VALLEY FEATURE


So what does an MEP do o


more and more of the decisions affecting our everyday lives are made, but what does that actually entail? Here Liberal Democrat MEP for the North


W


West, Chris Davies, sets out what MEPs do on our behalf. Chris writes:


There is no one answer because each Mem­


ber interprets the roie in a different way. In my case I am influenced by the particular subjects I follow on behalf of the Liberal Democrats (en­ vironment, climate change and fisheries), as well as my special interests, but my colleagues might be leading on industry policy, employ­ ment, trade, overseas development or foreign affairs. No parliamentary committees met on the day I describe below so maybe it's wrong to describe the day as typical, but it was not without interest. A TYPICAL DAY 07.50 It's a wet Wednesday morning and it takes


me less than 10 minutes to walk through the Brussels streets from my flat to the parlia­ ment; I push open the revolving door just before Bam. Grabbing an English newspaper from the stationer’s shop I head for the base­ ment canteen for coffee and breakfast cereal. Fifteen minutes later I take the lift up to my 10th floor office, say "good morning" to my as­ sistant, Sarah (French, with an English mother and a degree from Lancaster University), hang


. up my coat, and head for my first meeting. 08.40 A special meeting of the European Parlia­


ment's Palestine delegation has been called to talk with Azzam Al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegation in the Palestinian Legislative Council. I have met him before, in Ramallah in 2007, during the short-lived period of Palestin­ ian Unity Government. He’s late, so I chat with another North West MEP, the Conservative Party's Sir Robert Atkins, who shares my views about the injustice experienced by Palestin­ ians. "Friends of Israel are very strong in the Conservative Party, but they don’t have it all their own way," he says. Talking through an interpreter Mr Al-Ahmad


outlines the latest on 'peace negotiations’ (there are none!) and shares with us his views of the so-called 'Egyptian agreement’ which he has helped negotiate and which is intended to bring Fatah and Hamas back into common space. Agreement has been reached as to how to build a single security force in Gaza and phase out the armed militias, but he says that Hamas has refused to sign the final document.


• , This is so frustrating. It’s bad enough that some of my colleagues condone the military occupation of Palestinian land by Israel but the


' divisions within the Palestinian ranks make it so much harder for their friends to argue their case..-. . . :


. EU policy on the Middle East seeks a just solution but is never backed up by action. I would dearly love some foreign ministers to break the consensus of silence.


. - i-09.50 : Back in my office I pick up the phone to the


iValley p a g e 12


OUR MAN IN EUROPE: Chris Davies is one of eight MEPs who represent the North West constituency, which includes Ribble Valley, for a range of political parties. But what do these Euro-MPs actually do on our behalf?


Oldham Chronicle. It’s answered by the news editor, Mike Attenborough, who I have talked with freguently over the past 25 years despite having rarely met. I tell him that I am about to send a press release explaining that millions of pounds are to be wasted because the railway line around the town, currently being convert­ ed to Metrolink tram operation and electrified, will be closed just three years after the trams start to run. By that time a new street tramway will have built through the town centre and although it has been suggested that the two lines could operate in parallel there simply won’t be enough trams to make this viable. I’ve had a series of meetings with colleagues'


and PTE officers about this and have grown more appalled by what I hear. I’m really angry about the waste, and annoyed with myself for not having broken the political consensus and pressed for changes years ago. With hindsight the whole exercise strikes me as a botched job, hugely lacking in vision. The story gets front • page treatment the following day. 10.30 My European Liberal Democrat (ALDE)


Group meets to discuss parliamentary business so I make my way to a committee room that has space for 250 people (MEPs, assistants and group staff) plus interpreters. The subject that dominates today is our own expenses - always so much more interesting than the details of some distant trade agree­ ment! It’s been proposed that the Parlia­ ment should take on more staff to meet the increased legislative responsibilities brought about by the Lisbon Treaty. Many of us are not convinced and think the Parliament should live within its means, but the measure is certain to be approved because the two biggest party


HAT do MEPs do? They are elected to represent our interest at the European Parliament, where


groups of right and left have done a deal. After a lengthy debate our leader, Guy


Verhofstadt, proposes that we should accept the package as a "once-and-for-all" change. I am annoyed with him for the way he steers the votes and splits those who disagree. 12.30 1 race off because I am hosting a lunchtime


seminar presentation by Rupert Howes, the chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council. I like the MSC a lot. It was founded through a partnership between business (Unilever) and environmentalists (WWF), and it seeks to encourage and certify sustainable fisheries across the world. Rupert is articulate and enthusiastic,


pointing out that 10% of the world’s fisher­ ies will be MSC certified within a year or so. With fish stocks in rapid decline this is hope for the future. 1 am arranging a meeting with the new Fisheries Commissioner to try and persuade her that the MSC can complement her attempts to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The tragedy is that we have overfished for so long that stocks are well below their potential, so everyone is losing out. 14.10 Back to my office and I am late, late, late


in completing a local newspaper column. The draft I have previously prepared discussed the future of political parties with declining mem­ bership, but UKIP’s Nigel Farage has just had his parliamentary allowances docked (’fined’ £2,700) for insulting Belgium and describing the new president of the European Council as a "low grade bank clerk" so I change my theme and rewrite. My first thought is to defend Farage’s free­


dom of speech, but then I remember that the House of Commons also applies sanctions for unparliamentary language or bad behaviour. 1 also recall chairing meetings of the hous­ ing committee in Liverpool during the early 1980s when councillors from Labour’s Militant Tendency would disrupt proceedings and dare me to curb their 'freedom of speech’. Eventu­ ally I did. Then 1 read the letter to Farage from Jerzy


Buzek, the president of the European Parlia­ ment: "I attach the highest importance to freedom of speech. 1 fought for decades in my own country for such freedom. However, I do not believe that freedom of speech in the Parliament can extend to insulting other persons, especially guests speaking at our own invitation in the chamber. The very foundation of parliamentarianism and democracy is that freedom of expression should respect others." Buzek was an activist for the Solidar­


ity movement in Poland during the 1980s, campaigning against communist dictatorship. When he talks about free speech his words carry more substance than all the rants and ravings of the UKIP man. 15.00 Piotr Tulej, the head of the European Com­


mission’s low carbon technologies unit,.arrives to talk carbon capture and storage (CCS) with me. We have been in close contact for two years now, ever since I became the Parlia­ ment’s CCS rapporteur on the subject. I am now regarded as the in-house expert and took


Piotr’s place speaking on EU policy at a confer­ ence in London yesterday. After a long delay agreement has finally


been reached about how to subsidise the dem­ onstration projects that are supposed to be in operation by 2015. But it will be a year-and-a- half before the first one is selected and time is running out if we are to get 12 built before the deadline. Without CCS taking the C02 out of fossil fuels in power stations I don’t see how the world has a hope of curbing climate change. 16.10 I’m late for an interview with CNN about


Parliament’s call for a ban on trade in Mediter­ ranean blue fin tuna, the most expensive fish in the world. Stocks are almost completely wiped out, but there is so much money to be made from the few fish that remain that even the mafia is involved in the destruction. We need to get a firm decision taken at the CITES (endangered species conference) later this month. The interview takes place outside the parliament chamber. It’s just one take and is over within minutes. 16.30 A small window opens in my diary and I es­


cape to the gym, taking the lift to Parliament’s basement. It’s very busy in the evenings but quiet now and I run 15 one minute intervals on the treadmill at 18k/hour speed, with a minute’s jog in between. I head back upstairs 45 minutes later, sweating profusely. There’s a shower in my office so 1 can cool down, read a few e-mails, and talk to my team in the Stock- port office before getting washed. 18.15 Smart again, my assistant Sarah joins me


for a lengthy talk about possible amendments to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, a piece of legislation I am working on that limits or bans the use of dangerous chemicals and heavy metals in electrical and electronic goods. It’s really difficult to know what to do for the best. There are so many contradictory proposals from industry and environment lobbyists. Certainly some things are hazardous but do they actually present a risk in the way they are used here? Is PVC a problem, for example, given our high recycling and incineration standards, or is there real concern only if it is shipped abroad? I’m more concerned about tightening up


the parallel Electric and Electronic Waste Directive. It’s only half working in the UK and I want to table amendments to step up recycling and to more effectively curb the illegal export of the waste to countries overseas, Images of children inhaling fumes from burning the stuff on waste dumps come to mind. 20.00


I escape from the parliament building and . .


head off for dinner at an Italian restaurant with Nick Campbell. Although from Chester he works in Paris and chairs the climate change section of 'Business in Europe’; while my sport is fell running his is orienteering. We talk about the failure of the negotiations at Copenhagen and why it occurred, what to do next about , climate change, and we distract ourselves by sharing experiences of hills and moors, woods and bogs.


- Valley pag e 13


Easter weekend for its first ever art exhibition. The event, which was held in the gal­


T


lery at the west end of the church, was the idea of parishioner Karina Lancaster. "For some time we have enjoyed visits


from members of Blackburn Artists, an amateur artists’ club. It occurred to me that the church would provide the ideal venue for an exhibition featuring their work in particular," she said As the idea evolved it became clear


there were other artists in the Bowland district who were keen to be involved and as a result 50 pieces were accepted for display and were submitted by 23 local artists.


he medieval church of All Hallows’ at Great Mitton was visited by several hundred people over the


arty


By Natalie Cox


The display was formally opened by


Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans. On the weekend before the exhibition,


a workshop took place in the church for families to experiment in both pottery painting and art work. Classes were led by Claire Tierney and Chris Perkins - both have studios at the Backridge Farm complex - and work completed during the workshop was put on display alongside the main exhibition. Throughout the three-day Easter


event, performances were provided by talented local musicians, including: ' Brigid and Gerard O’Reilly, of Hurst


Green, who played ensemble music for recorders; Rebecca Okpoti, of Knowle Green, who demonstrated her piano and violin skills, and mezzo soprano Jennie Marsden, who gave a recital. There were further performances by


Liz Goodall on oboe, as well as organists Gerald Mack and Stuart Whillis. ■ The historic church of All Hallows’


dates back to 1270 and attracts a steady stream of visitors throughout the sum­ mer period, many of them travelling to the Valley venue to view the famous Elizabethan Shireburn Chapel with its elaborate monuments to the family who once lived at Stonyhurst. A separate exhibition relating to this


special feature was set up in the Chapel itself and has been the focus of a great deal of interest.


WATCH­


FUL EYE: Artist


Chris Per­ kins offers advice


during the weekend


workshop, (s)


HIGH NOTE: A


variety of musicians enter­ tained


during the exhibition, (s)


VALLEY ART


PAINT POT: Pauline and Natalie Porter work on their unique piece, (s)


PICTURE DISPLAY: Some of the works featured in the Easter weekend exhibition. (s)


ART


WORK­ SHOP:


Matthew Rimmer


tries his hand at art. (s)


TOM LUND: One of the young­ sters who enjoyed the artis­ tic work­ shops. (s)


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