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Author Archives: Antony Hook

Antony Hook MEP writes… Co-operation to win in 2024? It comes down to four questions

By Antony Hook | Wed 15th January 2020 - 12:30 pm

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The 2019 General Election was the sixth since I joined the party as a student in 1998 and its result was by far the most frustrating. The consequences of the 2019 election will be more considerable and long-lasting for our country than any I saw before.

How this happened, and what needs to change to do better next time, will be subject of a General Election Review, which I expect will be rigorous and take an objective, honest view based on evidence.

If I quote a football manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, do not think I am trivialising. Sir Alex understands more about successful leadership (including managing resources and dealing with the press and a support base) than many people in politics. One of his maxims was “defeat does not matter, what matters is how you come back from defeat.”

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2019 general election, cross party co-operation and featured | 19 Comments

Antony Hook: The Supreme Court ruling has opened the floodgates of major constitutional reform

By Antony Hook | Thu 26th September 2019 - 12:46 pm

Britain has always been a bastion or the rule of law, internationally respected as an exemplar of fairness, decency and parliamentary democracy.

Restoring a supposed supremacy of the British institutions was central to Boris Johnson’s campaign to wrench us out of Europe. The irony has been lost on few people that he has since tried to suppress Parliament and it has fallen to the courts to intervene.

I know something about Britain’s courts. Before being elected as an MEP, I had 16 years’ service as a barrister. In almost every case I have been involved in, the liberty of an individual has …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged constitutional crisis, parliamentary reform and supreme court | 53 Comments

You can see Lib Dem MEPs expenses claims – it’s time for all parties to follow.

By Antony Hook | Tue 10th May 2016 - 11:44 am

Liberal Democrat MEPs have always led the way on transparency and personal accountability. They have set a high bar, which others have repeatedly failed to match.

Chris Davies in particular led the way on reforms and changes in the Parliament that eliminated some abuses.

There is a specific commitment to make available any claim over £25 on the General Expenditure Allowance (the main sum of money that MEPs receive as expenses):

Liberal Democrat MEPs make receipts for items spent under the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA) in excess of £25 available either on their websites or on request in their constituency offices.

You can …

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Posted in News | Leave a comment

Royal access to official secrets must stop

By Antony Hook | Fri 18th December 2015 - 8:55 am

In recent days it has been revealed that Prince Charles and Prince William have access to UK official secrets. Charles “routinely receives” secret documents including Cabinet papers. It is not clear whether access stops at the two of them.

This is entirely inappropriate and should cease.

In a democracy, control of the state rests, or should rest, with the elected government. A monarch’s role is purely ceremonial and should entail no real control over any part of the state. The Queen (or William, Charles, George or another person who may succeed her) is unqualified to exercise power, has not been chosen by the people to do so, is subject to few checks and balances and is not accountable to the electorate.

Ministers, officials and others sometimes need access to official secrets to do their work, although almost none have unfettered access. An individual can see secret material relevant to their duties. As members of the Royal Family, William and Charles have no public duties to which secret material could be relevant.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged monarchy and official secrets | 35 Comments

Speaking for England – a reply to Chris White

By Antony Hook | Thu 5th November 2015 - 1:57 pm

Chris White’s article “Speaking for England” rightly invited people to share their views with the Federal Executive’s review of party governance but wrongly made a number of express or implied criticisms of the English Liberal Democrats that are incorrect and unjust.

Chris writes “most members think they… can vote for the committees which look after campaigning”. Indeed, they can. Local parties are chiefly responsible for local campaigning. National party strategy is constitutionally the responsibility of the Federal Executive, of which both Chris and I are members.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged english party and federal executive | 41 Comments

Design for Europe

By Antony Hook | Tue 8th September 2015 - 12:31 pm

The referendum on Europe will probably be the most important political event of our lives. Our choice will have consequences for decades, or even centuries.

Britain is better off in. Europe is better with Britain. The planet has better prospects with a strong Europe, living up to the best of our history and the brightest visions of our future. The Europe I fight for is one that changes, learns from the mistakes of the past and becomes a better Union tomorrow than it has been.

This campaign is our chance to fightback against the peddlers of spin and division, to tell people …

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Posted in Campaign Corner | 11 Comments

Lib Dems are the natural party for Eastern Europeans in Britain

By Antony Hook | Wed 12th August 2015 - 1:34 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Britain’s always changing. That is one of the best things about our country.

Liberal Democrats, and before us Whigs and Liberals, have long supported outsiders seeking to make this place their home.

Whigs supported Huguenots – religious refugees from France. In the nineteenth century Liberals supported equality for Jews and Catholics, who were denied basic civil rights.

It is well documented in history that the arrival of new people has made our country greater. Immigrants have brought new talents and energy.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eastern europe, eu and featured | 43 Comments

You should stand for Police & Crime Commissioner

By Antony Hook | Mon 3rd August 2015 - 12:58 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Next May, the entire United Kingdom will vote. It will be the first national election since the General Election and will be seen as a test of all parties one year into the new parliament.

Police & Crime Commissioner elections will take place in England & Wales, on the same day as devolved elections.

If you care about human rights, as Liberal Democrats do, policing is where human rights come into sharp focus. No other civilian agency in entrusted with powers so affecting liberty and so at risk of political demands based on popular misunderstanding. Policing needs checks and balances from a liberal point of view, and strategy founded on evidence.

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Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged police and Police & Crime Commissioner | 23 Comments

Opinion: 200 years on from Waterloo: democracy not dictators, unity not barriers, peace not war.

By Antony Hook | Fri 19th June 2015 - 1:32 pm

This week’s 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is a reminder of how far Europe has come.

At Waterloo, 65,000 men were killed or wounded in one day. In contrast, we have now had 70 years without war in Europe. Long may peace continue.

We enjoy secure peace partly because every country in Europe now has an elected government. There are no more monarchs or dictators seeking out war for vanity or power. Most importantly, we have the European Parliament where modern opportunities and problems, which cross old national borders, can be discussed by MEPs we elect rather than fought over by armies.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eu, europe, peace and waterloo | 10 Comments

Opinion: Have a local party meeting after the election

By Antony Hook | Wed 25th March 2015 - 10:25 am

We will all be very busy for the next few weeks, working hard to get Lib Dem MPs elected.

But once the votes are counted, the job of setting the country on the best direction will not over. There is every chance no party will win a majority.

Thinking about this must not distract us from campaigning. But it would be irresponsible to think that polling day is the end. It is just the beginning.

The Federal Executive has agreed processes for how Liberal Democrats approach inter-party negotiations.

A negotiating team will operate on appointment by the Leader. It will report to a small reference group drawn from FE, FPC members and MPs/peers. They will report to the full committees and all MPs/peers. Any proposed decision to work with another party in government will go to a Special Conference.

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Posted in News | Tagged after the election, federal executive and internal party communication | 13 Comments

Opinion: US analysis of how to beat “far right” UKIP – be consistent

By Antony Hook | Fri 28th November 2014 - 10:22 am

Washington DC based think tank, The Marshall Fund, which promotes understanding between North America and Europe, has produced a new research paper: “The Unstoppable Far Right?” that looks at UKIP in Britain and similar parties in Germany (Afd) and the Netherlands (PVV).

The paper compares “euro-sceptical right-populist” parties in these countries and concludes that what mainstream political parties say and do has a big impact on whether people vote for these parties. The “rise” of these parties is by no means inevitable: the PVV went significantly backwards at the 2014 European elections.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ukip and vvd | 16 Comments

Opinion: Why the First World War matters for government for,and by, the people

By Antony Hook | Wed 12th November 2014 - 10:54 am

In this 100th year since the Great War’s outbreak, and especially around Remembrance Day, we have all been united in sorrow for the pain and loss of life, respect for the ultimate subordination of self to a common good, and gratitude that war on such a scale has been unknown to us for decades and may, with wise leadership, never be seen again.

There is sometimes a view that the First World War was a pointless slaughter. That analysis is too simplistic, in my view. At university, I was privileged to spend a whole year looking at primary sources on British political, economic and military strategy in the First World War. The strategic picture reveals what was at risk in 1914-18. Beyond the pain there was a reason and a purpose.

Today, we see the First World War through the prism of the Second World War, which appears a blatant struggle between good and evil.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged democracy, featured and first world war | 24 Comments

All welcome to the first Liberal Democrat European Group Conference

By Antony Hook | Mon 27th October 2014 - 1:25 pm

The next 5 years will be amongst the most important for the Liberal Democrats, for Britain and for the European Union.

Liberal Democrats face three important European challenges, to:

Elect, or re-elect, Liberal Democrat MPs to ensure, as far as we can, that the UK government is constructive about the European Union as a means to advance the UK public’s interests.
Win any referendum on Europe.
Return a large group of Liberal Democrat MEPs in 2019 to fight for the interests of our constituents and a more liberal and democratic Europe.

These challenges are all important. All the people we care about in our communities will be affected by these three events. None of these three challenges will be easy to meet. Nor can we wait.

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Posted in News | Tagged ldeg and liberal democrat european group | 10 Comments

Opinion: Debates, PEBs and Judical Review: A graveyard of lost causes

By Antony Hook | Tue 14th October 2014 - 3:30 pm

This week’s announcement of broadcasters’ provisional plans for the 2015 General Election Debates predictably drew complaints and threats of legal action.

The plan is undoubtedly odd in some respects. Glen Oglaza, who has been a senior political broadcast journalist for as long as I can remember, tweeted that the idea of excluding a party in government (the Liberal Democrats) from one debate was “bizarre.”

Broadcasters will have to review their plans nearer to the election period, taking into account what the polling situation may be at that time, the number of candidates each party is set to field and other election results between now and then.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged debates, general election 2015 and judicial review | 18 Comments

With what song would you open Liberal Democrat Conference?

By Antony Hook | Fri 5th September 2014 - 9:47 am

The national convention of the US Democratic Party traditionally begins with Aaron Copeland’s famous, uplifting composition, ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’. If you don’t know the piece a recording of it is here.

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Posted in Conference | 64 Comments

Opinion: Celebrate 50 years free of the death penalty

By Antony Hook | Fri 15th August 2014 - 2:12 pm

This week marks half a century since the last executions in England.

Around the world, the death penalty has been reduced to a minority practice. Only 58 countries mow use capital punishment. Asia is its last redoubt, where ninety per cent of executions take place there. It may well be connected that the continent in which democracy is least prevalent is where execution is most common. Many new democracies created in the last 50 years abolished the death penalty when they threw off the yokes of military dictatorship, communism or apartheid.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged capital punishment | 13 Comments

Antony Hook asks… Juncker nominated as next President of the European Commission – What happens next?

By Antony Hook | Fri 27th June 2014 - 8:53 pm

Today the European Council nominated Jean-Claude Juncker to be the next President of the European Commission. The heads of government of the 28 states voted overwhelmingly for Juncker. Only the UK’s David Cameron (European Conservatives and Reformists) and Hungary’s Viktor Orban (European People’s Party) voted against.

Juncker’s nomination reflects not only the European People’s Party’s status as largest group in the Parliament but also that it supplies more of the states’ heads of government than any other party. The Council’s nominee will go before the Parliament in its plenary, 14-17 …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged ALDE, david cameron, european commission, european people's party, featured, guy verhofstadt and Jean-Claude Juncker | 33 Comments

Opinion: A European manifesto of hope

By Antony Hook | Mon 12th May 2014 - 8:55 am

For me and many other people, being a Liberal is about politics based on hope.

One of my favourite definition of hope is that it stands for “Helping Other People Evolve”.

Helping, not forcing.

Evolving, because almost everyone can see some scope for change for the better in their life.

We are not talking about forcing people to change their lives against their will.

Nor do we say, “each to their own, I’ll sort out my life and if you have no chance of a better future that is not my problem.”

Liberal leadership, based on hope, is about giving people a chance to fulfil their potential.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eu and european elections 2014 | 2 Comments

Opinion: Britain needs jobs, not UKIP/Tory insults

By Antony Hook | Wed 23rd April 2014 - 8:55 am

Over 4 million British jobs depend on exports to the Single Market.

Those are the words of the Centre for Economic and Business Research regarding their recent report into British Jobs and the Single Market.

When we talk about this issue UKIP and the Tory Right throw around words like “liar”. When people do that it usually means they have lost the argument.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged conservatives, eu and ukip | 14 Comments

Opinion: Regina v Nigel Evans should wake up MPs

By Antony Hook | Mon 14th April 2014 - 9:30 am

Nigel Evans’s acquittal on charges of rape and sexual assault has triggered various expressions of concern.
Those expressed, trenchantly by some, are:

“The Crown should never have prosecuted him because the evidence was weak.” …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged crime, featured, legal aid and nigel evans | 36 Comments

Opinion: Why I am against Grayling over Criminal Legal Aid

By Antony Hook | Tue 21st January 2014 - 5:16 pm

As a candidate for the European Parliament my focus is on EU-related issues: trade, climate change and cross-border crime. But some national issues are, in my view, so pressing that I cannot ignore them. Among these are Chris Grayling’s proposed cuts to criminal legal aid, so severe they threaten whether defendants will have proper representation at all.

On 6 January, I was in Oxford to support a protest against these cuts. Concurrent protests happened at courts all over England & Wales. The campaign aims to raise public awareness and persuade parliament to say ‘no’ to Grayling, as Parliament did over Price …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged chris grayling, featured and legal aid | 14 Comments

Opinion: Horizon 2020 means €80 billion extra science for Europe and jobs in the UK

By Antony Hook | Wed 15th January 2014 - 9:44 am

If I say, “Europe gives us a wider horizon” you might think this was a general observation that uniting as a continent, doing things together, helps us see and reach further in the world.

It certainly does but I have in mind a specific horizon: the Horizon 2020 fund. This is €80 billion that the European Union has voted to allocate to scientific research in 2014-20.

A European fund like this means a big opportunity for the UK. We have some of the best universities and other research institutions. They are well placed to apply for grants under this fund. Already …

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Posted in News | Tagged #whyiamIN, eu, european elections 2014 and science | 16 Comments

Opinion: do Parliament’s laws really need Royal Assent in 2013?

By Antony Hook | Fri 5th April 2013 - 1:21 pm

The country needs to save as much money as it can. Anything we can save will help the government to balance the books.

A small but wasteful activity is the requirement for Acts of Parliament to receive Royal Assent. Many people may believe that a Bill becomes law when it is passed by both Houses of Parliament. But it is a requirement for every Bill to go before the Queen and receive her approval.

Royal Assent is usually granted a few weeks after the Bill is passed by Parliament. …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Parliament, royal assent and the queen | 38 Comments

An earlier Letter from the Leader

By Antony Hook | Mon 4th February 2013 - 4:23 pm

Liberal Democrat members now receive a weekly letter by email from the party leader, Nick Clegg. I found a 32-year-old example of a “Letter From the Leader” to party members – one from David Steel on 27 February 1981. (Click to enlarge photo)

Without email, Steel asked for Local Association Chairmen (sic) to “take an early opportunity to read and discuss at appropriate constituency executives and other meetings.”

He noted that the party was campaigning on “unemployment and cuts” (today it is “jobs and growth”). Presumably, this observation was really a …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged david steel and featured | Leave a comment

Opinion: public contracts should not go to companies linked to human rights abuses

By Antony Hook | Wed 17th October 2012 - 8:55 am

I recently spoke in Canterbury against the Conservative City Council’s decision to consider giving its waste handling contract to a company whose Israeli affiliate are alleged to be linked to human rights abuses in Palestine.

The Council is refusing to consider the ethical issues on the basis of an interpretation of European law that prohibits taking such matters into account. The correct interpretation of the law is disputed but members of the public formed the distinct impression that the Conservative Council …

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Posted in News | Tagged european law, Local government and public sector contracts | 13 Comments

Opinion: The Ryder Cup is symbolic – Europe is stronger together – and it’s more entertaining

By Antony Hook | Tue 2nd October 2012 - 5:45 pm

The 2012 Ryder Cup involved a classic sporting comeback and a heart-stopping close finish. Team Europe came from kilometres behind to beat the USA 14.5 to 13.5.

The Ryder Cup is one of those sporting events, like football’s World Cup or the Olympic athletics, that interests people who normally take little notice of sport.

I think the interest in such big events is because:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged golf and ryder cup | 8 Comments

Opinion: Unelected Lords are against the spirit of the European Convention on Human Rights

By Antony Hook | Wed 8th August 2012 - 9:22 am

For as long as philosophers and political campaigners have asserted that certain rights are basic, universal or inalienable, the right to elect one’s legislators has generally figured in those rights.

England’s 1689 Bill of Rights protected the right to elect Members of Parliament without interference from the Crown. In France the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man guaranteed the right to vote. In America, five separate Articles of the US Bill of Rights protect voting rights and both Houses are elected under the Constitution.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides:

Article 21

(1) Everyone has the right to take part

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged civil liberties, human rights, lords reform and Parliament | 33 Comments

Opinion: Scrap the tax on e-books

By Antony Hook | Fri 29th June 2012 - 10:08 am

A liberal success over many decades has been to protect the tax-free status of books and newspapers. A tax on books would be abhorrent as it would be a tax on free speech.

A democratic, civilised society requires the free exchange of ideas, information and art in books. Books are vital for people, young and old, who wish to educate themselves and improve their prospects.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged e-books, europe, neelie kroes, tax and vat | 18 Comments

Enjoy Europe Day? Churchill would have done

By Antony Hook | Fri 11th May 2012 - 9:55 am

Last Wednesday, 9 May, was Europe Day. If celebration of this day here in Britain passed you by then you might enjoy Winston Churchill’s Zurich Speech in 1946, calling for a United States of Europe.

You can read the full text here and can listen to the former Liberal Home Secretary delivering the speech in two parts here and here.

In this seminal speech, Churchill said,

“If Europe were once united in the sharing of its common inheritance, there would be no limit to the happiness, to the prosperity …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged council of europe, europe and winston churchill | 5 Comments

Opinion: Police Commissioner elections – the Lib Dem candidate won’t spy on you

By Antony Hook | Tue 10th April 2012 - 11:23 am

As a campaigner with a strong interest in the European Elections, I am really happy to see a number of counties moving towards selection of a Liberal Democrat candidate for the Police Commissioner elections in November.

This is because in the European Elections an important message for Liberal Democrats is that we are effective on crime. Crime crosses state borders within Europe. We need co-operation and integration to ensure that our police’s powers to bring criminals to justice, the rule of law, and important civil liberties cross borders too. The other parties won’t make the commitment that we will to tackle …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged elected police commissioners | 24 Comments