Tag Archives: sharon bowles

Mark Valladares

15-18 January 2024 – this week in the Lords

By Mark Valladares | Mon 15th January 2024 - 1:11 pm

Back for the second week in a row – and who said that I couldn’t manage that? – our (aspirational) regular review of the week ahead at the more genteel end of the Palace of Westminster.

After last week’s easing back into the routine, it’s a more normal week for the Peers, although there is one relatively unusual session included.

But Monday starts with the usual round of Oral Questions – there are usually four each day – and two come from Liberal Democrats. Malcolm Bruce opens with a question regarding Government plans to promote the end of absolute poverty through international development aid. I suspect that the answer might be a bit vague, given that “no” is far too honest. Jenny Randerson is asking about the possible introduction of a graduated driving licence for young and newly qualified drivers. The other two questions are about the use of engineered stone, given allegations of links to silicosis, and on what consultations the Government propose to have before the next renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter about news and current affairs programmes, in the light of cutbacks to Newsnight.

Day 2 of the Committee Stage of the Automated Vehicles Bill takes up the remainder of business in the chamber. So far, Sharon Bowles has been seeking assurances that automated vehicles will undergo suitable real-life testing before being cleared to use our roads, and that the impact on road environs, i.e. on pedestrians, will be considered. At this stage, most of the amendments are likely to be probing in nature, seeking reassurances that the Government have taken various factors into account, and Day 2 will see more of the same, as will Day 3, scheduled for later in the week (Wednesday).

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Mark Valladares

From our Lords Correspondent: the Government see sense, and the Brexit Bill comes…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 29th January 2018 - 8:05 am

Last week saw the fallout from the previous week’s defeat of the Government over the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill and, all credit to the Minister, Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon, he had returned with a series of amendments designed to remedy the Bill’s original flaws. At the forefront of the cross-Party collaboration were Sharon Bowles and Susan Kramer, both of whom bring vast amounts of expertise to the table. As Sharon Bowles explained;

When we started out with the Bill, there was no policy in Part 2, yet it gave sweeping powers

…

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The Voice

Lib Dem Lords’ maiden speeches: Sharon Bowles on the importance of proper scrutiny

By The Voice | Fri 15th January 2016 - 8:55 am

This week, we’re featuring the maiden speeches of our newest Lib Dem lords. This one is still warm from the press. Sharon Bowles only made it on Wednesday.  As part of the Strathclyde Review, she drew on her experience in the European Parliament when it came to dealing with secondary legislation:

My Lords, I rise for the first time, deeply conscious of the honour that it is to serve in your Lordships’ House. I am grateful for the kind way in which noble Lords have received me, for the friendliness of all staff and for the elegant and discreet way in which the attendants and doorkeepers have steered me from uncertain manoeuvres. I thank the noble Lords who introduced me, my noble friends Lord McNally and Lady Falkner of Margravine, and all those who have enriched my life and learning, without whom I would not be here.

I hope to contribute to various deliberations drawing upon my experience from both strands of my career. The first strand was that of scientist, engineer and patent attorney for over 25 years, running a professional business and immersed in leading-edge technology. The second strand was nine years in the European Parliament, culminating in five years as chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, facing a vast and profound agenda due to the financial and eurozone crisis.

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The Voice

Ex-MEP Sharon Bowles appointed non-executive director of London Stock Exchange

By The Voice | Sun 17th August 2014 - 5:30 pm

Sharon BowlesThe London Evening Standard reports the appointment of former Lib Dem MEP, Sharon Bowles, who stood down at the May 2014 European elections, to the board of LSE:

The London Stock Exchange has appointed one of the most senior former Liberal Democrats in Europe to its board as non-executive director. Ex-MEP Sharon Bowles was one of the short-listed candidates to become Governor of the Bank of England before Mark Carney was appointed. Bowles, 61, is widely seen as one of the most influential people involved in shaping EU policy on financial services regulation, including the key second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II).

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Mark Valladares

This week in Europe: 20-23 May

By Mark Valladares | Thu 23rd May 2013 - 8:25 am

As attention turns towards next year’s European Parliamentary elections, Liberal Democrat MEP’s continue to work for jobs and growth, and against some of the more ludicrous bureaucratic excesses…

“EU must get tough on tax” says Sharon Bowles MEP
 
Ahead of yesterday’s EU Summit in Brussels, the European Parliament backed a common European strategy to combat tax fraud, evasion and havens.
 
UK Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles, who chairs the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, said:
 

It is totally unacceptable that corporate tax avoidance is now the norm in Europe, aided and abetted by aggressive tax planning and tax consultancy firms.
 
I have been fighting

…

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NewsHound

Liberal Democrat MEPs call for Committee of Inquiry on Cyprus

By NewsHound | Fri 12th April 2013 - 11:51 am

Senior UK Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles has called for a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry should the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) Hearing on 25 April not answer the many questions hanging over the Cyprus affair.
 
Bowles, who chairs the influential ECON Committee said:
 

We will have an ECON Committee hearing on 25 April with the Troika and Mr Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup to get to the bottom of the Cyprus bailout affair. If we find the answers insufficient the Liberal Group in the European Parliament will call for the immediate setting up of a Committee of Inquiry

…

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Caron Lindsay

LibLink… Sharon Bowles MEP: Calls for restraint have been ignored for too long – this bonus culture has to end

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 7th March 2013 - 3:37 pm

Sharon Bowles MEP writes about bankers’ bonuses in the Independent. She tackles the arguments against EU proposals to limit bonuses to a years’s salary. Will banks relocate overseas? Sharon says not:

Firstly, the threat of bankers relocating to avoid the cap has been grossly exaggerated.  The cap will only apply to a small number of so-called high-risk traders, around 5000 out of the estimated 750,000 people employed in London’s financial sector. Moreover, the bonus cap will also cover all key staff who work for European banks across the world, no matter whether they operate in London or Singapore. And with Switzerland

…

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Giles Goodall

Three cheers for the unsung heroes of Brussels

By Giles Goodall | Fri 16th November 2012 - 11:52 am

A new survey by European news portal Euractiv has ranked Sharon Bowles MEP as the most influential Brit in EU policy-making, eight places ahead of David Cameron and thirty-three above Nigel Farage. The UK40 survey also features Lib Dem MEPs Andrew Duff and Sir Graham Watson in the top sixteen. National politicians such as Cameron, William Hague and Nick Clegg make the top twenty, but often lose out in the ranking to less well known Brits in the EU institutions.

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Caron Lindsay

Sharon Bowles makes Bank of England governor shortlist

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 14th November 2012 - 1:15 pm

Sharon BowlesThe Telegraph reports today that Sharon Bowles, who is currently the  Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East of England has made it on to the shortlist for the next Governor of the Bank of England.

With her first hand experience of the Eurozone Crisis as Chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, she is a worthy contender for the position and, she argues, her appointment would send a powerful message of change.

“Just about everything about me is different. I’m an independent. I’m not from …

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James King

Opinion: Four point plan for a liberal, democratic Europe

By James King | Sat 27th October 2012 - 2:35 pm

Europe is rising up the political agenda. It’s an issue that could bring down David Cameron or break-up the coalition. Yet the Liberal Democrats are strangely silent. The EU didn’t appear on the Brighton conference agenda and we no longer have a Minister in the Foreign Office. We need to develop a vision for a liberal, democratic EU and get smart about fighting for it.

Here’s my four point plan:

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Mark Valladares

Lib Dem MEPs honoured in 2012 Parliament Magazine Awards

By Mark Valladares | Fri 28th September 2012 - 10:22 am

Lib Dem MEP for Yorkshire & The Humber, Edward McMillan-Scott MEP and a Vice-President of the European Parliament, was last week presented with the “Outstanding Achievement” award in the MEP 2012 awards by the Parliament magazine, primarily in recognition of in recognition of his achievements in highlighting the costs and difficulties of the European Parliament’s treaty obligation to travel from Brussels to Strasbourg for plenary sessions. He said:
 
“This is a great boost to the Single Seat campaign which has really taken off with a two-to-one majority of MEPs now voting that way. They are concerned about the extra costs of our monthly treks to Strasbourg, at least €180 …

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Fiona Hall MEP

Fiona Hall MEP writes… Join the Lib Dems’ campaign to boost small businesses across Europe

By Fiona Hall MEP | Thu 1st March 2012 - 9:21 am

On Thursday and Friday this week, heads of governments from all EU Member States – including David Cameron – will come to Brussels for the Spring European Council which is dedicated to promoting competitiveness and economic growth.

Liberals & Democrats in the European Parliament (ALDE) are stepping up to the challenge by turning the usual Council rhetoric on the ‘need to stimulate economic growth’ into a concrete plan of action and measures that will help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) create and safeguard local jobs. With SMEs making up to 99% of all businesses in the EU, providing two-thirds …

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Callum Morton

Opinion: Individuality on EU is the start of the Liberal Democrat recovery

By Callum Morton | Wed 14th December 2011 - 8:55 am

Lib Dems would have winced when the news broke about Cameron’s EU veto, but it’s the biggest chance yet to express our party’s individuality.

Since the tuition fee rise and EMA’s abolition, I haven’t liked Nick Clegg. Although I agreed with the coalition being formed, I didn’t agree with the coalition negotiation team he chose. I haven’t agreed with a lot of what he’s done as leader. And I’ve sat grumbling about it for months. But over the past few days my respect for Nick has significantly improved.

Why? Well I’m starting to see something different from Nick and our party. I’m …

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Chris White

Opinion: “The Pope…seceded with all his followers from the Church of England”

By Chris White | Sun 11th December 2011 - 8:43 am

So says 1066 and All That (Sellar and Yateman – a prewar forerunner of ‘Horrible Histories’) when summarising the Reformation.

It’s a good line and we can smile at the vanities of sixteenth century isolationism, knowing that today’s politicians, and people, are much more sophisticated. Nor do we regard the continent as cut off if there is fog in the English Channel.

During the early hours of 9th December (mark that date) David Cameron, we are told, played a blinder and ensured that 26 out of 27 countries in the EU were rescued from their fiscal and financial folly by …

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Helen Duffett

Tributes to David Griffiths

By Helen Duffett | Mon 12th September 2011 - 11:53 am

Nick Clegg has paid tribute to David Griffiths, former Chair of the Liberal Democrat Federal Finance Committee, Treasurer of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, who died earlier this month:

David Griffiths who had served the Liberal Democrats loyally over the years passed away aged 70 on the 3rd September 2011.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the many years of dedicated service David gave to the party. His many varied roles included being Chair of the Liberal Democrat Federal Finance and Administration Committee and Treasurer of Liberal International a role which reflected

…

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Mark Pack

Sharon Bowles named most influential Brit in global financial regulation

By Mark Pack | Sun 6th February 2011 - 8:55 am

Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat Euro-MP for South East England, is the highest placed British person in the GFS Power 50 list of the most influential figures in global financial regulation.

Sharon BowlesThe list is voted on by readers of Global Financial Strategy, and Sharon Bowles came out twentieth due to her role as Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. This committee of MEPs has an important role in debating and amending European-wide financial regulation, including new rules on bank capital and bankers’ bonuses.

Sharon Bowles came ahead …

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Mark Pack

Bowling over Europe

By Mark Pack | Mon 30th August 2010 - 2:25 pm

The latest edition of Total Politics includes a feature piece about Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee:

The Lib Dem MEP is a hugely powerful and yet virtually unknown British politician. She has had far more impact on our legislation than your average Westminster politician…

Although she claims to be “in favour of a healthy, vibrant City,” Bowles uses uncompromising language for bankers. She does not have much time for complaints about traders moving their businesses to other, less tightly-regulated locations. “I don’t actually believe there are only one or two great

…

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Posted in Europe / International | 6 Comments
Dinti Batstone

Opinion: Make politics fit women’s lives, not vice-versa

By Dinti Batstone | Fri 12th March 2010 - 1:50 pm

For today’s women “motherhood, not sexism, is the issue”. So says The Economist (“We Did It”, 30 December 2009), noting that “women who prosper in high-pressure companies in their 20s drop out in dramatic numbers in their 30s and then find it almost impossible to regain earlier momentum”.

Could the same be true in politics?

Nearly 80% of current male Lib Dem MPs first entered Parliament in their 30s and 40s. Yet our female MPs were overwhelmingly elected in their 20s or 50s, and not one was first elected while raising young children. Achieving the same age spread as the men could …

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Antony Hook

Antony Hook interviews Nick Clegg about Europe

By Antony Hook | Mon 28th September 2009 - 6:22 pm

I recently put questions to Nick Clegg on behalf of the LDEG, the party’s pro-European campaign group. In it, Nick makes clear the importance he attaches to the role of MEPs, responding to a question about whether the party appreciates MEPs:

individual MEPs have far, far more opportunity to actually get laws changed and improved than MPs.”

He very modestly avoided agreeing with me that he had a role in leading Britain’s pro-Europeans, although that is a role he sees for the party as a whole. He described Sharon Bowles MEP’s appointment as Chair of the Parliament’s Economics …

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Jonathan Fryer

Jonathan Fryer’s Diary of a Euro-candidate

By Jonathan Fryer | Tue 3rd February 2009 - 10:04 am

Saturday
Most of the day is spent at the Keynes Forum Policy Conference at LSE, at which one of the sessions is specifically about the European elections, or at least the interlinked campaign themes of the economy and the environment. Both Sharon Bowles (South East) and Fiona Hall (North East) are MEPs who know their briefs intimately, which is reassuring and underlines the value of electing people willing to specialise in specific fields. But through conversations during coffee breaks it becomes clear to me that local activists are really thirsting for simply-worded, bite-sized Euro-items they can just slot into their Focuses. …

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The Voice

Find out more about Alan Beith and Sharon Bowles

By The Voice | Fri 7th November 2008 - 2:20 pm

November’s Total Politics magazine features a profile of Alan Beith MP (occassioned by the publication of his memoirs, A View from the North) and also an article from Euro-MP Sharon Bowles about her musical hobby.

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