50 EU benefits #04
We can defeat terrorism by staying at the heart of EU security & crimefighting networks.
Richard
Author Archives
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50 EU benefits #03
Thanks to cooperation with EU partner France, our border checks are in Calais, not Dover.
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Taking sides
This graphic summarises which international players are on which side in the EU debate.
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50 EU benefits #02
Budget airlines exist because EU single market brought down cost of flying.
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50 EU benefits #01
Fall ill or have an accident abroad? Get emergency healthcare anywhere in EU.
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When in roam…
Starting this week, an EU-wide agreement has once again slashed the cost of using phones and tablets abroad. Gone are the days when Brits returned home from a short break on the continent to the shock of a massive phone bill. The EU has capped the cost of mobile roaming at a lower level year […]
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Gove exploiting lack of knowledge
I wrote a point-by-point criticism of Michael Gove’s argument for LabourList this week: Gove knows full well that most of his readers will not be conversant with the intricacies of EU procedures. He is cynically and dishonestly trying to exploit that, to try to restore his side’s chances to make inroads into the Remain vote. […]
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Some superstate!
Yet another misleading allegation by the Brexit brigade is that the European Union is on an escalator, heading for a centralised superstate. They ignore the fact that the basic rulebook of the European Union, the treaties, is agreed unanimously by member states. There can be no increase in the powers of the European Union unless […]
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Similar yet different: the USA and the EU
It is typical of the Leave campaign that in response to President Obama’s support for Britain remaining in the EU, they have challenged his right to make the argument, rather than engage in the argument itself. Boris Johnson has even gone so far as to call Obama a hypocrite, on the grounds that the USA […]
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Many appy returns!
We MEPs represent much larger constituencies than MPs. There are two Labour MEPs — and four from other parties — who cover the whole of Yorkshire & Humber, with its 5.4 million people. I get around a lot, but it’s not possible to visit every single town and village in the region every month! (Fun […]
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Daily Mail 1975
We were never hoodwinked. Here’s an extract from the Daily Mail’s leader, the day before our 1975 referendum on EEC membership.
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Nasty tactics in referendum race
My article in Progress magazine was published today: Some nasty tactics have already appeared in the European Union referendum campaign. One is the way that anti-EU campaigners try to bully or discredit their opponents, rather than discuss the issues. Their response to any message they do not like is to threaten, dismiss or try to […]
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No-one should have to choose between heating and eating
I was pleased last week to visit the British Gas Academy, an impressive facility only a few minutes away from my constituency office here in Leeds, where British Gas engineers from across the north of England are trained in the skills they need to install and maintain energy supply equipment for the company’s millions of […]
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The EU benefits the environment
It’s a shame that environmental issues have featured so little in the referendum campaign to date. Not only is environmental policy a vitally important part of the decisions we take jointly at European level, but it’s also one of the EU’s biggest success stories. So I was delighted to read the results of a major […]
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Fighting political battles
A representative of ‘Trade Unionists Against the EU’ has been a regular correspondent in the Guardian letters column recently. I responded to his most recent assertions with a letter of my own, published today: Fawzi Ibrahim (letters, 30 March) wants to use the EU referendum to inflict maximum embarrassment on the government. He need not […]
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A healthy respect for the facts
It’s World Health Day. This annual event, organised by the United Nations World Health Organisation, is designed to shine the spotlight on health-related issues. And healthcare has been in the spotlight in recent days here in the UK too — this time linked to our ongoing debate about EU membership. I suppose, as one of […]
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Interview for Atlantic Insight
I spoke to Atlantic Insight about the implications of the EU referendum debate in Britain. You can listen to the audio or read a transcript on their website.
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The EU and referendums
A new line of attack by eurosceptics came my way the other day: the claim that the EU ignored national democratic decisions when it came to the French and Dutch referendums on the proposed EU constitution, Ireland’s initial ‘No’ to the Lisbon treaty, and the Greek referendum of 2015. So what actually happened?
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Farage on the referendum
Is an EU referendum an internal affair for that country, or can others advise? Farage wants it both ways.
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Steeling ourselves against China
There are two main European angles to the ongoing debate over the future of the UK steel industry. Trade defence measures Europe acting jointly has the clout to put real pressure on the Chinese government over steel dumping — but our government opposed stepping up EU action. The EU has trade defence instruments to deal […]
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Grimethorpe Colliery Band
I gather that Grimethorpe Colliery Band is to invite me to be their honorary president, which would indeed be a great honour. In any case, I was delighted to meet and learn about one of Yorkshire’s, and indeed Europe’s, top brass bands. It turns out that brass bands, rather like football teams, have a national […]
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Enjoying Yorkshire rhubarb
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a number of farmers who work in the “rhubarb triangle” — the area between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield which leads the world in the production of “forced rhubarb”. This remarkable growing technique involves developing the plant’s root system for an extended period, then transplanting it into dark warm […]
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Thoughts from a constituent
I recently received a fascinating letter from a constituent, Eric Smith, which offers a unique perspective on the EU referendum and Britain’s historical relationship with its European neighbours. With his permission, below are the four pages of his letter. (You can also download the entire letter in PDF format by clicking here.)
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Brussels attacks
I am still a little shaken by yesterday’s bomb attacks in Brussels. I had been at the station where the second bomb went off just a few minutes before. Brussels was a very tense city yesterday after the horrors of the attacks. The streets were deserted, all public transport was shut down, helicopters were flying […]
