The Liberal Democrat whip in the European Parliament, Chris Davies, has resigned as whip in a gesture of protest against the expected confirmation that Stewart Arnold is to be one of the party’s MEPs in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
He said that the replacement of existing MEP Diana Wallis, who is to resign on January 31, by her husband ”did not feel right”. Continue reading
The resignation of Diana Wallis, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, came as a complete shock to her colleagues, and not least to the MEPs from across the political spectrum, including myself, who were with her 10 days ago when she handed in her nomination paper to stand for the presidency of the European Parliament.
On Tuesday morning Diana Wallis was campaigning to lead the Parliament, to bust apart the incestuous agreements between party groups and inject more openness and transparency into the running of the institution. By Wednesday lunchtime, having not only lost but been beaten (by one vote) into third place by the Conservative challenger, she had decided that it wasn’t good enough just to serve as an ordinary MEP. Such hubris! Continue reading
Commenting on the surprise news that Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis is to resign from the European Parliament following her unsuccessful bid to become its President, North West MEP Chris Davies said:
“One day Diana Wallis was campaigning to become President of the European Parliament, pledging to fight for more openess and transparency, and on the next she apparently decided that it wasn’t good enough just to serve as an ordinary MEP. Continue reading
The recycling of TVs, mobile phones, computers and other electrical equipment is to be increased.
Electrical and electronic materials are Britain’s fastest growing waste stream, with more than one million tonnes generated annually. Continue reading
North West England Euro-MP Chris Davies is backing a call by the European Parliament for a plan to curb the waste of huge quantities of food.
Studies estimate that as much as 50% of food gets wasted each year by supermarkets, food manufacturers and in homes. Continue reading
North West England Lib Dem Euro-MP Chris Davies has received a personal assurance from the European Commission that countries which do not comply with new welfare rules for laying hens will be closely investigated and, if appropriate, taken to court.
Under intense political pressure from Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, the Commission confirmed its commitment to put in place infringement procedures as of January 2012. Continue reading
A North West England Euro-MP has been warned that publishing inaccurate information about EU policies could discourage people from starting their own businesses.
Claims made by UKIP’s Paul Nuttall last month that EU laws would require small businesses to hand over €25,000 before they can start trading have been dismissed as untrue. Continue reading
Benjamin Netanyahu is on record as declaring that Israel “does not want to rule over one and a half million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank).
Numbers matter and change perceptions. Even at the time (a Washington briefing to journalists in September 2010) the Israeli Prime Minister was reminded that the true figure was 2.5 million Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has just reported that there are 2.6 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and 1.6 million in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, there are 1.4 million Palestinians living in Israel with Israeli citizenship.
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reports that there are 7.8 million Israelis, of which 5.9 million are Jews.
(All of this excludes the 5.6 million Palestinians living in Arab nations or around the world, as well as the global Jewish diaspora).
Both the statistical organisations come to a very similar conclusion, that the number of Jews and Palestinians living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is almost the same. Interestingly, the Palestinian CBS estimates that the total Jewish population is the larger by 300,000 while the Israeli CBS reckons the figure to be only 100,000.
But what of the future?
The Palestinian Authority reports that if growth patterns continue unchanged the number of Palestinians and Jews will be equal within four years by the end of 2015. Thereafter the number of Palestinians will grow to exceed those of Jews.
Claims that assisted dying legislation would put the lives of thousands of disabled and vulnerable people at risk have been dismissed as “scaremongering nonsense with no basis in fact” by an MEP expert.
A report by the independent commission on assisted dying, chaired by Lord Falconer, will tomorrow (Thursday) call for doctors to be allowed to respect their patients’ wishes if proper procedures are followed. Continue reading
Would you buy a strawberry juice or smoothie if you knew it consisted mainly of apples? Do you want to know which ‘juice’ contains additional sugar or sweeteners? How healthy is your fruity drink?
Euro MPs today decided to put in place stricter rules on the composition of fruit juices and better labelling guidelines which will substantially improve the quality of fruit juices available across the EU. Continue reading
