Sarah's bulletin: 10 September 2010

Dear friends,

Strikes

I hope you have survived OK in a week when you had to squeeze into a bus, walk, cycle or simply stay at home due to the Tube strike. There's always a certain grim solidarity about transport strikes and one big collective struggle to get to work. The strike was about TfL's planned savage cuts to ticket office opening hours. I agree with my London assembly colleague Caroline Pidgeon that the ticket office closures are wrong because they will disproportionately affect the elderly, disabled people and tourists, but that by striking the unions are throwing away public goodwill and failing to put passengers first. Let's hope they resolve the dispute by 3 October, their next strike date!

Although I missed this strike by my presence in Strasbourg, I'm not smug! This week's French general strike fell mid-week but the next is due on September 23rd when we are supposed to be travelling back from the September II Strasbourg session (we have to have 2 in September - groan! - in order to fit in 12 in the year). I am told the Eurostar should be OK, but first I have to get back to Paris….

Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani saved from stoning - for now

It was encouraging yesterday that the Iranian government announced that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman convicted of adultery, will not be stoned to death. (The man involved of course gets no such sentence). We were active in Strasbourg this week putting pressure on the Iranian government to not carry out the execution: we held a specially early debate on Monday, held a candlelit vigil on Tuesday (see above) and passed a resolution condemning the sentence (with no votes against) on Wednesday; even European Commission President Barroso mentioned the case in his State of the Union speech. It is gratifying to think that we really could have made the difference in saving this woman's life and seems to show that Iran is sensitive to international opinion. But as I said in my press release and to The Parliament Magazine, this should not mean that pressure on Iran to better its human rights record should be relaxed for one moment. We have learned unfortunately that the Iranian government is not only repressive - particularly on women - but can be unpredictable and vindictive. So it is well possible that a move will be made to execute Ms Ashtiani in another way or severely punish her again - she has already received 99 lashes twice. The fight continues, for her and for another estimated 50 women facing a death by stoning sentence.

Botched attempt to stage-manage Barroso's big speech

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! There was a great hullabaloo in Strasbourg this week regarding a plan by European Parliament leaders to fine any MEP who did not turn up for European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's maiden "State of the Union" speech on Tuesday. The plan was apparently to have three electronic checks throughout the three hour-long speech and debate, and if an MEP missed two out of three they would be fined a proportion of their daily subsistence allowance.

Of course I fully support the regular and long-standing checks whereby MEPs' hotel and meal reimbursements depend on participation in legislative votes. But the idea this time was a new one, to ensure attendance at a debate. This move was entirely aimed at saving the EU's, the Parliament's and Barroso's public image. I understand it originated with Socialist and (in some versions of the tale) Green group leaders, nervous that their troops would not turn out for Barroso whose reappointment they did not endorse last year. I must say it gives me some wry pleasure to contemplate Green leader Danny Cohn-Bendit, the hero of the 1968 anti-establishment rebellion, sponsoring a stage management worthy of authoritarian regimes.

I was very cross that the upshot was predictably the opposite of that intended, namely to detract from the substance of Barroso's speech and to make us look like idiots. I made my views known on this along with many other backbench MEPs and the powers-that-be backed down with their tails between their legs. I did radio interviews about this with the BBC World Service's The World Today programme and the European Radio Network, and my comments were reported by the Sunday Telegraph, the European Voice, Euractiv, EU Observer, New Europe, AFP and The Parliament Magazine. But I would really rather have not had to speak about boring internal EP housekeeping when many urgent matters vie for attention.

No to domestic flights: London City Airport demo

Like climate change. Last Saturday saw simultaneous demonstrations at London City Airport and Manchester airport demanding an end to domestic UK flights in order to reduce emissions as well as noise and pollution for those who live near airports. A delegation from the London demonstration in fact travelled from London to Manchester by train to prove their point! The exercise was a joint effort between London City Airport's 'Fight the Flights' - a local East London campaign group that has lobbied against LCA expansion on air and noise pollution grounds and that I have worked with before - Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport and the Campaign against Climate Change. I could not unfortunately be there in person, but sent a written message of support that was read out at the demo.

Then yesterday a report was issued about a very alarming potential for disaster over London City airport. A near-miss happened between a business jet leaving LCA and a commercial flight coming in to land at Heathrow, see here:

"The incident on 27 July last year highlighted the potential for human error to cause disaster above the heavily populated area between Hackney and Stratford where planes leaving London City airport routinely cross the flight path of incoming Heathrow-bound aircraft."

One recommendation by air safety watchdogs is that all planes operating in this zone should be equipped with a collision-avoidance piece of equipment known as a TCAS II, which the business jet did not, and I intend to take this up with ministers.

Commission pushed on EU gay partnership recognition

On Tuesday in Strasbourg we grilled European Commissioner for justice and fundamental rights Viviane Reding on why the EU executive has done so little to enforce free movement rights for people in same-sex partnerships across the EU. The issue is that gay or lesbian couples can be in a civil partnership here in the UK, but suddenly in the eyes of the law can become two singles the moment they enter another EU country that either does not have same-sex partnership legislation or simply does not recognise the UK's civil partnership regime. I believe this is illegal both under EU free movement and antidiscrimination rules, and the Commission should stand up for the gay rights and force mutual recognition. See my press release and speech here.

Binyam Mohamed loses right to sue aviation firm

A US court ruled yesterday that Binyam Mohamed, a British Guantanamo ex-inmate, cannot sue private aviation firm and Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan for having participated in his extraordinary rendition, because of "national security" concerns that the case might reveal US state secrets and sensitive intelligence. I applaud the Obama administration's move to end Bush's post-9/11 illegal kidnapping and torture program - though we are still waiting for implementation of the promise to close Guantanamo - but like his predecessor Obama has been driven by politics and advisors to put the alleged claims of national security above the interests of justice. Of course it would be irresponsible if information were revealed that genuinely put intelligence operatives in danger, but I have my suspicions that the 'national security' card is a pretext for avoiding accountability. Our 'war on terror' motion at conference will showcase the laudable decision by the coalition government to have a judge-led inquiry - which the Labour government refused - into allegations of collusion in torture.

Junior doctors and the EU Working Time directive

Many newspaper inches have been devoted this week to the EU Working Time directive's impact on junior doctors' working hours and new rotas just brought in by the NHS. The story is supposedly that because the working time directive sets a maximum number of hours trainee doctors can work in a week, they are having to walk away from patients in need when they finish their shifts and operate as "floating" doctors as opposed to being allocated to a specific team, which has reportedly led to many junior staff quitting their jobs.

I am not a fan of the EU regulating working hours - I think this should be a national decision - but it is in fact entirely unclear whether these developments are a consequence of the Working Time directive, or the way the NHS and the British Medical Association have implemented or 'gold-plated' it in the UK. In any case, do we really need to or want to run our health service on junior doctors run ragged and taking crucial medical decisions when sleep-deprived?

Troubled 9/11 anniversary

This year's anniversary of 9/11 is proving a troublesome one, as it has been dominated by a row about a planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York and Florida pastor Terry Jones' outrageous, provocative and violent plan to burn 200 copies of the Qu'ran on the front lawn of his church. Yesterday, under pressure from many prominent figures including President Obama, this bigot said he had decided to cancel his bonfire, although later he backtracked and said he was just postponing it... I really hope he does abandon it. Book-burning has a long and odious history. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in south London, a Muslim sect originating in Pakistan that is the victim of much hate and violence and that I have long been involved with, is hosting a '9/11 unity & respect' event today to encourage inter-faith dialogue and tolerance, something I think everyone should be doing this September 11th.

The fair votes referendum: the campaign starts here!

MPs returned to Westminster on Monday to find themselves debating the fairer votes referendum bill. Labour is of course selfishly and shortsightedly opposing the referendum (despite the fact that it pledged AV in its manifesto for the May election) because it will essentially eliminate their electoral advantage, including through the aligned size of constituencies. AV is of course not the LibDems' top choice as it is not a proportional system, but we must not let the best be the enemy of the good. Jack Straw claims that the LibDems will lose a lot from the package of reforms but as the Independent says "what the Liberal Democrats understand - and Mr Straw plainly does not - is that this is a once in a generation chance to begin the reform of our flawed voting system".

I hope you will join me in campaigning for voting reform, plans for which I will keep you informed about in weeks to come as I acquire them.

MEPs vote on Roma expulsions

The European Parliament passed a resolution this week condemning France's Roma expulsion policy -- a xenophobic playing of the "race card" by Sarkozy. The centre-right however did not support it and the European Commission has not been so forthcoming in telling off one of the big member states; Barroso criticised France in only a veiled and fudged way, much to the disappointment of MEPs. I believe that France's bribed 'voluntary' expulsions of Roma are fairly and squarely illegal under EU law, and it's outrageous that the European Commission is tip-toeing around. There is no point in EU human rights clauses and rhetoric if nothing is done to make them stick. My views were reported by Euractiv here.

Animal testing in science significantly scaled back across EU

This week MEPs passed a landmark piece of legislation banning animal testing in science and research on great apes and significantly limiting testing on other animals. From now on only methods that cause the least pain will be permitted and thanks to the Liberals the most prolonged and severe tests will be prohibited. Although I don't like animal testing, as a diabetes campaigner I do know that sometimes it is necessary in the effort to find cures to many diseases, and I think this legislation strikes a good balance between human medicine and animal welfare. The EU led the way back in 2003 when it banned animal testing for cosmetics, and we have finally achieved a modern set of rules regarding science and research.

The decline in foreign languages in the UK

Education Secretary Michael Gove has just added his voice to the growing chorus (including mine) deploring the lack of foreign language skills in the UK, something that has been in decline for the last decade but which accelerated when Labour decided to make a language GCSE optional. My preferred option would be to make a language GCSE a requirement for university entrance, which would at least ensure that anyone thinking of going on to higher education would have minimum foreign language skills. Even though as I very well know in my job, English is dominant, I also know that linguistic capability is also of vital importance. My ability to work in French makes a real difference to my productivity as well as easing relations sometimes. The shocking monolingualism of UK graduates is really making them lose out on European and international jobs.

Continuing confusion about meat and milk from cloned animals

The European Commission made a statement to the European Parliament on Wednesday about the issue I mentioned in my bulletin last week about whether food from cloned animals and the offspring of cloned animals should be allowed to be sold. Commissioner Dalli was rather vague in explaining the Commission's position, but seemed to be leaning towards the view that contrary to the FSA's understanding meat from the offspring of cloned animals can be sold without prior authorisation, which I am certainly not happy about. The Commission will be publishing a report on the use of cloned animal food in November, so hopefully all will be made clear then.

Coalition government: shifting the political horizon

Nick Clegg delivered an inspiring speech yesterday about shifting the government's political horizon from short-term obsessions to long-term investment. As he said, "our political culture - and in many ways our society more generally - has become too focused on immediate needs and demands, rather than considering our obligations to the future. We need to look towards a further horizon." This ties into an article he wrote in the Financial Times a week or two ago about how fairness is not a statistical 'numbers' game, but about policy that has a deeper effect across generations. I could not agree more -- Labour was so obsessed with arbitrary targets, I'm so glad this government can see beyond that.

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford