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Food for thought...
Yesterday I spent 6 hours in a mammoth voting session in the Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee.The main issue was food information to consumers, which if you've been reading this blog you will know is something I have...
Traffic lights - an excellent video
I've just been sent this excellent video from a German NGO describing clearly the issue at stake in the proposed food information directive which I am working on at the moment.They are supporting the British traffic light scheme and my efforts to con...
Constructive meeting with European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy
I attended a meeting this morning with the recently appointed President of the European Council and ex-Belgian Prime Minister, Herman Van Rompuy.We had a serious debate about the way forward and the European Union's role in steering Europe out of the...
Why let the facts get in the way of a good EU scare story?
Following a post about so-called Euro-myths last year I read with interest that the Daily Express has been forced to publish an apology following its latest half-baked EU scare story, which made page one last Wednesday.The story (now removed from the...
Abuses in Spain
Recently there have been more problems for British property owners in Spain who have been served demolition notices on the houses they own, as reported here. The latest incident involves demolition notices being served on with properties in a small v...
Bulgarian Commissioner-designate withdraws
I said "watch this space...." in my previous post. Bulgarian Commissioner-designate Jeleva has just withdrawn her candidacyCommon sense has prevailed. The issue was her competence. She did not give a good account of herself at her hearing and I think...
Misleading labelling of convenience foods
A letter to the Independent following their article today Sir,It is indeed scandalous that processed convenience foods or ready meals can mislead the consumer to such an extent that a chicken sandwich, made with chicken from Thailand, can be labelled...
Hearings of Commissioner-designates
This week in Brussels we have begun the hearings for the 26 Commissioner-designates (more info here). These hearings happen once every 5 years and offer a real opportunity for MEPs to grill the would-be Commissioners on every aspect relevant to their...
Tory Alcohol Policy
"Dear Sir,The Conservatives' Health spokesperson, Andrew Lansley (Guardian Weds 13th January) yesterday unveiled new Tory policy to scrap the current labelling system for units of alcohol, and also to start labelling the calorie content of alcoholic...
We need to do more to find alternatives to animal testing
This week I am backing a campaign which if successful could lead to vastly increased funding for alternatives to animal testing.I am calling on the European Commission to look at various options to increase the funding that goes into research on alte...
An open letter to David Cameron
Dear Mr Cameron, At the start of the Copenhagen process on global climate change, you reassured us that the Conservative party is serious about curbing man-made global warming.You tell us that your "front bench" view on climate change is the view tha...
Time for action
With climate change talks in Copenhagen upon us already the Socialist Group in the European Parliament have spelt out our key messages.1 - Reduce emission2 - Create jobs3 - Fund developing countriesI spoke of this to Centre-Left leaders at a Party of...
Congratulations Cathy
I was delighted to see Cathy Ashton get the job of the EU's first Foreign Affairs High Representative last week. She is a great talent and extremely competent and I'm sure will prove to be the best person for the job. The fact that this job has gone...
Never let a crisis go to waste
I was in London on Monday speaking at a TUC event on the economic crisis. Alongside Larry Elliott of the Guardian, (Lord Professor) Richard Layard from LSE and Andrew Simms of the New Economic Foundation I spoke of how the present economic situation...
The Wall
Today in the European Parliament plenary we are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This historic event led to the collapse of communism in the former eastern bloc and to a new era of democracy and prosperity and eventu...
From yesterday's debate...
Following on from my post yesterday on climate change here is a very interesting video from my colleague Linda McAvan, taken from yesterday's debate in the European Parliament. It shows just how similar the BNP and UKIP are and how out of touch with...
Copenhagen and climate change talks
Having seen the latest meeting of the Maldives cabinet held underwater to highlight the fact that it could be the first nation to sink below the waves, I spent yesterday evening in a long voting session on a European Parliament resolution, preparing...
In Parliament this week
It's a full week here in Brussels, with both my committees sitting (Environment and Civil Liberties) as well as a mini-Plenary session. On the agenda for the Plenary is a debate on calls for the establishment of an EU-wide fund to protect the passeng...
An upbeat Party Conference
It's been a really busy week. I've been in Brighton for Party Conference, and in my new role as Leader of the EPLP I gave a speech this morning to the floor. You can watch it below:I warned how Britain’s influence in the world would become weakened...
Barroso is elected as new Commission President
Yesterday saw the culmination of weeks of discussions, speculation and gossip over the European Parliament's vote on the re-election of the Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso.I had serious doubts based on the ex Portuguese Prime Minister's tra...
