One moment climate change, the economy and Lisbon Treaty were key issues for our European MPs and candidates, but now it is expenses.
Yesterday this issue was also the focus of the launch of the Eastern Region Euro election campaign in Newmarket when they each signed a pledge promising greater transparency.
Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport – he is such a great speaker – explained why:
“No Party can hold up its hand and say that it is whiter than white after what has happened in the last week, but I think that the Conservative Party does have a very honourable record in Europe in campaigning for a more open, a more outward looking and a more transparent Europe, and I am going to ask our seven candidates here today to sign a pledge which David Cameron has drawn up for all our European candidates.
“It asks them to commit, if they are elected to the European Parliament, to publish a breakdown of all office costs signed off by a certified accountant, to publish details of all travel, including journeys to Brussels and Strasbourg, and publish the name of all staff and contractors and people engaged by them as part of their parliamentary duties, and continue to oppose the vote against any bailout of the MEP pension fund using public money. We will also publish online all meetings with lobbyists and interest groups, and press for these standards to be applied across the European Parliament.â€
In fact, it goes further than that regarding lobbyists, which must be a good thing. The pledge states that any hospitality valued at more than £50 from lobbyists or interest groups has to be listed and Conservative MEPs will not be allowed to accept gifts from lobbyists or interest groups.
But as our lead candidate Geoffrey Van Orden pointed out, only Conservative MEPs publish comprehensive details of their expenses and allowances online and subject them to independent verification. Our “Right to Know†system has been in existence since September last year and has now been reinforced by a further pledge on transparency and ethics, as well as on our political commitments.
I hope the agenda can soon return to the economy, climate change and protecting British interests.
Lately, the agenda has moved around, with expenses and other issues. Hopefully things can get back on track.
As a good reputation of the conservative party their looking forward for transparent Europe i think is the best choice for me because many people likes to know whats going and what will going to happen. Everybody has the right to know and should be protect the interest of the people.
[…] The changing European political agenda […]
I hope the agenda can soon return to the economy, climate change and protecting British interests.
Very well said Ellee
So few people really care about climate change it’s as well to ignore it in political debate. People with power only use this issue as a PR stunt anyway, often with disastrous irony.
Protecting British interests would bolster the economy but not be an easy ride and therefore only those parties, well that party, who are hated anyway grasp onto this groundswell of public need in an attempt to garner support. There is no other opposition. The main parties all scrabble over the ‘centre ground’ which basically means there is no significant difference in any main party and the UK is pretty much donald ducked without Europe as we seem fast becomming a third world economy thanks to NuLab.
The Tories have their own interests at heart, like the rest of them with their noses in the trough. They won’t take us out of Europe and therefore can’t change anything of any significance. And they wouldn’t try. I asked them.