Richard

Author Archives

  • Visiting Poles in Britain

    I visited a Polish family in Bradford yesterday, the same day that UKIP’s poisonous election leaflet landed on their doorstep. In their small but impeccably clean and tidy flat, I heard about how both parents came to work here on the minimum wage, doing jobs that no Brit had applied for. Although one is a […]

  • Amsterdam

    Those who say Labour doesn’t engage enough with our sister parties on the continent and beyond would have been pleasantly surprised by the numbers of high-profile Labour figures who paticipated in the Progressive Governance Conference in Amsterdam on Thursday and Friday. From Chuka Umunna to Stella Creasy, John McTernan, Stewart Wood, Alison McGovern, Roger Liddle, […]

  • Choosing the Commission president

    One of the innovations of this European election is that the major political party groupings in Europe have each announced in advance of the elections who their preferred candidate is for the next President of the European Commission. This has been encouraged by the latest set of reforms to the EU democratic system. These mean that, […]

  • Channel 4 news debate

    Challenging lies and scare stories

    The launch of UKIP’s European election campaign in Sheffield has given rise to many comments, not least because of the poster and billboard campaign they unveiled. Most politicians are prone to exaggeration, but they normally shy away from blatant lies. Not so with UKIP. They seem to be of the same school as Joseph Goebbels: […]

  • Daily Mail 1975

    We were never hoodwinked

    One of the most frequently repeated lies about Europe is to say that, when we joined the EU, ‘we were told we were only joining a free-trade area’ and ‘no-one told us that it was more than that’. The eurosceptic strategy here is to try to undermine the national debate that took place in the […]

  • Voters trust Labour on Europe: poll

    An interesting ICM double opinion poll was published yesterday with voting intentions for both the national and European elections. The differences between the two are instructive. Given the proportional system used for voting in the European elections, it’s not surprising that smaller parties score more highly there. Conversely, the main parties logically have a lower score. But here’s the thing: […]

  • Talking to voters in Beverley

    Reflections on Yorkshire & Humber

    Campaigning over the last few days has reminded me of how wonderfully varied Yorkshire & the Humber actually is. This weekend, from Bradford to Beverley, from Hull to Holmfirth, from Selby to Shipley, and from York to Yeadon, is itself an illustration. Add recent days from Scarborough to Skipton, Wortley to Wakefield, Barnsley to Bramley […]

  • Campaigning in Hull

    Beverley, Hull

    After the gifts given by Nick Clegg and Maria Miller to UKIP last week, I was half-expecting more UKIP support when I was campaigning in Beverley and in Hull today. In fact, there seemed to be very little. By contrast, large UKIP billboards are appearing in fields and (not always legally) on public ground, financed […]

  • The EU for Christians

    When we can’t trust the mainstream media or even our own government to talk straight on European issues, whom can we trust? A strikingly well-informed and constructive policy briefing on the importance of European issues was jointly published yesterday by the UK’s free churches (Methodists, Baptists and United Reformed). The briefing provides a Christian perspective […]

  • UK manufacturers’ positive manifesto

    The EEF, Britain’s manufacturer’s organisation, has just published Europe – A Manifesto for Growth. In the words of their Chief Exec, Terry Scuoler, We strongly support Britain’s continued membership of the EU. And not unreasonably, they have their own set of proposals for the future of the union, focusing on policy and delivery. This is a […]

  • My mother

    Discerning readers may have noticed that I was little less active on this blog and social media for a few days recently. I took some time out from campaigning because of the death of my mother. I want to say a big thank you to all those who sent me such kind words, many of […]

  • →LabourList article

    I was invited to write a piece for the grassroots policy site LabourList about the various positions of Ed Miliband, David Cameron and Nick Clegg on the EU: But if one wing of the coalition at least recognises that Britain’s best interest is to stay in the EU, what about the other?  The position that […]

  • Farage’s switcheroo

    Did anyone else notice a curious change in rhetoric from Nigel Farage in the BBC debate the other day? UKIP has always painted itself as the heroic defender of British business interests, fighting back with the sword of patriotism against modern-day European aggressors. Of course, British business has been staunchly unequivocal in its support of Britain’s […]

  • Campaigning in Farsley

    Guiseley, Menston, Farley

    Another day of Labour doorstepping with local candidates and party activists — this time in Guiseley, Menston and Farley in the Pudsey constituency. Our prospective candidate for Westminster next year, the excellent and hard-working Jamie Hanley, joined me and a team of local activists, including local election candidate David Bowe, a former colleague of mine […]

  • Campaigning in Outwood

    Morley, Outwood

    Morning in Morley, first at a Co-op open meeting with Ed Balls, taking questions from the public, followed by a leafleting round with a huge team of supporters. Then, after enjoying Ed’s delicious lasagne for lunch, a further round of leafleting in Outwood. Altogether, 10,000 letters delivered to households in the area. Anyone in political life […]

  • The eurosceptic narrative

    A lot of eurosceptic arguments flow from a basic narrative which goes something like this: “75% of our laws are imposed on us by an unelected giant bureaucracy in Brussels, stifling our businesses in red tape and costing us billions of pounds a day. We thought we were joining a free trade area, but it […]

  • Wherever we may roam

    MEPs in the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly today to scrap mobile phone roaming charges across Europe. Assuming this decision is confirmed by elected governments when they meet in the EU council, from December next year it will cost no more to make or receive a call, send a text or use mobile data when abroad […]

  • Clegg v Farage, round 2

    This evening sees the second installment of Nick Clegg’s debate with Nigel Farage on the subject of Europe. Once again, I’ll be live-tweeting the debate as it happens. You can follow my tweets on Twitter, or follow the hashtag #europedebate for the whole conversation. There’s been an interesting discussion since last week’s radio debate on whether […]

  • UKIP scare tactics

    I was disturbed to see a couple of days ago that UKIP have upped their anti-EU propaganda campaign and are now sending direct-mail letters, packed with frightening myths, to British small businesses in a thinly-veiled attempt to scare them into switching their vote in the upcoming election. This bizarre letter, sent to MOT testing centres […]

  • Animal welfare

    One of the issues that concerns many British people is animal welfare. During my time as an MEP, I made this issue a priority, and conversations with voters during this election campaign has confirmed to me that the topic is still close to many people’s hearts. As with many significant political issues, animal welfare rules […]

  • Clegg v Farage, round 1

    How will Clegg fare against Farage today? Attention to detail on European matters has never been Clegg’s strongpoint, and Farage will throw loads of clichés at him which need sound factual knowledge to rebut. If he can do so, fine (though he will also start with the handicap of his unpopular coalition tag). Farage is […]