Monthly Archives: June 2010

Last Saturday, I went to see the impact of a proposed wind farm by the village of Peckleton, near Desborough, in David Tredinnick’s Bosworth Constituency.  The developers are proposing to put two 400 foot turbines a mere 550 yards from … Continue reading →

This annual fixture, associated with the Blaston Agricultural Show, took place on Sunday, on a brilliant June day with clear blue skies and sunshine.  Indeed it was so hot that the paving in the middle of the show ring needed … Continue reading →

On Saturday June 26th, the annual Historic Narrowboat Rally took place at Braunston Marina, in the Daventry Constituency, and I was there for the occasion, as was Daventry’s new MP and my former MEP colleague Chris Heaton-Harris.  The day was … Continue reading →

I recently made a pilgrimage to Barcelona to see Gaudi’s masterwork, the Temple of the Holy Family, or the Eglisa de la Sagrada Familia, a building which has fascinated me for decades. I first saw the Church back in 1975.  … Continue reading →

I mentioned in a recent blog post that I am generally reluctant to sign Written Declarations in the parliament.  They usually call for new action “at the European level”; they raise unrealistic expectations, and they mostly achieve very little.  So … Continue reading →

I’ve always believed that the first rule of politics is: if you don’t know the answer, say so. Much better to say, “I’m not fully briefed on that, but if you want I can get back to you on it … Continue reading →

On Wednesday in Straz, I was focussing on Human Rights issues in two very different countries.   I attended the launch of a new Written Declaration on the situation in Iran.  Not, this time, the nuclear threat, serious as that … Continue reading →

The EU has a fine track record in extending its reach to areas which are none of its business, and an excellent example is its policies on animal welfare.  EU competences are defined by the Treaties, and many people think … Continue reading →

Plenary June 16th.  Korea. Mr. President, I have lived and worked in Korea, and last week I was in Seoul with our European parliament delegation.  I heard the account of the Cheonan sinking from our Korean hosts, and it is … Continue reading →

A recent document in the European Parliament caught my attention. I replied to the Commission authors as follows:   Gentlemen:   Your short paper “The G20 Agenda” was circulated to the European parliament’s Interparliamentary delegation to Korea, while we were … Continue reading →

One of the key visits of my Korea delegation trip to Seoul last week was to a company called SB LiMotive, a very impressive joint venture between Samsung of Korea and Bosch of Germany – an excellent example of EU-Korea … Continue reading →

This should really be a very short piece, because the bottom line is that citizens in North Korea have virtually no human rights at all. The North Korean junta is heartless and totalitarian, run by a bunch of psychopaths and … Continue reading →

During the formal session in Seoul last week of the EU-Korea Interparliamentary Council, the economic situation in the EU itself was on the agenda.  Our Chairman, a German EPP  MEP called Christian Ehler, set the scene from an EU perspective. … Continue reading →