online diary of Richard Corbett MEP

June 2004

Tuesday 1 June

June has arrived, but the summer weather we were enjoying until recently seems to have definitively disappeared. It's good weather for telephone canvassing - or rather telephone knocking up of Labour promises. Will I get a Mr Bean and a Mr Blackadder in the same street as I did in Wakefield the other day?

Meanwhile, the press shows that the Tories are in panic about possible vote losses to UKIP whose publicity coup has been followed up by a handful of Tory peers calling on people to vote for UKIP. Crunch time for the Tory eurosceptic press: do they back the monster they have helped create, and risk Tory losses, or do they call on Tory eurosceptic voters to return to the fold and back the divided Conservative Party?

Wednesday 2 June

Do an hours debate on Radio Five Live in the Simon Mayo show against Martin Callanan (Conservative MEP, North East) and Diana Wallis ( Lib Dem, Yorkshire) with cameo appearances from various candidates from the fringe parties. An hour seems long but once the presenter and John Pienaar have said their pieces and by the time you have stopped for the news, weather and travel news, there is not that much time left to be shared out among the various guests. Still, it was an entertaining debate and it was interesting to faces to the people whose voices I have heard so often on the radio!

Later out in Shipley with local candidates knocking on doors.

Thursday 3 June

Back to the minibus to go to join local activists in Rotherham, Doncaster and Castleford. In Rotherham we go out with Roger Stone, Labour Leader of the Council in the pouring rain. Fortunately, it clears up by the time we are in Doncaster where Rosie Winterton MP and dozens of party activists with balloons and leaflets join us in a walk-about of the Intake area. In Castleford, Yvette Cooper MP comes out to join us despite being several months pregnant.

Friday 4 June

Start off with a national telephone conference with Ian McCartney, Party Chair, Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary and all of Labour’s candidates where we compare notes on how well we are doing in the election campaign. Apart from one or two worries here and there, the mood is optimistic.

Then a meeting of the Yorkshire candidates to sort out our plans for the next few days and then out in Wakefield to knock on doors with local candidates. I am joined by Annabella Coldrick, who has come all the way from Brussels to shadow a candidate for a day and I am the lucky candidate. She bombards me with questions as we go along, but is happy to join in the activities.

Then off to Goldthorpe in Barnsley district where we again join local candidates for similar activities. The sun comes out.

Finally back to Shipley to join Gareth Logan, Mark Blackburn (local candidates) and others in further leafleting. I wish I had bought a pedometer for this campaign. I am sure I have walked several hundred miles by now!

Saturday 5 June

Join with others in doing a telephone survey of people who have already voted in the Dewsbury area – a patch it is rumoured that the BNP is targeting. Very few respondents say they have voted for the BNP, but a higher number than usual decline to say how they voted: are they ashamed of how they voted or are they just being more reticent about answering surveys?

Then off to York to join a Labour stand on Parliament Street. It turns out that we are next to a Green Party stand and I join in some friendly banter with their leading candidate. Sadly, most people who vote green would otherwise vote Labour, but by voting Green in this region their vote is almost certainly wasted and may simply have the effect of helping the Tories.

Back to Saltaire where I go and chat to some neighbours who have responded to my friendly neighbour letter to Saltaire residents.

Sunday 6 June

Do the politics show on BBC TV Look North along with Tim Kirkhope (Conservative) and Julia Gash (Lib Dem) and facing a panel of questioners from Hull. In the event we get about two sound-bites each.

The BBC presenter commented on how few people know who any of their MEPs are: to which I responded that if the BBC itself and other media outlets were to give at least a bit of coverage to important debates and votes in the European Parliament, instead of focusing exclusively on the Westminster Village, then the situation might change – but it’s a bit rich when TV companies say they don’t cover the European Parliament because nobody knows their MEPs whereas nobody knows their MEPs because they don’t cover the Parliament. This vicious circle can only be broken by the media itself. Instead, we are currently treated to the spectacle of BBC 1's Question Time during the European elections on European issues without any MEPs on the panel!

More door knocking in brilliant sunshine in the afternoon in Bradford.

Monday 7 June

Hop on the train down to Sheffield to meet a group of Labour party members campaigning in the south of the city – indeed almost within a stones throw of the border with the East Midlands region. For the first time this campaign I have a naked lady answering a knock at the door – or at least, she said she was naked, with only her head protruding around the door! Did she say she would vote Labour to get me to move away quickly? No, I am sure she really meant it!

In the afternoon similar campaigning in Morley and in the evening in Shipley.

Tuesday 8 June

Gary Titley, Leader of the Labour MEPs, comes to our region as part of his national tour as a key campaigner. We do a photo opportunity for the press with the Leader of the Labour Group in Bradford, Ian Greenwood, outside Bradford Town Hall and then go off campaigning in the Wrose and Windhill area. Still finding Labour supporters who haven’t yet voted, so every bit of campaigning is worthwhile!

Then to Halifax to address Calderdale Pensioners Association. A warm welcome from the hundred or so participants, but with one or two hostile hecklers in the audience. Nonetheless I am chuffed when a lady comes up to me afterwards and says that this is the “clearest explanation she has ever heard from anyone about the European Union”.

I then join Councillor Najib and others in campaigning in Halifax. Good response and even sign up new members to the Labour Party and to the European Movement.

Wednesday 9 June

Off to Kirkbymoorside and Norton. North Yorkshire is not considered to be traditional Labour territory. Nonetheless, over 20% of the votes regularly come our way and, although this may not be enough to win a seat in first past the post elections, they can make a real difference in these region-wide proportional representation elections.

It is also nice for the local parties and our supporters to find that their vote can, for once, actually make a real difference. The local parties have been campaigning hard and are delighted to see us arrive to support their efforts.

In the evening to Ardsley to join a group of nearly 40 party members knocking on doors to find people who have not yet voted and encouraging them to use their vote.

Thursday 10 June

The final day! Polling day in most of the country, last date to get your postal ballots back in our region.

For postal vote regions, it is an unusual ending to an election campaign. Instead of building up to a crescendo on polling day, it sort of gradually winds down once you reach the point that most people have voted (at least most of those who are going to vote). So a final chance to chase a few stragglers!

Friday 11 June

Local election results come through. It seems there is a mixed pattern in Yorkshire, with Labour doing well in Sheffield, Hull and Rotherham, but less well in some other places. The loss of an overall majority for Labour in Leeds is particularly sad, given the excellent work put in by Council leader Keith Wakefield and his colleagues.

No news yet on the European elections, which can only be counted once everyone has voted, and most countries only vote on Sunday.

But we already know that the turnout is up. Yorkshire was one of four regions to host a large-scale trial of all-postal voting. The pilot went smoothly, thanks to the hard work of the returning officers - and achieved its main purpose of wider participation in the democratic process. The lurid stories about people getting their ballot papers late turned out to have have been about a very small number, who even then had a few days to spare before casting their vote. The government will now take stock, address any remaining worries about the system, and decide where to go from here.

Saturday 12 June

At last a day to relax with the family: the calm before the storm?

In the evening, go to a performance of Mendelsohn's Paulus Oratario.

Sunday 13 June

The count. And a nervous evening, when all seems to be going well until the last minute when France equalise and then get a penalty to beat England 2-1.

As the figures emerge from the European election counts, it appears that here in Yorkshire & Humber, we had a positive result. Labour is now once again the largest party in Yorkshire, having beaten the Tories into second place - a much worse result for them than in the 1999 European elections under William Hague. The Liberal Democrats were third, ahead of UKIP.

Sadly, Labour lost its third MEP, David Bowe, not because of losing votes, but because of Yorkshire & Humber having fewer seats (6 instead of 7) with of the EU's enlargement. With 7, we would have retained our third seat.

Most worrying across Britain is the rise of the extreme right anti-EU UK Independence party, who managed to win a dozen seats, including one in Yorkshire. No doubt several factors contributed to this bizarre turn of events (a massive financial donation from a billionaire, Paul Sykes, and the recruitment of a well-known media luvvie, the discredited chat show host Kiljoy-Silk, spring to mind) but overall I suspect that a one-sided and distorted debate about Europe throughout the campaign has led to lopsided results.

It would be easy to exaggerate the threat - after all, Ukip polled only a small proportion of the votes, and 83% of British voters voted for parties which believe that the UK belongs in Europe. But we must not be complacent either.

The two pro-European parties, Labour and the Lib Dems, did not spend enough time putting across the positive case for the EU and highlighting the many benefits it brings to the people of Britain. Instead, Labour used much of the campaign to highlight our excellent domestic record - employment, stability, economic growth - and the Lib Dems notoriously decided to fight the election on the issue of Iraq.

This meant that the myths and loud anti-European rhetoric put about by Ukip and the Tories went largely unchallenged in the campaign, and were, as ever, amplified by the media.

Our arguments have been drowned out by the Eurosceptics over the last few weeks, and the election results are a wake-up call for all of us. We need to work that much harder over the coming months and years to emphasise Britain's role at the centre of the EU.

Monday 14 June

Into the office to assess out the detailed results, phone colleagues who lost their seats and see what the media is saying.

The latter, of course, are focusing on the new kid on the block, UKIP, and their media luvvie, Kiljoy. How long will this infatuation last? Maybe it'll be until they discover that UKIP MEPs just don't deliver on behalf of their constituents (in the five years of the last Parliament, they managed only one single question at question-time between the then three UKIP MEPs)? Or is it already starting, as they notice that the 12 UKIP MEPs are exclusively middle-aged, middle-class white men?

In the evening down to London ahead of tomorrow's meeting (AGM)of the re-elected Labour MEPs. I join our leader, Gary Titley, and some others for dinner.

Tuesday 15 June

Beautiful sunny day in London - which means the Labour MEPs' AGM, in a room without air conditioning, is a sweltering affair!

Much comparing of notes about the election. Nationally, we lost some 5% from the last European elections. The consolation is that the Tories lost nearly treble that amount.

We re-elect Gary Titley as our leader, and Philip Whitehead to chair our meetings. Catherine Stihler, my fellow blogger, comfortably beat Neena Gill to replace Linda McAvan, who stood down as Deputy Leader. We sadly had to replace our whip, Bill Miller, who had lost his seat, and choose Mary Honeyball. Terry Wynn is confirmed as our nominee to be the Socialist Group's candidate for President of Parliament.

In the evening I speak on the draft constitution to Cushman & Wakefield executives.

Wednesday 16 June

Day with the family.

Thursday 17 June

Off to Brussels for the European summit which should finalise the draft new EU constitution.

At lunch, I do a BBC TV debate with Nigel Farage (UKIP leader), James Elles (Tory) and Caroline Lucas (Green). Farage claims that they will constitute a 60 strong group of Eurosceptics in the Parliament: in which case UKIP must be teaming up with the Polish "sceptics" whose main platform is to get a better deal for Polish farmers. So, UKIP's first impact will be to help those who want more taxpayer's money spent on the CAP!!

Afternoon spent mainly in the European Council press room. Curiously, the UK press is almost exclusively in a separate room on a different floor. They are all there together: Times, Guardian, Sun, FT, PA, Telegraph, Scotsman, Mail, etc. Whatever people read in their newspapers in Britain over the coming days will have been largely determined by this small group of journalists, who all know eachother well, who feed off eachother's views as to what is important (even when they disagree on the merits) and have relatively little contact with their colleagues of other nationalities, being cooped up in this British ghetto.

The BBC is apart, having its own area for their massive operation of several TV and radio channels. All their top political correspondants are there.

I do interviews for EBU, Yorkshre TV, Irish TV and a few newspapers. Meanwhile, the summiteers head off for a bad tempered dinner, with Chirac furious that Blair is both getting his way on the constitution and blocking Chirac's preferred candidate for President of the Commission.

Friday 18 June

The summit finally agrees on the constitution, but not on a candidate for the Commission President.

I do interviews for the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 and then for Belgian (Flemish) TV where I have to explain live in their main evening news (in my best Dutch!) why Tony Blair doesn't support their Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, for Commission President. I think Tony owes me one after this performance!

Saturday 19 June

Repeat my pevious evening's performance at greater length on Belgian Radio, who rang up out of the blue.

Pick over the text of the constitution: the UK government has certainly secured all its "red lines", but there are many last minute changes on other matters requested by other countries that were not a worry for the Brits.

Sunday 20 June

The referendum battle seems to be starting already, with Kilroy Silk spouting a lot of nonsense on the constitution on the Frost programme. His line is that the people voted "against the EU" in the European elections, so it is wrong for Blair to try to reform it!

In fact, 83% of those voting (and 92% of the electorate) did not vote for UKIP, so his claims are a bit rich! On top of that, the LibDems won as many seats as UKIP, and they support a much more federal EU. So, the government has got it about right, in the middle ground!

But the media frenzy of UKIP's result continues. They dwell on UKIP's score as being a vote against Europe, and invite Kilroy onto every show going. They could equally well, but don't, invite the Lib Dems as a manifestation of public disquiet at the EU not being strong enough!

Later, Frost interviews Blair, who draws attention to an opinion poll published in the Sunday Times. Although it shows a majority against the constitution, it also shows majorities believing that it would give the EU the power to set taxes, overide Britain on defence, etc, none of which are true. When asked if they would support a constitution that did not do this, a majority were then in favour!

Monday 21 June

Back to the Osteopath. My back survived the election campaign, but the sciatica is re-surfacing now that it's all over. Strange!

Tuesday 22 June

I hear about the first visit of the new UKIP MEPs to Brussels. Before participating in a single parliamentary debate or committee meeting, Kilroy-Silk declares the European Parliament to be "depressing" and its debates to be "meaningless". No pretence at objectivity, then! And if he really thinks the debates are "meaningless", then why all the fuss about the European Parliament having, in UKIP's view, too much power?

Wednesday 23 June

I am asked why UKIP did so well in the European elections.

Of course 83% of those voting (and 92% of the electorate) did not vote for them - and the ultra-federalist LibDems won the same number of seats as they did. None the less, 12 UKIP MEPs are 12 too many. How did they do it? Four particular aspects of the campaign spring to mind:

First, the imbalance in the debate about Europe. We (and, indeed, the LibDems) failed to counter Eurosceptic mythology. Instead, we used the European campaign to highlight our excellent domestic record and the Liberal Democrats decided to fight the election on the issue of Iraq. This meant that the myths and loud anti-European rhetoric put about by the UKIP and the Tories went largely unchallenged in the campaign, and were, as ever, amplified by the media.

Second, the £2m donation (apparently by Paul Sykes) that enabled UKIP to plaster the country's bill-board sites - an effective tactic for a small less known party.

Third, Kilroy: as soon as this media-luvvie joined them, they were invited to every chat-show, debate, question-time etc. No matter that he was dismissed from his job for racism and his ignorance of EU matters is astonishing: he became a regular feature of almost all coverage of thze campaign.

Fourth, the Telegraph front-page headline and article claiming that UKIP were overtaking the LibDems as Britain's third party, which at the time was far from being the case: nonetheless, this story, repeated without checks by other media outlets, gave them a huge boost and became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We will have to work that much harder over the coming years to emphasize Britain's role at the centre of the EU, argue the benefits of European integration, and actively and systematically counter Eurosceptic mythology. We have failed to do this on anything like a sufficient scale, and the lack of high profile (cabinet minister level) positive speeches on Europe during the campaign was illustrative of that. Even those speeches that were made on Europe were sometimes defensive and negative in tone.

Thursday 24 June

When will England actually have any luck in international football tournaments? This time we go out because a referee imagines a non-existant foul and annuls what should have been our winning goal. On a previous occasion a referee allows a non-existant goal against us when he is the only one in the stadium not to see that it was scored by Maradonna's hand! And of all the England players to get injured, it just had to be Wayne Rooney, didn't it?

Penalty shoot outs are a lottery, as everyone knows. So, over time, you should win as many as you lose, sholdn't you? Yet we have lost four and won one in the last 14 years.

We have also twice hit the post/crossbar in the final minutes of semi-finals (twice against the lucky Germans) or quarter finals.

The European championships certainly do a lot for international understanding, don't they?

Friday 25 June

However disappointed we are at England's elimination from the European Championship, nothing can justify the appalling attack on a Portuguese restaurant in Thetford. This is nationalism at its worst. BNP and UKIP voters?

26 - 30 June

The luxury of a few days with the family before the new Parliament assembles. This is their compensation for most of the rest of the year!

I also write a few articles, generally catch up on correspondance, and watch more countries going through the misery of being eliminated from the European Football Championship. Football supporters, at least, see the importance of being in Europe!