Tensions in Kashmir
The Kashmir issue has long been neglected by the international community, despite the very clear UN Security Council resolutions that require the issue to be settled by a referendum of the Kashmiri people themselves.
Tag Archives: peace
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What does the election result mean for Brexit?
The electorate rejected May’s approach to Brexit. But as a result of losing her majority, she has now made an alliance with the DUP. Uncertainty reigns. There is no majority in Parliament for a hard Brexit, but what is there a majority for?
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May 9th – Europe Day
Today, May 9th, is Europe Day. But what does that really celebrate? Given that the UK’s relationship with Europe has never been more present in the public consciousness – ironically at a time when our future relationship with the EU has never been less clear – it is worth some reflection.
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History has stopped repeating itself
The Battle of Waterloo was one of the great milestones in European history — and today marks the 200th anniversary of the episode that concluded an extremely prolonged military campaign. I’m delighted to be attending the Waterloo 200 Service of Commemoration at St. Paul’s Cathedral today to mark the occasion. The ceremony is testament to […]
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Voting on Palestine
Parliaments across Europe, including the House of Commons, have been debating whether to recognise Palestine officially as a state. The European Parliament had a similar debate last month, led by my Labour colleague Richard Howitt, and this week will take a final vote on the matter. A message from Parliament in support of recognising Palestinian […]
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Idealism or pragmatism?
I wrote my first article for the UK European Movement since becoming Vice Chair, on the subject of balancing pragmatism and idealism about the European Union. The EU today might appear to be less about inspirational idealism, and more about nitty-gritty pragmatism. And pragmatism is important. But when we focus exclusively on self-interested arguments, we […]
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Yorkshire Normandy vet awarded French Legion of Honour
An East Yorkshire resident is to be awarded France’s highest decoration for service in the Normandy D-day campaign 70 years ago. Leslie Skelton, of Tickton near Beverly, is to be presented with the Legion d’honneur medal in a special ceremony at the French embassy, London, on the morning of Armistice Day, 11 November this year. […]
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Putin, Ukraine and UKIP
I was in the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee today when it voted 49-8 in favour of the EU’s trade agreement with Ukraine, preparing the way for a simultaneous ratification of the agreement by both Ukrainian and European parliaments next week. This reaffirms, in a practical and non-military way, the support of 28 European democracies […]
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Lessons from history
Spending my summer break pottering along the Baltic coast from Germany through Poland, Lithuania and Latvia is a reminder of how recently Europe saw horrific slaughters like those now on our television screens in Iraq and Syria. I write these words from Bialystok, where, seventy-five years ago, the Jewish community comprised almost two thirds of […]
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The First World War
The madness that saw millions of young people go out to slaughter each other on the battlefields of the First World War started 100 years ago today. Of course, on all sides, most were motivated by high ideals: to defend their country, to right a wrong, to do their duty. Killing people who had precisely […]
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A view from Ypres
Travelling back from Brussels to Yorkshire by car this time, we decided to go via Ypres (or Ieper, to give its proper name). It’s always moving to visit the area, with its countless war cemeteries, but never more so than on this 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. The Menin gate […]
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Remembering Srebrenica
This weekend, I spoke at two commemorations of the Srebrenica massacre — one in Leeds (at the Makkah Masjid mosque) and one in Bradford (at the town hall) — marking the 19th anniversary of the cold-blooded massacre of over 8000 Muslims in the Bosnian civil war. I visited Srebrenica three years ago. Like others in […]
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Never again
This week is the hundredth anniversary of the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in Vienna which triggered the start of the First World War. Two highly symbolic events to mark it stand out: one by governments in Ypres and one by civil society organisations in Sarajevo. Herman van Rompuy’s initiative to convene the heads of state […]
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Ten years of a larger European Union
It’s ten years this month since eight central and eastern European countries (and two Commonwealth countries, Malta and Cyprus) joined the EU. This was a historic achievement, bringing former Communist dictatorships into the family of democratic countries that constitute the EU — helping to anchor peace, stability and human rights in a potentially volatile area. […]
