Enfield Liberal Democrats

Sarah's bulletin: 11 September 2009

Dear friends,

The new 'term' has started in the European Parliament and I have been hard at work in Brussels since August bank holiday Monday!

We face an interesting autumn from an EU perspective: German elections; grappling with the economic and financial challenges; preparing the Copenhagen climate change summit; the final decisions on whether the Treaty of Lisbon will come into force, with the Irish referendum on October 2nd; appointment of the new 'top brass' and so on..

Anniversaries

There is a coincidence of anniversaries at this time. Last Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the September 3rd 1939 British and French declarations of war in the Second World War. Commenting, I said: "This 70th anniversary - and the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - is a timely reminder of the profound value of the European Union and its entrenchment of pan-European peace and democracy, following the horrors of World War II, the Holocaust, Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the Cold War and the threat of nuclear obliteration."

Today is the eighth anniversary of 9/11 and the lesson I draw from that terrible atrocity and subsequent events is that the application of the rule of law is our most effective weapon against the attack on freedom and democracy that terrorism represents. You can read my comments HERE. The European Union was founded on the principle that fascism and genocide should never again be allowed to occur and as we begin the new legislature in the European Parliament these anniversaries are a reminder that we must keep the EU's origins in mind and justice and human rights issues at the forefront of our goals.

My own personal anniversary is that it is almost 40 years since I came as a student to the (then infamous!) London School of Economics. I was reminded in giving a talk last night on the Jewish contribution to European and international human rights to the Raoul Wallenberg lodge of the Jewish community and human rights organisation B'nai B'rith, that my own tutor George Grun, who came as a Jewish refugee from Austria in 1938, was interned in 1939 as an 'enemy alien'.

By the way, B'nai B'rith UK organises the European Days of Jewish Culture & Heritage, http://www.bbuk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=42 of which I have attended events in the past, and this Sunday I intend to take the opportunity to visit the Bevis Marks and Sandys Row synagogues.

Barroso vote

MEPs will vote on Tuesday on the candidature of the centre-right Jose Manuel Barosso for a second term as European Commission President. He is not perfect, not least part of his record as prime minister of Portugal in 2002-4 when he allowed CIA rendition flights through Portuguese airspace and airports to and from Gunatanamo and, backing the invasion of Iraq, hosted Bush and Blair in the Azores in the run-up. Also in his first Commission term he has displayed the same tendency to please the big governments, not showing enough independence.

However, he will hopefully show more guts in standing up to EU member states in a second term when not seeking further re-election. Realistically, there is not chance of another candidate and indeed the ALDE group did not propose one. And the exercise we have just had, led by ALDE, of putting forward our own political and policy demands, to which he responded in a written personal manifesto and a 2-hour debate with us last Wednesday, has shown that there is sufficient overlap of views for us to back him. So I, if not all ALDE colleagues, will vote for him on Wednesday. It will be helpful to end this period of uncertainty just before the Irish Lisbon treaty vote.

Next European Commission to have Human Rights Commissioner

Thanks to pressure from the Liberal group in the European Parliament (ALDE), Barosso has agreed that the next European Commission will have a commissioner devoted entirely to fundamental rights and civil liberties. Whereas previously there has been one commissioner for justice, freedom and security, this will now be broken down into the human rights portfolio and an internal security portfolio. You can read more about this HERE.

Appointment as US delegation vice president

This week I was delighted to hear I will be appointed 'First Vice President' of the European Parliament's US delegation, deputising for the chairman. With the election of President Obama earlier this year there are a great number of reasons to be positive about EU-US relations! Of course economic and trade issues are every important, but I will take a special interest in transatlantic cooperation on crime and terrorism, pursuing my long-held belief that those involved in terrorist activity must be brought to justice in accordance with the rule of law (see HERE) and continuing to campaign vigorously against Guantanamo Bay and the use of extraordinary rendition and torture.

Co-chairing the Diabetes Working Group

Last week I was delighted to be appointed co-chair of the European Parliament's Diabetes Working Group (see HERE). I'm delighted to be able to take up this role in the European Parliament; diabetes is an issue close to my heart as my husband Steve Hitchins was diagnosed type 1 nearly 40 years ago. Unequal access to modern care in Europe often means that life is more difficult than it need be for some people with diabetes and I am hoping to help ensure that the EU facilitates an exchange of best practice as well as facilitating and funding research.

£1 billion European Investment Bank loan for Crossrail

It was announced this week that the EU's European Investment Bank has granted London's Crossrail project a £1 billion loan. This gives the huge rail project a major financial boost, and is one of the largest ever loans secured for a transport project. Once completed, the rail service will run all the way from Maidenhead in Berkshire, through the West End, the City and Docklands, to Shenfield in Essex. Crossrail will add a much-needed extra 10% to London's rail capacity, thereby reducing traffic, air pollution and the capital's carbon emissions. Crossrail will also take pressure off the desperately busy Central line, which as many Londoners know is one of the busiest and hottest lines in the Underground. European financing is very good news.

Drop in modern languages GCSEs

A French MEP has complained this week to the parliament's authorities about the lack of provision of language lessons, especially English which she says is essential for an MEP, not least because many meetings take place without translation and usually in English « Pouvoir s'exprimer en anglais….est une nécessité pour un travail efficace en tant que député européen. De nombreuses réunions se déroulent en effet sans traduction et se tiennent alors le plus souvent en anglais."

But the increasing dominance of English internationally and in Europe is no excuse for the deplorable neglect of foreign language teaching in our own schools. It was announced last week that there has been a massive drop in the uptake of modern foreign language GCSEs. This year 362,338 pupils took one, not much more than half the 559,115 who took them in 2002. This is because the Labour government fatally decided in 2004 to make language GCSEs optional, and because they are the 'harder' GCSEs, this gave schools an incentive not to teach them in order to raise their place in the league table.

That decision was a mistake and should be reversed. As Londoners in particular are well aware, languages are essential for engaging and communicating with people of other cultures. British people are already trailing well behind other Europeans in terms of their foreign language skills. Language skills are also essential for our children to compete in our 21st century, globalised world - what happened to Tony Blair's "knowledge-based economy"? When even the French want to learn English, it's time for us to pull our socks up and learn at least French, not to speak of Chinese.

Commission considers infringement procedures against UK for anti-discrimination law

The Commission has finally confirmed, in response to my written question, that it is pursuing infringement procedures against the UK for not properly implementing the 2000 EU employment equality directive. I have been raising this issue with the Commission for 18 months. You can read about this issue HERE

Cageprisoner event with Binyam Mohamed and Moazzam Begg

On Sunday August 30th I attended an iftar Ramadhan fundraising dinner hosted by the group Cageprisoner which is concerned with detainees held at Guantanamo and elsewhere. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I have long called for an independent inquiry into the role played by the UK government and intelligence services in extraordinary rendition. It is vital that we finally get the full truth... Binyam made his first public speech since his release and called for the release of the remaining prisoners being held without trial. You can see a photo from the event here.

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford