Graham's blog entry 26th January 2007

Published on Fri 26th Jan 2007

My colleague Emma Nicholson MEP is making waves with a report she has drafted for Parliament on Kashmir. In my view it is a good and bold report, critical where necessary of both India and Pakistan and identifying ways forward to a better future for the troubled, once independent state. But the Pakistan lobby in the UK and elsewhere is up in arms about it, and Labour and even one or two LibDem MEPs have jumped on their bandwagon. So I was up very early this morning defending Emma's proposals on the radio against a rent-a-quote Labour MEP who really ought to know better. Emma has sensibly sought a postponement of the vote in committee until after the local elections lest it become an issue in some wards.

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My action last week to get the EU mobilised in support of a United Nations initiative for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty appears to have borne some fruit. Abolition of the death penalty was at the top of Barroso's agenda when he met Japan's Prime Minister, he assured me over a working supper on Wednesday; and it was raised by Parliament's new President in a meeting with new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. All political group leaders except the leader of the new far right group signed the Written Declaration (equivalent of a Westminster Early Day Motion) which I deposited: and while parliamentarians often despair at the lack of power we have in these matters, when we catch the public mood we sometimes have an impact.

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I attended a meeting of Parliament's delegation for relations with China on Wednesday and lambasted the People's Republic over their lack of respect for intellectual property and for human rights, raising the case of a human rights defender currently under arrest. Separately, I also pressed Singapore to allow a fair trial of Falun Gong practitioners arrested for demonstrating in public without a permit. The West's treatment of Singapore as an ally is massive hypocrisy: political freedom there is little greater than in some countries we consider dictatorships.

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The European Commission had an unholy row this week over action to reduce CO2 emissions from cars. An announcement expected midweek of binding legislation to force car makers to cut emissions was postponed. While the Environment Commissioner points out that commitments to voluntary reductions have not been met, the Industry Commissioner organised a strong lobby against a compulsory reduction to 120 grams per kilometre by 2012 for all new private cars. Watch this space for more news.

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Expect much ado from Britain's anti Europeans about the Treaty of Pruem.

Currently an agreement between just five or six countries on sharing criminal intelligence data, it will be signed by all member states if the German Presidency of the EU gets its way. It's a good idea: since criminals operate across borders, the police should also be able to. But the Germans want to do it outside the EU treaty framework, ie. exempt from EU data protection laws and scrutiny by the European Parliament. Liberals have protested strongly. If the Germans consider law to be an integral part of the EU's single market, as they claim in their Presidency's programme, laws should be made like single market laws, requiring a two thirds majority of member states and an absolute majority of MEPs before they reach the statute book. Cutting corners with democratic scrutiny in matters such as this always harms civil freedoms.

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I spent yesterday in Stockholm visiting leading members of our Liberal Democrat sister parties, the Folkpartiet and the Centre Party, to update them on my plans for the rest of this parliamentary mandate. We won the general election in Sweden last autumn and have eight ministers in the coalition with the Conservatives (including a former MEP colleague of mine), so I was able to congratulate them on their success and thank them for the work of the MEPs they send to my Group. I also paid courtesy visits to the former Prime Minister, social democrat Goran Persson, and to one of the Conservative leaders.

Today I address the U3A in Somerton and then visit Bristol's Fairbridge Centre, Fairbridge is a national charity supporting young people aged 13-25 in 15 of the UK's most disadvantaged areas to develop the confidence, motivation and skills they need to change their own lives.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be in Brockworth, campaigning with Tewkesbury Lib Dems for the by-election to be held on 1st February.