Brussels/Strasbourg/International
Comment on Current Affairs - Terror and the UK Presidency
Jean and one of London's cleaner greener taxi cabs
Green Party Autumn Conference
Jean participated in a number of events at the Green Party's national conference in Lancaster. These included a panel on West Papua, an African Women's fringe, a panel on terrorism and civil liberties, and a session on the Kurdish situation. As a result of the African Women's session, Adwoa Adu Oforiwaa and her colleague, both from the Greenwich-based Simba project, are planning a number of Black-Green dialogue events, in conjunction with Black History Month.
London
Jean submitted a joint petition with the London Assembly Greens and London Green Party members on the Crossrail Hybrid Bill. The petition supported Crossrail in principle, but proposed a number of changes to the current plans in order to address community concerns in Tower Hamlets and other parts of London.
Jean gave a keynote speech at a major taxi drivers conference at Hackney Town Hall. She backed the need for London's taxis to be upgraded to higher EU standards in order to reduce harmful emissions and improve London's air quality. Jean stressed the need to work with taxi drivers in order to make this a reality.
Jean has given her support to community campaigns to stop a number of proposed new mobile phone masts. She has written to mobile phone companies objecting to proposals in Redbridge, and participated in a protest on Wanstead Flats.
Asylum and Civil Liberties
Jean continued to be an outspoken critic of the UK's unfair asylum policy. She has supported individual asylum cases, and continued to support public statements and demonstrations in defence of asylum seekers. Jean met London-based Iraqi Kurds to discuss the situation in Iraq and their concerns about deportations. As a result, Jean raised strong objections to Government plans to deport Iraqis back to Iraq, where they will face the ongoing danger and violence there.
Jean spoke at a demonstration outside Downing Street against internment and collusion with torture. The event was organised by CAMPACC and supported by the Green Party.
Jean chaired the Equal day conference at Church House, Westminster, “An Equal Future for Asylum Seekers: Investing in Inclusive Communities”. Jean gave an overview and a European perspective for the event.
Concerns of Constituents
Top constituents' concerns this month included calls for amendments to the REACH proposals and requests for support of Equitable Life policy holders in the Petitions Committee.
Brussels/Strasbourg/International
Strasbourg (two sessions)
European Citizen Action Service
To launch the ECAS Report on worker migration, based on the official statistics from Member States, Jean chaired a meeting at which ECAS Chair, Mario Monti, presented the Report findings. They show that actual migration numbers have been much lower than many expected – raising questions about current transitional measures.
Optical Radiation
Parliament voted on this reasonable Report which aimed to define clearly the responsibilities of employers and employees as regards exposure to harmful UV rays. Unfortunately, media scaremongering won the day as the Liberals and Christian Democrats outvoted the Greens and Socialists on key aspects of the Report. The text now exempts employers from their responsibility to enforce minimum standards protecting the workforce from skin cancer.
Council Transparency
Jean and leaders from the other four leading UK Parties in the European Parliament held a press conference and issued a written declaration on Council reform. They called on the UK Presidency of the EU to initiate changes to the secretive decision-making process in the Council of Ministers.
Trips for Older Females & Fellows
Jean met with a group of older Londoners when they visited the Strasbourg Parliament to hear about her work as an MEP. Jean is Vice President of the Age Intergroup.
McCreevy and Services
At the Trade Union Intergroup, which Jean attended, Commissioner McCreevy discussed the Services Directive. He argued that we should focus on the generation of economic activity before we can address the social model. This is a worrying attitude towards the spirit of the Services Directive. The Greens are clear that there should be no chipping away of universal access to quality public services. It now looks as though the Report will not now be voted on until the January Session!
Report on Refugee Procedures
The Council text on this issue had been extremely flawed. In the Debate, Jean spoke in Plenary against the concept of super safe third countries. She highlighted the importance of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which deals with the issue of not returning people to a situation in which they might face torture or inhumane or degrading treatment.
Written Declarations
Jean signed Written Declarations on moon bears, energy efficiency and child help lines. She co-authored a Written Declaration on Council reform.
Brussels
Kurdish conference
Jean chaired one of the half-day Plenary sessions of a major conference on Turkey, the Kurds and the EU, held at the European Parliament. The conference brought together civil society representatives from a variety of organisations, including human rights and women's groups, European parliamentarians, the European Commission and Kurdish and Turkish representatives.
New Staff
Jean has taken on two new Members of staff. In Jean's Strasbourg office Gwilym Roberts-Harry will be doing an internship and in Jean's Brussels office, Elaine Mahon will be taking up the Stagiaire position. We welcome them both to their posts.
Lampedusa, Italy
Jean visited the Lampedusa detention facilities as part of the Civil Liberties (LIBE) Committee delegation visit. Prior to her departure, Jean invited representatives from UNHCR, ECRE and other NGOs to brief those MEPs taking part. During the press conference, Jean highlighted that asylum procedures should safeguard the dignity of those involved and that Parliament had a duty to ensure procedures were fair. At the centre, MEPs were surprised to find only 11 people residing there.
Denmark
Green MEPs met in Denmark as apart of the extended Bureau to discuss the Green social model. Jean delivered a speech in which she emphasised a socially inclusive Europe that addresses poverty and migration issues.
In London Jean was interviewed by a series of radio programmes including: BBC London on the 'Justice not deportations' demonstration, BBC Radio 4’s Costing the Earth Programme regarding sustainability of the London Olympics and the BBC World Service on the solidarity appeal for peace and dialogue in Turkey. This appeal, which Jean signed, also appeared in The Guardian and Le Monde.
The second part of the Observer / Glamour Magazine Rape Crisis Campaign was published this month noting Jean’s support.
Following reports that recycling levels in the UK have increased, Jean wrote a letter to the editor of The Independent voicing her concerns as to how far behind the UK is to other countries across Europe.
A letter was also sent to The Guardian following the news we may have reached a crisis point in climate change and are facing a completely 'ice free' summertime Arctic Ocean before the end of the century. Jean urged the UK Government to demonstrate their commitment to climate change through the UK Presidency of the EU.
Local press coverage was gained when Jean welcomed new citizens to London as guest of honour at a citizenship ceremony in Waltham Forest. Jean also gave her support to Car Free Day, the climax of European Mobility week, and gained coverage urging Londoner’s to leave their cars at home. Campaigners opposing the Heathrow incinerator interviewed Jean for an anti-incinerator documentary film.
Jean gave an interview to the magazine ‘Young People Now’ on how EU proposals and EU standards around asylum seekers could affect young people.
Jean has also been active within the environmental trade press this month with the first of Jean’s new monthly columns appearing in Recycling and Waste World. The magazine, Materials Recycling Week (MRW) also interviewed Jean on the proposal for a single waste authority in London.
In Strasbourg Jean gave interviews for Kurdish and German television.
Terrorism and the UK Presidency
In Plenary, Jean delivered a critical response to Charles Clarke's speech to MEPs. This is an extract (the full speech is available HERE)
I am more than slightly concerned when I hear the Minister talking about the need to re-evaluate the European Convention on Human Rights. The debate in the United Kingdom and elsewhere is already starting to refer to an 'inconvenient' Article 3, which is the one that deals with inhumane and degrading treatment and which cannot be derogated from. In the United Kingdom, we have already derogated from Article 5.
We also need to be wary of creating a feeling amongst people that everyone is a potential terrorist or criminal. We need a strong civil society, as Commissioner Frattini pointed out, one which is democratic, in which people feel they can participate and are not excluded on the basis of their race or religion.
Much of what we are hearing this morning is based on the concept of a benevolent state. We want to know where the safeguards are going to be, what the political oversight is going to be, how that is going to involve the European Parliament and our national parliaments and what redress is available for those who find themselves caught up and on lists that they should never have been on in the first place.
5 October, LVSTC Visit to Brussels
11 October, Climate Change Reception, Brussels
11 October, Parliament Magazine Awards, Brussels
12 October, Social Platform Conference, Brussels
13 October, Moon Bears Press Conference, Brussels
14 October, EWL Trafficking Conference, London
15 October, Trade Justice Event, London
28 October, CCME Hearing, London