Tag Archives: sarah ludford

Europe: good news, but not big news

By Mark Pack | Published 15th December 2011 - 8:27 am

Into my inbox yesterday came an email from London Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford, welcoming a sensible new decision which the European Parliament has made that will  give the public better information and – thanks to that better flow of information – make the relevant market work more efficiently. Just the sort of good news that liberals should trumpet: giving people power and fixing market failures.

But. And it’s a big but.

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Europe: what Liberal Democrats have been saying today

By Mark Pack | Published 9th December 2011 - 7:02 pm

Nick Clegg:

I have said for months that it would be best to avoid arcane debates about treaty change altogether and if we had to proceed down that road, it would be best to do so in a way that did not create divisions in Europe.

The demands Britain made for safeguards, on which the Coalition Government was united, were modest and reasonable. They were safeguards for the single market, not just the UK.

There were no demands of repatriation of powers from the EU to Britain and no demands for a unilateral carve-out of UK financial services.

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Posted in Europe / International, News | Also tagged , , , , | 101 Comments

What are Lib Dem MEPs up to when it comes to money?

By Mark Pack | Published 5th December 2011 - 11:55 am

I’ve been wondering for a little time what the Liberal Democrat MEPs are pushing for when it comes to the European Union’s budget, which makes London MEP Sarah Ludford’s latest email update particularly timely:

No pro-European LibDem can be other than fully committed to reform of the EU. Any flaws in the way it is run overshadow its good work on everything from research to roaming charges, not to speak of the area I am passionate about, justice and civil liberties. I’m pleased therefore that a deal has been reached for the EU’s 2012  budget which overall represents no real terms

…

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Sarah Ludford opposed plans to refurbish MEP offices

By Mark Pack | Published 29th September 2011 - 8:45 am

Good to see a Liberal Democrat MEP taking up this cause in a press release:

Liberal Democrat London MEP Sarah Ludford has called for the blocking of plans by European Parliament bosses known as the ‘bureau’ to spend £26 million (€30 million) on improving MEP offices in the Parliament’s Strasbourg building.

The Parliament is currently obliged under the EU treaties – fixed by the 27 national governments – to sit in both Brussels and Strasbourg in a ‘travelling circus’. But in June a majority of MEPs voted in favour of maintaining a single seat in Brussels, which would save 19,000 tonnes of CO2 …

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Opinion: Healthy scepticism alive and well among Liberty’s ranks

By Jo Shaw | Published 16th June 2010 - 2:20 pm

At the weekend Liberty held its AGM. Jo Shaw was there…

We are, as our esteemed director, Shami Chakrabarti said on Saturday “a gobby lot”. In that, the Liberty membership share much in common with the membership of the Lib Dems. Both share a tradition of being unwilling to shut up, of asking difficult questions and not necessarily toeing the line which might be expected or helpful for the leadership.

Liberty was formed 76 years ago in response to police brutality against protestors against hunger and unemployment. Police tactics at demonstrations and the politics of dissent are currently high in …

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European Parliament rejects plans to hand bank details to the US

By Mark Pack | Published 16th February 2010 - 5:52 pm

Sharing of bank records with the US started in 2001 in an effort to tackle terrorism. However, the European Parliament has rejected new proposed agreement after heated criticisms that too much private information could be handed over without good reason.

The Register reported:

The European Parliament has rejected a proposed interim agreement on SWIFT – under which the US gets access to European bank transactions…

Rapporteur Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert from the Netherlands said the Council had not been tough enough on data protection and rules in the interim agreement on data protection were not proportionate to the security supposedly provided.

London Lib Dem …

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Video: Sarah Ludford MEP at Mass Photo Gathering

By Helen Duffett | Published 24th January 2010 - 7:50 am

Campaign group I’m a photographer not a terrorist held a Mass Photo Gathering in Trafalgar Square yesterday, in defence of street photography. Thousands of photographers came together to assert their rights and to protest against the misuse of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Section 44 allows uniformed police officers to stop and search people in designated areas if it is considered “expedient for the prevention of acts of terrorism.” I met Grant Smith, who was stopped under Section 44 by police in December. Sarah Ludford, Lib Dem MEP for London, had written a letter to the Independent in protest at his treatment.

I spoke to Sarah and Grant about the incident:


Video also available on YouTube.

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Jonathan Fryer’s Diary of a Euro-candidate

By Jonathan Fryer | Published 2nd April 2009 - 3:55 pm

Wednesday
The Liberal Democrat Friends of Poland is launched this afternoon at the Polish Centre in Hammersmith, chaired by Islington’s LibDem Mayor, Stefan Kasprzyk. A good turnout from the Polish-language media. In my speech about why Poles in London should vote Liberal Democrat, I joke (truthfully) about how during the Communist period, I’d been unable to find accommodation in a snow-bound Krakow, so spent the night in a Carmelite convent. Straight after the speeches, I have to do an interview in Spanish for a London-based Latin American channel. The capital’s ethnic diversity certainly keeps one on one’s toes. Later this …

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