letter to the editor from Richard Corbett MEP |
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18 January 2008 |
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Daily Telegraph |
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Dear Editor, Daniel Hannan (17th January) puts across a typically disingenuous account of the events in the European Parliament this week. The reality is that, in attempting to undermine the work of the Parliament he and his UKIP friends hit on two tactics. Firstly, they demand ed full roll call votes (instead of a show of hands) on every paragraph and every amendment before the house. (Imagine the House of Commons having divisions on every paragraph of a bill ! ). This slows down voting and costs £300 per vote. The second was to use the procedure of "Explanation of Votes" which allows Members to speak after a vote, even if they have already spoken in the preceding debate, to explain why they voted in a particular way. On Tuesday, every UKIP member and several Tories asked to explain their vote verbally on every item on the agenda, whether or not they had already spoken in the debate. This would have held up the next scheduled debates for several hours, so the Parliament agreed to take these explanations after those debates - not to stop them as Mr Hannan claims . This is not about restricting their freedom of expression. The European Parliament has a very wide range of political views and speaking time in debates is shared out proportionately among all the political groups - so all views are heard in debates. Most MEPs take their role as elected representatives seriously, working to deliver legislation and policy outcomes for their voters. Far from being defenders of democracy, by being interested solely in disrupting the work of the elected Parliament, Mr Hannan and his ilk demonstrate breathtaking contempt for it. Yours, Richard Corbett Labour MEP for Yorkshire & Humber
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