Lib Dem Chris Davies sticks up for Ukip’s EU whistleblower

Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Lib Dem Chris Davies sticks up for Ukip’s EU whistleblower

By Stephen Tall | Tue 21st July 2009 - 3:30 pm

Follow @stephentall

The Telegraph reports:

Marta Andreason, the former Brussels whistle blower sacked by Lord Kinnock, has been blocked from taking a senior position at the European Parliament by MEPs fearful of future ‘scandal’.

Mrs Andreasen was blocked by Christian Democrat and Socialist MEPs from becoming vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s budgetary committee on Monday.

The centre-Right European People’s Party and the Socialists broke parliamentary convention on the allocation of committee posts by demanding a vote by secret ballot to block Mrs Andreasen, who was elected as a Ukip MEP for South East England last month.

Lib Dem MEP for the North-West Chris Davies is not pleased:

… [he] attacked the “shameful decision” to hold a secret ballot so the MEPs could not be “held accountable for their actions”.

“The message it sends to the public is that anyone who speaks out against malpractice in Europe risks being excluded from office,” he said.

Good on Chris, both for sticking up for the EU reform agenda, and for sticking up for due process.

Read more by Stephen Tall or more about chris davies, european parliament, marta andreason or ukip.
This entry was posted in Europe / International and News.

Advert

2 Comments

Cogload 21st Jul '09 - 4:54pm

Charlemagne in the Economist stuck the boot in @ the weekend as well.

Time to abolish it. The job it supposedly does can be done more effectively by National Parliaments (see also The German Constitutional Court’s judgement on the European Constitution).
Jon 21st Jul '09 - 4:59pm

Well done Chris Davies indeed. If a few more of our MPs had been consistent with their principles we might be a lot stronger than we are today.

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Comment

Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Most Read

Op-eds

Stop the Birmingham busking ban (David Gray)
Observations of an Expat: Ukraine and Trump (Tom Arms)
A year after the ICJ ruling, the UK is still complicit in Israel’s unlawful occupation (Lucia Messent)
Should the government lower the voting age to 16? (Michal Siewniak)
Why Liberals should keep one eye on Corbyn’s new wheeze (Alan Grant)

Advert

Recent Comments

expats
@Tim Rogers 19th Jul '25 - 7:52pm... John Donne..."No Man is an Island".....
Simon McGrath
The Duke of Westminster often comes up. He is one of the reasons why George Osborne brought in tax on discretionary trusts - 6% of the trust value every 10 year...
Andrew Melmoth
- Anders Larson There is no mystery about how the Duke of Westminster was able to largely avoid inheritance tax. He used on legal structures established by the...
ANDERS LARSON
@Simon R there were probably many schemes used in combination, some domestic some international. But that doesn't answser the core problem, which is that even i...
John McHugo
@Chris Caswill - you mention the "Middle England test". Middle England is outraged by what has been happening in Gaza - it is also outraged by 7 October, but do...