe holding joint training. The idea would be that everyone would know exactly what to do in an emergency, seems a great idea to me. This is similar in content to 'Europe Aid' proposed by French Commissioner Michel Barnier in a 2006 report. But in order to be effective the team would have to have access to both civilian and military resources, a point that has apparently often been an issue for Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which is why the proposal has not got off the ground for the last 10 years! We should actually have this prior coordination not only within the EU but also with the US and other major donors.

High Rep Cathy Ashton came under ridiculous criticism from some for not making a visit to Haiti herself. I completely agree with her that this would be a completely ineffective waste of time and resources as she is neither a doctor nor a fireman and would just clog up the airport. I hope that the political momentum that has come with widespread recognition of EU 'could do better' on Haiti, along with the support of both president Herman Van Rompuy and Ashton, will ensure that this time a mechanism is put in place. If not, I will be very tempted to lead a new Lisbon-generation 'citizen's initiative' of 1 million voters demanding action!

Turkish democratisation and the Orams ruling on the Cyprus property issue

This week we debated the issue of democratisation in Turkey. You may remember my mentioning the closure of the Kurdish Democracy and Society (DTP) party last month due to allegations of close links to the PKK. This ban runs counter to the stated goal of finding a political solution to the Kurdish question. I called for EU pressure on Turkey to reform the political parties act and to use EU accession as leverage to ensure that human rights and democracy are fully integrated into the Turkish political system.

Remaining in the Eastern Med, the United Kingdom's Court of Appeal this week rules that David and Linda Orams, a British couple who own a holiday home on disputed land in Northern Cyprus, will have to return the property to its original Greek Cypriot owner. The point I made in my press release was not about the case as such, but that the Cyprus property issue should be settled in Cyprus as part of the reunification talks, and not in British courts via EU law, especially considering that Turkish Cypriots are excluded from the EU 'acquis'.

The saga of 'SWIFT' bank details agreements

MEPs this week expressed anger about Council machinations over the latest SWIFT agreement - an EU-US agreement that allows for US investigators' to access Europeans' bank details and transactions. The member states purposefully struck a new interim agreement with the US on 30 November 2009, the eve of the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, with it being due to come into force on Feb 1st. MEPs have power to accept or reject it, but we are angry because we suspect the Council of bad faith, dragging its feet in sending it to us formally so that by the time we pronounce it will have been in force for months. You can be sure the Council hasn't heard the end of this one yet!

Body scanners

Yesterday the EU's interior ministers and the US Secretary for Homeland Security held an informal summit in Toledo in Spain (the Spanish currently hold the presidency of the EU). A major item on the agenda was the controversial 'naked body scanners', which the Americans are trying to push on the EU for security purposes. The truth is that the EU is divided - some countries like Holland and the UK are going ahead with the installation of body scanners in airports, while many others like Spain (and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK) have their reservations about the very serious privacy issues involved.

I am lobbying the Commission to ensure that the immediate deletion of images be made a precondition of the introduction of body scanners, and am requesting that member states wait until the Commission has published its two reports on body scanners and come up if appropriate with EU privacy rules before deciding whether to install them themselves.

Rights in criminal trials in EU countries

I made a speech to the plenary this week stressing the importance of promoting defendants' rights across the EU. This is a subject I feel particularly strongly about because of my constituent, Andrew Symeou, who is currently imprisoned in Greece under a dubious manslaughter charge, and who is not even being released on bail while he awaits trial - simply because he is a foreigner. An EU measure strengthening respect for defendants' rights is long overdue - it should have been bought in as soon as the European Arrest Warrant was created almost 10 years ago.

European Parliament president condemns Akmal Shaikh execution

Jerzy Buzek, the Polish centre-right president of the European Parliament this week condemned the execution of Akmal Shaikh, a Londoner suffering from mental health disorders who was sadly executed by Chinese authorities. Buzek said: "I'm profoundly disappointed. The European Parliament cannot accept that the persistent requests for clemency have not been granted and the British citizen has been executed in China." I wrote a last ditch letter to the Chinese ambassador pleading for Shaikh's clemency over Christmas, but like all the other efforts it was to no avail. Buzek noted that Shaikh was the first European citizen since 1951 to have been executed in China.

UK nationals are under-represented in EU institutions

I read a new report this week by the Lords EU committee that UK nationals are still heavily under-represented in the European institutions. It cannot be in the UK's interest that the number of UK citizens putting themselves forward as candidates is smaller than that of Slovenia, whose population is 1/30th of ours. The government's abolition of the 'European Fast Stream' hardly helped, and the deplorable decline in foreign language teaching in our schools must also have contributed to this under-representation at the EU level. So too must the constant onslaught of Europhobia, which has certainly affected students and pupils in this country, as I depressingly find when I talk to groups. We must correct this imbalance now - why don't you start by convincing friends and neighbours, or perhaps even yourself, to apply for a job in Brussels?

Driving - Euromyths strike again!

Speaking of Europhobia: some newspapers have been utterly misleading readers by saying Brussels plans on "slapping draconian European Union driving laws on Britain's roads" by creating new maximum speed limits in town and city areas, 'environmentally-friendly' road skills and generally overhauling driving tests for the whole of the EU. This is despite repeated and explicit statements by the Commission assuring them it has no intention to "harmonise speed limits, driving tests or 'green zone' restrictions". Those papers simply are not interested in the truth. So don't buy this particular Euromyth.

Lithuanian foreign minister resigns over CIA prisons involvement

The foreign minister of Lithuania, Vygaudas Usackas, has resigned over a row with the country's president, Dalia Grybauskaite. A parliamentary inquiry in December found that Lithuanian secret services had indeed collaborated with the CIA in the operation of prisons on Lithuanian territory. While the report did not confirm whether these prisons actually contained any people, President Grybauskaite said that she believed that prisoners had been held for interrogation there, whereas foreign minister Usackas continues to deny this. After the President announced she had lost confidence in him, he resigned.

This serves as a good reminder just how fruitful official inquiries can in fact be at uncovering the truth of what happened and forcing senior figures to face up to reality - whether it be about the Iraq war, or the CIA rendition programme. Once again, I reiterate the LibDem call for an independent public inquiry into British complicity in torture and extraordinary rendition.

Edward McMillan-Scott - whither Tory values?

The Tory exiled MEP Edward McMillan-Scott wrote a very interesting piece in the Guardian this week about how much the Conservative party had changed over the last 40 years, and how it seemed like all its values had evaporated. He goes on to explain: "I stood against Kaminski because he represented the rise of disguised extremism at a key moment in European politics". McMillan-Scott also announced that he will be taking the party to court after they rejected his appeal against the decision to formally expel him from the party last July.

The real Tory party not so keen on tackling climate change...

Anyone thinking of voting Conservative at the next election because they have been attracted by their new, eco-friendly policy positions, think again. As LibDems have long charged, although the party leadership is committed to the green agenda, the rank and file of the party are climate sceptic. A survey of key Conservative party PPCs - the Tory party of tomorrow - done by blog ConservativeHome has found that "reducing Britain's carbon footprint " was last in a list of 19 priorities for them. They may be promising green taxes now, but a lot of that would get quietly put aside once in office...

The Liberal Democrats, on the other hand, have a proud record of being the greenest of the major political parties. Liberal Democrat manifestos have in the past received exceptionally high marks from Friends of the Earth. In addition, I am proud to say that the eu-votewatch.org website recently gave Lib Dem MEPs a 99% rating for their voting record on environmental matters (compared to 13% for the Conservatives!).

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford