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Labour MEPs back Brown

A few days before MEPs headed down to Strasbourg for the May plenary session, the process for electing a new Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party got underway. No sooner had nominations opened than the European Parliamentary Labour Party gave Gordon Brown a resounding endorsement to take over when Tony Blair stands down in a few weeks time.

Speaking as Labour’s leader in Europe, Gary Titley said: “Gordon’s driving force is his social conscience and his vision of a just world. He will want to work closely with our European friends to build stable economies, fairer societies and a higher quality of life for all. The Labour Party put an end to Britain’s isolation in Europe and has placed us at the forefront of the drive for reform. I know that under Gordon’s leadership we will continue to work for a European Union fit for the 21st century. He is the right man for the job at hand.” Gary has also announced he is backing Hazel Blears in the Deputy Leadership election.


Mobile phone charges set to tumble

After a two-year long campaign waged by Labour MEPs, mobile phone companies will soon have to slash their charges for customers who make and receive calls abroad. The new law on mobile roaming costs passed through the Parliament this month, after an agreement was hammered out between the European Commission, the Parliament and the European Council of national government ministers.

The deal will mean that the cost of making an outgoing call on a UK mobile will plummet to around 39p a minute this year with further reductions to follow over the next two years – cutting overall costs by well over a half. There will also be similar substantial cuts in the costs mobile phone companies charge for receiving calls.

Speaking after the vote in Strasbourg, Gary said: “This new law will show how Europe really can help to meet the needs of consumers, despite strong and sustained opposition from vested interests in the mobile phone industry, aided and abetted by Tory MEPs.”


Liberal Democrats open old wound in Kashmir dispute

A Liberal Democrat report, which has sparked outrage amongst the Kashmiri community in the North West, was successfully amended by Labour MEPs this month. The report, originally intended to highlight the current situation of people living in the disputed region of Kashmir, instead made provocative claims that caused tension at the highest level between India and Pakistan.

Before the report was amended, it had been slammed by Labour MEPs and Kashmiri groups across the country. For his part, Gary said: “The report the Lib Dems produced was deeply flawed. It is inaccurate and caused great offence, especially to all those who had been actively seeking a peaceful future for Kashmir. The amendments we put down are a serious attempt to correct a deeply flawed report which, if left unchanged, could have done lasting damage to the entire peace process in that troubled part of the world.

“It is particularly regrettable that the Lib Dems chose to criticise relief efforts following the devastating South East Asia earthquake in 2005. The Lib Dems should be utterly ashamed of themselves and issue an immediate apology,” he added.

Aid for trade

This month in Strasbourg, Labour MEPs championed a report which should enable developing countries to benefit from the booming global economy. The EU has already taken a leading role in the world, helping developing countries trade with the west. At the 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles, the EU promised to provide €2 billion per year in aid for trade by 2010. The report debated by MEPs, calls on EU member countries to make sure they keep the promises they made 2 years ago.
Speaking after the report was passed, Gary said: “The EU has set the global standard when it comes to helping the world’s poorest countries. The UK alone has committed an annual £100 million in aid for trade by 2010. Helping poor countries to trade freely is the best way we can reduce global poverty and provide decent work for the poorest people.”

Gary meets Garry

Russian opposition leader and former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, paid a surprise visit to Strasbourg this month to meet with members of the Socialist Group. Kasparov, who had been banned from taking part in opposition marches at the EU-Russia summit a week earlier, was in Strasbourg to update MEPs on the current political situation in Russia. He is a fierce opponent of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin and recently criticised the President’s heavy-handed tactics in Chechnya and his role in the more recent disturbances in Estonia.

After meeting with Mr Kasparov, Gary said: “Russia is undoubtedly an important partner for the EU. However, deals with the current Russian government on matters such as energy supply cannot come at any price. As social democrats we must stand up for what we believe in and if that means criticising Russia for its human rights record, then so be it.”

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had openly criticised Mr Putin for banning demonstrations surrounding the EU-Russia summit in the town of Samara. Speaking in her role as the current holder of the EU Presidency, Chancellor Merkel had also implicated the Kremlin in being directly responsible for causing the recent civil unrest in neighbouring former Soviet states.

And finally,

Labour MEP for the North East, Stephen Hughes, was left to watch his plane to Strasbourg take off without him this month, after a passport mix-up at Durham airport. Immigration officials refused to allow Stephen to board his flight because they did not recognise his special MEP travel pass. Stephen was using his diplomatic passport - issued to all MEPs - because his British one was with the Chinese Embassy, ahead of a Parliamentary visit to Tibet. After watching fellow passengers jet off, Stephen fumed: “I was absolutely spitting chips.” He even went to the extent of forcing ground staff to look at information on the home office website but even that did not stop him from arriving in Strasbourg a day later than planned.

Gary Titley MEP
May 2007