Vicky Ford

From EU Treaty to Ambulance service

2012-01-22T12:32:00.002Z

First Strasbourg week of 2012 opened as ever with a 9 hour commute via Cambridge, London and Paris - don’t ever get conned into believing French trains are that much better than the British ones. The journey home took even longer with yet again delays on the lines.

Arriving at the EP we were greeted with yellow and blue balloons and happy faces of Nirj Diva for his campaign to give socialist Martin Schulz a bit of competition in the race for Parliament President. Schulz had been offered the role in a stitch up deal between the two biggest political groups socialist (S&D) and centre right (EPP) back in 2009 when the two big groups decided to back the EPP candidate for the first 2.5 years in return for EPP giving their votes to the S&D for the second half of the five year term. Needless to say Nirj standing for the Conservative and Reformists new he didn’t have a chance and Schulz did win the ballot on Tuesday morning. However Nirj, coming second, and Diana Wallis coming third for the liberals made a good dent in Schulz’s deal and its clear that the majority of the centre right reneged on their party whip in order to place their votes elsewhere. The left and right of Europe went on to display how divided they have become during the week, keeping us all late in the Parliament on Tuesday and wasting most of Wednesday as we kept being called back to vote in numerous rounds for Vice Presidents and Quaestors - all the time it being clear that L and R will no longer support each other even in these rather minor votes for political positions. In the meantime Martin Schulz took is seat armed with a little bell which he rings frequently. It is as annoying as fingernails scraping down a black board and just as archaic.

There was L vs R division also late on Monday Evening when MEPs met to discuss the new “Treaty of 26” (or is it now 25 and falling as the Czechs have decided to take it to a referendum). Reading through the very short treaty I find it most bizarre - there is practically noting in the “new” economic treaty that was not already agreed by the 26 countries in the Economic Governance package the “6 pack” which I worked on last year and which was officially voted through by the 27 National leaders back last September. There is lots of political noise about the “debt brakes” and “golden rules” in the treaty but these were all agreed in the 6 pack. There is also a lot of complaining about the UK veto, but they had all agreed to give the UK an exemption to this back in the 6 pack. So either National leaders never really intended to implement the decisions they signed up to in September or it’s all just political posturing. MEPs, especially the Socialists and Greens seem to have totally forgotten what was in the 6 pack - which they voted against in the first place and keep going back through the same old arguments which they lost last year. The copies of the new “treaty” were all stamped “highly confidential” which is stupid really as I had downloaded my own copy from the Open Europe website days before.

In the meantime very little is actually being done to focus on growth let alone budgetary control.

Much of the rest of my Strasbourg week was taken up with conversations about the Energy Efficiency directive. If we are in any way to help people with rising oil prices let alone address climate change then energy savings and energy efficiency needs to be treated as seriously as other energy policies like renewables. The first draft of the new Directive however was deeply prescriptive, and instead I would like to see more about different menus of options where countries can learn from each others experiences of best practices before choosing the solutions that best suit their national needs. We are making progress on this but its many many hours of long meetings. Votes will now happen towards the end of Feb.

Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank also came to speak to MEPs. I found myself agreeing with him that countries must be able to go further than EU minimum rules on for example banking reforms if this helps their own national markets. This was one of the issues raised by David Cameron in his treaty veto decision. It was clear from the Draghi meeting that some MEPs will never agree and want a one sized fits all solution across Europe, even if it is completely unworkable and impracticable. However other MEPs were listening carefully. We will debate the new banking directives and regulations on Tuesday.

On Friday I went to see the good ladies of Huntingdon Conservative Association who would pretty much all be delighted to see Scotland float off from the rest of the UK and don’t have much time for Sarko. As well as the Euro crisis and the UK treaty veto they probed on the benefits of the single market from pig welfare and chicken cages to the new barcoding system that will help remove dodgy fake pharmaceuticals from our pharmacies.

I also met up with Cllr Colin Walker from Suffolk who has been trying to shape up the Ambulance service - there are terrible call out delays in parts of rural East Anglia. We discussed what more could be done to support the volunteer group of First Responders who are excellent in many local areas. I will see if some EU funding can be achieved for this and had a follow up chat with Dr Dan Poulter MP who has been banging heads together on this too.

Saturday morning saw an excellent turnout for campaigning in Kesgrave, Suffolk where there is a by-election coming up for both County and District Elections. Big smiles from Peter Aldous MP and leader of the County Council Mark Bee before we all went out to deliver leaflets. It was good to talk to people on the streets, and after being caught in a shower, to warm up over a pub lunch and hear the news from local councillors.

Eurozone politics

2011-12-08T22:48:00.001Z

This week I have been in negotiations on bank deposit schemes (where France and Italy disagree with Germany), on mortgage agreements (where Spain disagrees with Italy and Netherlands) on energy efficiency measures (where Finland disagrees with Germany and they both disagree with France), Eurozone countries even disagree about how chickens lay eggs. The crisis may lead the Eurozone to share decisions on National deficits and debts, perhaps they will allow the ECB to transfer bad debts from banks to governments, possibly even to guaranteeing each others debts, but it seems very unlikely they would agree to vote as a block on EU legislation.

Fiddling whilst Rome can't Borrow

2011-12-01T22:16:00.007Z

Here is my speech from last nights European Parliament meeting.

Last week Germany could not sell one third of its bond issue, yesterday the Italian Government paid nearly 8% interest and today two million people are striking in Britain even though the UK public pension black hole is the biggest in Europe. Right now this Parliament and every parliament should be looking at how to help growth, remove red tape and get businesses moving, but instead we have been in back rooms arguing about just when an economic dialogue would fit into Parliament’s timetable and who should be on the guest list.

Of course countries should consider how their economic policies affect others, but MEPs are now asking for a new treaty to give the European Parliament a vote on economic guidelines. This will not decrease the resentment of many of our citizens when they see decisions being taken in faraway places, and it will not help our businesses to grow. Members, we really must stop fiddling whilst Rome cannot borrow!

It was late but there were almost more than the usual handful of MEPs in the room. A the end of the speech I was applauded by members of MEPs from Europe's largest centre right party the EPP, but Othmar Karas pulled me a sad smile from their front bench. He knows just how hard we have been working together in the back room negotiations to tone down the language of deficit deniers from the left. I can't support the final report but its much less bad than it could have been. I knew Othmar agreed with much of what I said about unlocking bureaucracy, helping growth. Thats where we really need to work together. If you want to see the videos or speeches there are all here

A week in the life of...

2011-12-01T21:53:00.004Z

Last week I was asked to keep a diary for a website called Public Service Europe (probably funded through EU budget propaganda). To be honest the beginning of the week was so busy I didn't have time to spend a penny let alone type up my days, so Sunday was catch up day.

If you are interested in what an MEP does hereit is! Though I have noticed that they edited out my entire Monday morning meeting in Ipswich with Ben Gummer MP where we were trying to help sort out the waterfront development mess in Ipswich which is tied up with the Irish banking crisis. We were meeting the receivers, the local council and those from Dublin responsible for "managing" the bad bank assets. Typical Brussels to edit away the real bad news.

The Conservative MEP questions commissioners, meets banks and businesses and interviews for a new assistant – before treating her daughter to a performance of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna

Monday

On the way to Brussels I read through the commission's latest proposals for a new regulation on offshore oil safety. I took on the role of drafting a report for the European Parliament on offshore oil drilling after the Gulf of Mexico disaster. It's vital to the United Kingdom, which has more offshore oil than the rest of the EU put together. The new proposed law leaves me with many questions, not least: will it result in having to dumb down the UK's own safety legislation? This week the commissioners have annual hearings with MEPs on upcoming legislation and I want to quiz energy commissioner Günther Oettinger on this.

I arrive in Brussels at 6pm, to meet Westminster MPs Chris Heaton Harris, George Eustace and Andrea Leadsom. They are looking at suggestions for EU reform and I wanted them to be up to date on the parliament's suggestion for improving" economic co-ordination. Basically this would involve the parliament having a vote on economic guidelines for member states. I think it would be a disaster. As a result of the eurozone crisis, countries have now agreed to share information on budgets between different national governments. There has already been great resentment, for example when the Irish people learnt that German lawmakers had seen the country's budget before Irish MPs. Giving the parliament a vote which might directly influence the economic policies and decisions of individual nations would risk even greater resentment.

I also told the MPs about the upcoming negotiations on EU research funding which is critical to many scientists and businesses in the UK. Over dinner we were joined by cabinet minister Francis Maude and many other British MEPs. It was a feisty discussion. Some of us pointed out that it is not only the UK which is concerned about the impact of many EU regulations on businesses and growth.

Tuesday

At 8am I was joined by Patrick Jones, a research scientist in bio-fuels from Finland. He is going to shadow me for the next two days as part of an exchange program between scientists and MEPs. I had invited Douglas Flint CBE, chairman of HSBC, to breakfast with a group of MEPs and the turnout was good. We have leading MEPs from four different political groups: three from the centre-right European People's Party, as well as the Liberals and Greens and our own European Conservatives and Reformists. Douglas urged us to look beyond the eurozone crisis and economic malaise, and to understand the risk that Europe and smaller European banks could become uninvestable. Chinese investors, he said, see Europe as a fundamentally easier place to invest than the United States, for example, but they also see the inability to take political decisions as a major downside. We need to look at how to encourage long term investors to invest in infrastructure. One MEP asked if Europe over-regulates. The answer is immediate: the burden of bureaucracy on businesses is too high. I asked the other political groups whether they would support us in a campaign focusing on reducing the burden of regulation. I learnt that "deregulation" is a toxic phrase in certain countries where it is linked with the financial crash, but that there is support for cutting bureaucracy and reducing red tape. We agreed to propose a major drive on this. If we can achieve cross-party consensus there may be a real opportunity.

Following a meeting of industry, research and energy committee, which was debating long-term investment in infrastructure, I met Lloyds Bank, the European Association of Co-operative Banks and representatives from the Loan Market Association to discuss different details of new regulations on bank capital, lending and liquidity. I try to agree to meet as many businesses, consumer groups or regulators who contact me as possible, and of course I disclose all these meetings. Each of these organisations' concerns is quite technical, but could have a significant impact on lending to companies and mortgages. At the moment I am in listening and questioning mode. Some of the lenders or their borrower clients may have a reasonable point, but I am sceptical about others.

At midday I broke from meetings to go to a lunch organised by the European Parkinson's Disease Association. We heard first-hand from younger patients of their experiences living with the disease, and from a Dutch doctor about how their reorganisation of specialists has helped. I asked what their thoughts are on how the European Court of Justice's recent ban on patenting discoveries from stem cells could affect future treatments. We were told that research into new treatments is vital as is access to current ones. Then, I grabbed a coffee with Paul Laffin from our East of England office to discuss the 2012 Olympics. Not all the events are happening in London: canoeing and mountain biking will be in Hertfordshire and Essex so I've recently been to visit the sites. We want to arrange a reception showcasing the non-London venues next year and hopefully find some partner projects in different parts of Europe to help with the legacy.

By 3pm it was time for MEPs to quiz Barnier in the Economic Affairs Committee. I asked him why his proposals for bank capital are set as maximum levels across the EU not minimums. He implied this was a UK concern – but given that the head of the European Central Bank, the previous head, and the European Systemic Risk Board are all warning against his approach I believe this should be even more of a concern to those in the eurozone than those outside. But I don't think he got my point, and he certainly didn't answer the question adequately. His announcement that he would review whether to introduce a split between retail and investment banks, as the UK is considering, sent all the journalists scribbling.

After a 5pm meeting with Santander, I headed with Patrick the scientist to dinner with the European Energy Forum. Before dinner, oil giants ENI and Total talked to me about the offshore oil proposals. They worry that the European Union safety standard focusing on 'major hazards' is going to be lower than the UK's 'as low as reasonably practicable' standard. It's not often that industry worry that laws are not strong enough. Over dinner the president of GDF Suez told the audience how gas can help Europe reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent. Patrick whispered in my ear to question where the numbers come from, and we worked out that half the saving is proposed to come from carbon capture and storage. Given that investors have recently been questioning North Sea proposals for underground CO2 storage I am concerned that this may not be realistic.

Wednesday

Wednesday involved interviewing potential new assistants, as my current economics assistant is moving off to work for an insurance company. After voting in the industry committee I went to a meeting with a German Liberal MEP and the European Commission on financial prospectuses. Last year we had agreed that smaller companies should not need to produce so much information when trying to get their shares listed. It was part of an effort to reduce bureaucracy for businesses that can often spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on legal fees for a flotation – but the political agreement risks being de-railed by 'experts' who are suggesting that small and large companies should be equal. I wonder how many of those so-called experts are the lawyers and not the companies or investors. We made some suggested changes and agreed to stay in touch. Later, Investor AB came for a meeting. They are one of Sweden's biggest long term strategic investors in companies and are concerned by the proposal that non-execs should never sit on more than four company boards. Sometimes they want to place somebody with expertise on more companies. We discuss potential amendments which might benefit long-term investors.

At 3pm, Oettinger came for his annual public hearing on energy with MEPs. I asked him whether his proposal for oil regulation was really meant to be a maximum standard for safety, or if individual member states would be free to set higher standards. He said it's just meant to be a minimum, which is interesting, since the commission has written it as a maximum harmonisation 'regulation' not a minimum level 'directive'. I immediately notified the UK negotiators in the European Council who will be looking at the implications for UK oil security.

Commissioner Olli Rehn is the economic affairs expert and his hearing was next. I asked him about the UK, pointing out that our annual deficit between spending and income is double that of the eurozone and more than double that of Italy. I reminded him that the UK is the second largest net contributor to the EU budget and has contributed roughly 5 per cent to the eurozone bailouts so far, despite not being a member. "Commissioner", I said, "is the UK being selfish?" The entire room laughed, as the accusation by a German MP of the UK's selfish nature was front page headlines last week. Many MEPs from other countries nag us when we ask to reduce the budget, and they try to demand the UK puts in more. I don't think the UK can afford to continue this level of contributions, so it's important to lay down some markers. Rehn certainly didn't accuse the UK of being selfish and indeed offered his gratitude.

Then I raced into a meeting of European ceramics manufacturers, a crowded room with over 100 delegates. Ceramics is an energy intensive business and they are concerned about upcoming legislation on energy efficiency. I described some of the 1800 proposed amendments, including ones by my office on reducing some of the energy audit bureaucracy: each of these companies monitor energy very closely, it is their largest cost, and they don't need a public audit statement to encourage them to save energy. As with much EU legislation this one starts with helpful intentions. But the top down one size fits all approach has raised concerns from industry, public authorities and consumer groups.

Thursday

In the morning I visited the Red Balloon charity which works to help children and teenagers who have dropped out of school due to bullying. Carrie Herbert set up the first school fifteen years ago and now has 10 across the country. It is incredibly moving. Teenagers come to them often in deepest depression and within a year of counseling and teaching are usually back into main stream schooling. With youth unemployment such a top priority it was great to see a project that really can turn lives around. Carrie explained that it's relatively easy to raise money to build the schools but much more difficult to get ongoing revenue funding. I can't understand why these schools can't qualify for the government free school program and have promised to write letters of support.

At the office just outside Cambridge I interview three more candidates for the assistant role. I then went with my assistant Jess Cole to meet Professor Austin Smith at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research in Cambridge. He is one of the world's leading stem cell researchers. I have seen letters in erudite publications from Austin and many of his colleagues around the world worrying about the ECJ ruling but none of them had written to MEPs on the research committee. The ruling is based on a piece of EU legislation that dates back to the 1990s when stem cell research was in its early days. Austin spoke about the trials that are now happening to cure blindness and the project he is working on for early onset diabetes. I offered that if he wanted to bring colleagues from across the field to Brussels I would see if MEPs would come and listen to what he has to say. I think they should understand the consequences of this ruling, and what it might mean for medical research. I don't believe that membership of the single market should mean that all countries must have identical ethical positions on issues like this. If the underlying law is unclear then politicians should look at clarifying it, not leave lawyers and judges to make far reaching judgements based on outdated legislation.

On the way home I picked my daughter Lizzie up from school and we went to the iconic Fitzbillies tea shop in Cambridge. Lizzie's godmother Lucie has always worked in local government, but she and her cookery writer partner Lucas have long dreamed of running their own food shop. Lucie was spending a week learning the ropes pouring tea and making cakes. We discussed the difficulties of setting up a new business. The new owners of Fitzbillies have taken a loss making shop and hopefully turned it profitable – if they can make it work in this economic environment they must be doing something right.

On Thursday nights, if I can, I try to get to rehearsals with my local choir. I usually make about every third or fourth rehearsal and this was a lucky week. Singing forces me to switch everything else off. We are working towards our Christmas carol concert with lots of old favourites and some new challenges.

Friday

I usually spend Fridays visiting companies or other groups across the east of England but this week I had set it aside. I signed a mountain of Christmas cards, worked through some of my emails and decided to offer the job to the one candidate whose eyes lit up with glee at the idea of piles of complicated legal documents. At lunchtime I disappeared for an hour of riding across the beautiful north Essex countryside. I've been trying to do this about once a month or so and feel so much fitter. In the evening I collected Lizzie from school with two of her friends; she has just had a birthday so for a treat we headed to Wembley Arena where we were joined by family. The show was the Spanish Riding School of Vienna who visit the UK just every five years. Not everyone is into horses dancing to music but the moves date back nearly 500 years and it is breathtakingly beautiful. As an added bonus we were treated to displays by Carl Hester, who has recently been in the UK's world champion equestrian team and Lee Pearson, nine times Paralympic gold medallist – great work by Team GB to get us all excited for 2012.

Saturday

Today was a very quiet day as we were shattered. We had planned to go to see the thousands of swans that migrate to Welney in Norfolk, but the warm weather means the Bewick swans have not really started to arrive from Russia yet so we will leave it a couple of weeks. Instead I went to Newmarket racecourse to the Christmas craft sale in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. As parliament doesn't break up until December 23, it was great to make a start on some Christmas shopping and see some friends. I came home armed with gadgets for godsons, a special widget to help find my brother's permanently lost car keys and slip-on studs which I hope might stop my stepfather slipping on the ice.

Sunday

After a brief respite to read the Sunday papers, today was spent taking my daughter for a ride and ferrying my sons to birthday parties. Then, a family supper, which is usually the time of the week we all manage to sit down together in relative peace: I have to catch the Eurostar tomorrow, when it all starts again.

Belgium or Britain

2011-11-27T22:30:00.003Z

A colleague texted me over the weekend worried that the press were suggesting Belgium could be next point of focus in the Eurozone crisis. I told him to stop worrying about his handful of cash in a Brussels bank, spend it on chocolate - I'm much more worried about Britain.

A quick look at the table on the back pages of the Economist is a brutal reminder that the UK budget deficit is twice that of the Eurozone and more than double that of Italy. Our pensions "gap" i.e. unfunded pension expectations, is the highest in Europe.

The only good news is that the UK government is still able to fund at a low level, not the 7 per cent plus faced by Italy and Spain. This will only continue so long as financial investors believe that the government is trying to sort out the mess. Financial investors include your pension fund and my pension fund and the place where we both put our insurance premiums.

Despite this it sounds as if the Unions really have not got the message that we can not carry on as before. Yes we should value teachers and nurses and doctors - my husband is one. But Wednesday's threatened strikes really do threaten us all.

White Water, Supermarket Shopping and Science

2011-11-05T11:40:00.004Z

It is November 5th. When I grew up in Northern Ireland during the “troubles” we were not allowed fireworks as they sound frighteningly like gunfire. I was ten before I saw my first rocket. I always enjoy fireworks displays, and remember me how lucky we are to live without terror.

As the European Parliament has been closed this week I spent a very busy and varied couple of days across the East of England this week, starting with a visit on Thursday to Ocado, the online supermarket. They employ 2,000 people at their base in Hatfield. Ocado reckon that that there is less than half the food waste and less than half the CO2 omissions per £ spent with them than an average UK supermarket. They were one of the highest profile stock market floatation’s in 2010 and would like to know whether the “short” positions in their shares are held by competitors who would like to see the back of them. We are in the process of finalising EU legislation which will give equivalent disclosure from people who sell "short" positions in company shares as that given by those who invest in the shares.

My next stop was the Lee Valley white water site which will host the Canoe events for the Olympics. En route a quick conversation with the BBC - I think they were rather surprised hear that I was not particularly phased by the suggestion that the Greek people might be offered a referendum. The situation in Greece was pretty chaotic last week even before this week's political to and fros. And last nights vote of 153 to 145 feels far from decisive.

The White Water site though is fantastic. They had expected 20,000 visitors this summer but the total was over 130,000, with many many people enjoying the white water rafting experience. This was a great chance to see first-hand how plans for the Olympics are coming together and not just in London. This facility feels as it if will be a long lasting, fun and profitable legacy. It supports local businesses and employs many multiples of the predictions.

I have been asked to help host a European Parliament briefing in Brussels early next year to remind people that the legacy of the games will be felt across the Eastern region beyond next year, and this is a great example of that in practice. I am also looking forward to visiting the mountain bike venue in Hadleigh, Essex, later this month. The total value of contracts for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games won by businesses in the East of England now tops £1billion, with over 400 contracts awarded to businesses for services varying from providing concrete for the construction of the aquatics centre to providing coaches for transporting athletes.

The afternoon finished with a tour of Johnson Matthey who are a speciality chemicals company focused on producing catalytic converters to reduce emissions in car exhaust fumes. From the Royston factory they export all over Europe. They follow EU legislation on car emissions very closely.

Over dinner in Cambridge I was able to pick the enormous brains of leading scientists on EU and internationally funded projects in Nuclear Fusion, Space telescopes, Satellites.

On Friday I joined Geoffrey Van Orden MEP and Andrew Duff MEP to meet with Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University. We discussed the current proposals for the restructuring of EU grants for science and research. As the only East of England MEP on the Research Committee, this is something I have been following closely. Well over 10% of research at Cambridge University’s is funded by EU grants. Many many other researchers at businesses and universities in the East of England also take part in EU funded research and it is one of the very few parts of the EU budget where the UK currently gets back more than it puts in. The latest proposals on the proposed restructuring from the European Commission appear extremely vague and could lead to more bureaucracy and uncertainty for scientists in the region. I will be meeting senior advisers from the Commission next week so this discussion could not have been more helpful. 

We also discussed the recent ECJ ruling on stem cell research which not only could have a very negative impact on medical research in the UK but could also put back finding solutions to diseases like Alzheimer's.

Getting out of Deep Water

2011-11-02T23:26:00.009Z

Whilst the rest of the world discusses whether the Greek people should have a referendum, the European Parliament has been closed for bank holidays.

I spent Monday and Tuesday with members of the Army, Navy and RAF training program in Cornwall teaching future pilots the basics of survival should they ever have to land at sea. This was part of the Armed Forces Parliament Scheme which aims to help politicians to have a slightly better understanding of the military. Most of the days I have spent with them have been "briefings" so this was a bit different.

The equipment is basic but it would save lives if disaster was to occur, and all the trainees were keen to know how to use it well. The first day was lectures and a pool trial. The second day was repeating the same at sea - we were all much better the second time despite the much more difficult conditions.

The final exercise involved being sent off the end of a boat to swim to an upside down life raft, right it and then make the raft "safe" and secure, send out signals to help rescuers find the raft and eventually be rescued.

The trainees were extremely brave, despite many of them not having a great deal of experience of the sea. My trainee partner got tangled in some loose ribbing whilst performing the exercise. I gave some suggestions of how to prevent this, which the trainers have promised to look into.... though I was worried by the chain of bureaucracy that I may have set off. I was very surprised that there was little comment from trainees on how to make improvements to their equipment.

Despite having done a bit of offshore sailing in my past I had never thought about how exactly one activates a distress flare. Its not as simple as it says on the packet - so it was definitely helpful to be allowed to try one out..

I have been given a little eyeopener into how important time in training is. Thank you.

Wood for the Trees

2011-09-19T17:12:00.002Z

Strasbourg week is always a busy time for the European Parliament but last week's diary was just crazy busy. At times like this it is hard to see the wood for the trees.

On Monday and Tuesday we were racing around finalising my Offshore Oil Safety report. Which was voted through the Parliament on Tuesday. We beat off a last minute attempt from the Greens to put in place a drilling moratorium. Given that offshore is 90% of EU/Norway oil production this would have been pretty dire for energy security issues. Like many European Parliament reports its has been subjected to numerous amendments from many different committees with varying degrees of knowledge ... it is not perfect. However, I hope we have laid the grounds for a strong safety approach that is not box ticking. We took a basic premise to leave to national regulators what they can do well, to share expertise bilaterally/multilaterally where that makes sense between neighbouring countries and pool resources at the EU level where that can add economies of scale (in this case in using clean up equipment most effectively). Devolve down where possible and up where needed is my new motto. We will need to fight to keep this approach through the actual legislation that will follow.

On Wednesday and Thursday I was in trialogue negotiations regarding the new arrangements for Deposit Guarantee Schemes. Remember the massive flight of bank accounts to Ireland during the crisis when the Irish government announced a 100% guarantee for all personal accounts? Clearly there needs to be international agreement on guarantees but this does not mean every detail needs to be harmonised. I also kept being dragged back into final negotiations on the Economic Governance package - my own report on how countries should provide transparent forward looking budgets has been agreed by all countries. But mine is only one of six pieces of legislation - some of the others have not been as explicitly sensitive to the differences between Eurozone and non Eurozone countries. If the Eurozone move closer together, the issue of Euro vs non-Euro countries is going to get even more sensitive in months to come.

On Thursday night I went with a group of MEPs from Strasbourg to Poland, to join a major conference of financial service legislators, regulators and providers. I had been asked to speak on Friday about a technical aspect involving the implementation of the highly politically sensitive Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive which was passed by the Parliament finally at the end last year. During many debates on this directive I and a few colleagues had raised concerns about the potential impacts of the directive, one of which was the impact for investment in developing countries. We UK MEPs thought that we had won a compromise that would work but a year on this it is still not settled. Mental note we should all be forced to look back at laws that have been passed and check regularly whether they actually work in practice.

End of Summer thoughts....

2011-08-26T11:30:00.001Z

On August bank holiday Monday the European Parliaments Econ committee has been recalled from recess for an “emergency” debate on the state of the Eurozone. MEPs have put Brussels on hold August period and as one of my colleagues described it the problems have been allowed to “summernate”.

It will be interesting to hear what colleagues have to say after their five weeks back in their own parts of Europe. What are the stories from Greece and Portugal, Italy and Spain. What are the Germans thinking - do they side with those who believe the bailouts are illegal and are bringing a challenge to the constitutional court? or do they see the only way to defend a “strong euro” as more fiscal consolidation? What are the views of the other AAA countries, like the Dutch and the Finns.

Every summer for many, many years I have spent a fortnight in the calm of the West of Ireland. It is like having a window into another country. When I used to go there as I child I remember the total poverty with dire roads and working donkeys, then overtaken by ancient tractors. I remember the complaints about inflation when Ireland first joined the Euro and then the boom years, with new roads opening and building bonanza. Every year when returned the property prices had hiked again. The last year when the crisis had started to hit I was told of the exodus of young people; a generation leaving the country because of the lack of jobs at home.

This year I was almost dreading going back, expecting to feel deep depression and boarded up shops. However instead I came away with an impression of stoicism and realism. When ever we asked how things were we were told that yes it was difficult, takings were down - but this was usually blamed as much on the very wet summer weather as the general economy. However, property prices are back down to the levels of probably 6 or 7 years ago, but with a holiday cottage still costing the best part of €300,000 they are still well out of my league. Those who took out mortgages in the boom years are stuck.

Returning home this week I was taken by Ben Gummer MP to see the impact of the Irish banking crisis in Ipswich. The waterfront is buzzing with new restaurants, bars and a hotel. The marina has had its busiest year. But it is towered over by a 17 story high skeleton of a building now frozen by the wind down of the bank that had lent tens of millions to the buildings developers. Ben has been told by the administrators that they can not sell the building at current market prices without approval from the European Commission. If the building continues to be left the concrete shell will start to rot and will need to be demolished. Just one of the problems that I will be taking back to Brussels next week.

Later I went into Newmarket. I’ve been told before that there are over 6,000 working in horse related businesses around Newmarket. I went to see the Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the National Stud. Its been a difficult year. The Stud stables mares en route to meet up with the various Stallions across the area. They reckon they have seen 100 fewer mares this year. The direct affect of fewer (mostly Irish) buyers.

These are just two visible examples of how our local east Anglian economy is related to that of Ireland. But the relationship with other economies is often less visible. If the Eurozone crisis deepens into another bank crisis it will affect the UK too. I will be listening hard to the thoughts from colleagues across the continent on Monday.

Confusion from the Commission....

2011-06-10T17:10:00.002Z

We have bitter battles every year trying to rein in EU budget, but these are minor compared to the battle over the next Medium Term Financial Framework. This 7 year plan will fix the EU spending parameters from 2014 to 2021.

The good news is that David Cameron has found friends with 8 other leaders who want to keep the budget down.

The bad news is that the European Parliament voted this week to take an opposite approach, MEPs voted to limits on EU spending by 5%, to stop the rebate and for “own resources” ie EU taxes. Furthermore the European Commission is arguing for a 4.9% increase in the 2012 budget and no doubt will be weighing in with demands for more in the following years

For months we UK Conservatives have been trying to persuade MEPs that whilst national governments are forced to reduce spending at home back it seems only reasonable to also reduce. or at the very least contain, the EU budget.

It appears the Parliament is full of deficit deniers. One of my colleagues even heard the President of the Parliament claiming that only 4 European Countries are cutting back.

This week another part of the European Commission published its advice to Member States on their fiscal plans. On the long slow train back from Strasbourg I decided to read what they said.

There are 27 countries in the EU, 24 when you strip out those that have needed bailout countries (Greece, Ireland, and Portugal). The commission has not categorised the others but this is my interpretation of their words.

Seven Countries are correcting excess deficits and the Commission thinks they need to reduce yet more (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia),

Four Countries are correcting excess deficits and the Commission thinks they may need to do more or are exposed to some element of high risk (France, Poland, Spain, UK)

Nine Countries are correcting excess deficits but the Commission thinks that they should be able to meet their correction targets (Belgium, Czech, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Malta¸Netherlands and Romania)

Indeed there are only 4 countries where the Commission seems quite relaxed about the public finances. Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden.

To conclude, the European Commission, which is asking for higher EU spending, is also arguing that 23 of 27 European Countries are already spending outside their means. No wonder people are frustrated and confused.

Brussels Brief - Euro, Fish and Property

2011-06-02T14:55:00.001Z

Money issues and The Eurozone
Travelling out to Brussels on a UK bank holiday always seems a bit rough, especially given the longer journey with the holiday timetable – but I was not prepared to miss another round of negotiations meetings this Monday and Tuesday on Economic Governance.

The complex package of six pieces legislation is now in its final weeks of negotiation between the European Parliament, European Commission and National Governments. It has taken nearly all my time over the past few months. The crisis in the Eurozone has resulted in those countries governments deciding that they must
more shared decision making over budget making to prevent national debts and deficits. However the UK and 9 EU member countries are not in the Eurozone, and the UK has a specific carve out under the European Treaty recognising that it does not intend to join the Euro. This needs to be recognised in the legal text.

I’m the only one of the 6 lead MEPs on this legislation whose currency is not the Euro and my colleagues have been very patient when every few hours I pipe up pointing out the differences and asking for language to be clarified for non Euro countries. We will probably vote on the final text before the end of June.

Fish Discards
This week I met with the celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall when he brought his “Fish Fight” Campaign to Brussels. He has successfully helped to raise awareness of the outrageous result of the current European fishery policy whereby at least a million tonnes of perfectly health fish are chucked dead into our seas each year. I am pretty convinced that this summer’s review of the policy will not only mean all fish caught must now be landed but also recommend an end to Brussels based quotas and a return of responsibility to local decision makers.

I had already written to Hugo to ask him to raise public awareness for the sustainability benefits of different fishing methods. In Lowestoft, Suffolk for example we don’t have massive trawlers with nets but small boats who use lines to catch their cod. This means the fishermen can target their species and no fish are discarded. I would like to see any new local system of managing fish stocks to take account of the fishing method as well as the amount of fish caught, and support our small local boats.

Spanish Property
I may not be very popular with Spanish Property dealers at the moment after a letter I arranged for me and my other East Anglian Conservative MEPs to sign appeared in local papers and the Daily Mail. The fact is that as MEPs we frequently have constituents coming to us with issues they have had regarding owning property overseas and a disproportionate number of these complaints related to Spanish issues. Recently I was contacted by a constituent whose house in Empuriabrava is one of 5,000 facing demolition. In the European Parliament I have signed a Written Declaration asking the Spanish Government to respect the rights of property owners. Unlike some of my MEP colleagues I do not advise constituents never to buy a property in certain EU countries just to think very, very carefully. Research well and use the best possible legal advice.

I am taking today off – or at least I’m at home. It is Ascension day and a Brussels bank holiday. Tomorrow I will be visiting various researchers, scientists and academics in Cambridge with my colleague Malcolm Harbour MEP

A new hand on the deck

2011-05-24T21:31:00.005Z

Question: What happened today?

Answer:
Breakfast hosted seminar on "crisis resolution in financial services"; i.e. how to prevent bank bail outs.
Lunch spoke at seminar on responsible lending in mortgages (learnt lots but didn't get lunch)
Dinner spoke at seminar on research funding for science and innovation.

Also joined seminar on Energy with National MPs (discussed blocks to long term investment), quizzed EU Commissioner Barnier on bank stress tests (please not a repeat of last year's farce), met Andrew Mitchell MP on whether EU development aid well spent, bilateral meetings with 3 other MEP groups re Economic Governance (eurozone crisis). Voted in committee on derivatives legislation and deposit guarantees.

Today David Campbell Bannerman MEP switched from UKIP to Conservatives. We do need all hands on deck to help get the UK voice across in Europe.... provided they also work hard!

p.s. the photo is the hydrogen fuelled black cab prototype that I drove at Lotus in Norfolk a few weeks ago. They are hoping to secure grants to have a fleet of 13 similar cabs transporting sporting stars at the 2012 Olympics. Great Norfolk engineering with international partners on a global stage.

feels good

2011-05-06T23:24:00.006Z

I will always remember my school biology teacher concluding a lesson on the facts of life with a plea to the girls to "JUST SAY NO". It appears that the majority of the country agree with her.

Brussels Budget and the local elections in Bedford

2011-04-26T20:17:00.003Z

Thank heavens for a week away from Brussels. I've been helping in local elections in Bedford today. We had a healthy canvas in a ward that felt far from safe Labour (though its been that way for 25 years).

John Guthrie, the candidate for mayor of Bedford, had gathered some of Bedford's deep thinkers together for a pub lunch. He is the candidate for Mayor of Bedford and said many wise words.

"the EU budget is a bit like a ward funds for councillors, they shouldn't exist, the money often wasted but as long as it does exist I'm d*mned if some other country is going to take their share and not us." said John.

The team I met over lunch have been knocking on doors for local elections for many weeks. They told me what they pick up on the ground about Europe: the growing anger with the European Court of Human Rights (prisioner's votes etc), the ECJ ruling on women's car insurance.

We went on to discuss how the Germans and the Finns feel about bailing out their southern neighbours, the role of Poland and the Czech republic in keeping an ever closer relationship between Germany and Russia in balance, which way the Eurozone will go next.

John and his team also picked my brains over who I think does a good job promoting their town or city. They are thinking locally about Bedford's problems but looking to learn from others as well. A good team.

Running a Marathon of Legislation

2011-04-18T12:03:00.004Z

I´ve never run a marathon. It would take me a long time and I take my hat off to those who trained for months and then struggled exhausted over the finishing line after 5, 6 or 7 hours yesterday.

Last week I counted up that I have spent over 120 hours since September in meetings with five other MEPs on the so-called "economic governance" package. This is the new legislation that seeks to enforce control on government debt and deficit levels. Tomorrow we will vote.

The socialists are still holding on to their line that money governments borrow for "investment" is not really debt. I disagree, unless there is movement this afternoon it will go to a vote.

As the panic across the Eurozone has increased so has the panic to find a solution. The other five MEPs all use the Euro as their currency. Every couple of hours into our marathon negotiations I have found myself reminding them that ten countries in the European Union do not use the Euro. Other countries will be able to comment on each others´ budgets but cannot dictate them. Countries within the Eurozone can be fined for running up excess debts - but not for those of us outside.

My own report will call for much greater transparency and independence of budgets and forecasts (similar to the OBR in the UK). I have tabled a suggestion that the EU budget should be presented annually and discussed alongside that of individual countries. If countries are expected to be transparent with their money so should the EU. I hope I win this vote.

Review of the Week, Cash for Amendments, Broadband and Oil

2011-04-01T18:28:00.003Z

Review of the Week

Money to build our Rural Broadband

Every few months a group of Conservative MEPs meet over dinner in the European Parliament to hear from business leaders. This week my guest and sponsor was Richard Moat joint CEO of “Everything Everywhere”, the new company formed by the merger of T-mobile and Orange.

I first met Richard back in 1995 when, as a banker, I helped raise £1.2 billion to finance the buildout of Orange’s first mobile phone network. We all hear complaints about how hard it is to get banks to lend today but Richard told us that it is a struggle to raise the same amount of money today as we raised back then. This is a very alarming statement - yes we do need stronger banking rules so that they can’t go back to the credit bubble of 2007 but to have turned back the clock by 16 years must be to far.

In coming months the UK will hold its next auction of radio spectrum for mobile telecommunications. This is a one off opportunity to improve mobile and broadband communications especially for rural areas. In many parts of East Anglia you cant get a signal for a phone call let alone link to Facebook. I would like to see an obligation to “light up” rural areas as part of the new licenses. But if the companies cant raise money for their infrastructure then this may be a pipe dream.

Cash for Amendments Scandal

Readers of the Sunday Times will have followed the stories of MEPs being paid to submit amendments to EU laws. I’m glad that these MEPs have been sacked by their groups and are going to face criminal investigations in their own countries. I have never been offered money for an amendment nor would I accept it. I do consult companies, consumer groups, charities and others. I list all those “lobbyists” that I have met. I have submitted many amendments.

This week I tabled a number of suggested amendments to the new rules for “Deposit Guarantees”. Those who remember the Northern Rock crisis will also remember the flood of cash that went from UK bank accounts to Irish ones when Ireland announced it would guarantee unlimited deposits. There does need to be cross border agreement on the level of amount guaranteed but my amendments suggest that each different country should be allowed to chose how it will fund the payout. The proposal from Brussels is that a penny in every pound in a bank account is set aside in a slush fund just in case a bank fails - I’m not convinced that the UK economy can afford the side affect this “pre-funded” arrangement could have on lending capacity of banks. In the UK for example our banks are forced to contribute only if, or when, the money is needed. This should be a national decision not a Brussels one.

Putting an amendment on the table does not mean that it will come into law. First it needs to get majority support from MEPs across the parliament. Then it also needs to be accepted by a majority of the 27 national governments in the EU.

Offshore Oil Safety

This week I also hosted a 3 hour open meeting to hear from experts on the Safety of Offshore Oil. Given the importance of this to the UK I have volunteered to lead the Parliament’s report into this. We heard from industry players. Given the European Commission’s concern started during last years Gulf of Mexico incident I thought it was only appropriate that BP were asked to start the debate. We then heard from ENI of Italy regarding the Med - and especially interesting their North Africa experiences including in Libya, Statoil of Norway also spoke about the North Sea safety regime - which is in a totally different league to that which had existed in the USA. We heard from regulators including the UK. We learnt about the disaster response capacity that a European funded Agency has to help countries cope with spills from Oil tankers - including a fleet of clean up vessels and advanced satellite monitoring. I also invited environmental campaigners to tell us their views. It is clear that if a Gulf of Mexico type incident happened in a closed sea, like the Med, the impact would be much more severe.

We do need to continue to access our own oil resources but preventing a disaster from happening is a top priority. There seems to be consensus that the North Sea regulatory regime which looks at the risks involved in each individual well is a “gold standard” that other Seas should adopt. As an oil spill would obviously not respect territorial sea borders before washing with the tide, there is interest in working with coastal neighbours to ensure high standards are respected. I think the idea of an EU super regulator is waning (fortunately) but networks of peer reviews should help raise standards. I was invited to attend a meeting of the North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum where regulators from North Sea were joined by those from Italy, Cyprus, Spain and France (interesting as not a lot of offshore oil in France). They were having a healthy discussion on the challenges of extending the lives of older Oil platforms. I was pleased to hear that the Med is now going to start their own Authorities Forum, helped by the experiences of the North Sea and perhaps some North African countries will eventually join in.

There is also consensus that there needs to be much better equipment available to stop any leak as quickly as possible. The UK operators have already ordered a capping device which will be available for the North Sea and there may be room to use the European Agency to help pool clean up resources. We are also discussing ways to try to ensure that information regarding disasters or potential “near misses” is shared much more quickly across the globe - like, for example in the airline industry, so that there is the ability to learn about technical problems.

Some recent visits

2011-03-13T20:38:00.010Z

I've just been looking at some photos of recent visits.... Its been a bit of a busy time for hard hats and hair nets.

Last Friday, at Lowestoft discussing reforms of EU fishing quotas with local fish dealer Sam Coles. We want an end to discards, all fish to be landed, to move decision making from Brussels to regional boards and a fair deal for our local small fishermen.

Two weeks ago, visiting Norfolk's state of the art waste sorter. This vibrating machine sorts plastic bottles from cans from paper.

The resulting waste is packaged up and resold. Behind me are milk containers. A proportion of the profits are returned to local councils thus covering the costs of doorstep recycling.

This week visiting CMAC in Great Yarmouth - one of only two European companies that supplies the North American Space Program (NASA) and makes circuit boards for communications satellites. Each minute electronic circuit board can withstand temperatures down to -50C and +125C. Before being sent off into space they are individually inspected through a x20 microscope. It is incredibly clean. I hope to help them with exchange programs for scientists.

Last week on the control centre of a North Sea Oil Drilling Rig. I am reaching out towards the red button of the "blow out" preventer. This is the button that operators failed to push when all was going wrong in the Gulf of Mexico and resulted in BP's Deep Water disaster. I hope that safety lessons from the North Sea will now be mirrored in other countries.

And yes I did need to go in a helicopter - which meant that I had to be spun upside down in a submerged helicopter and escape by pushing out the windows.

Pensions - are there lessons from other Countries

2011-03-10T21:59:00.004Z

Meeting the pensions gap - both for public and private sector workers is one of the thorniest issues that my generation faces. The UK is not alone in this - its a huge debate in many countries.

Whilst I don't want Brussels setting minimum pensions ages, I wonder if there are ideas that we in the UK could borrow from other countries?

For example, I understand that in the Netherlands it is possible to go on a public website - enter ones own personal details (e.g. National Insurance number). It is obviously password protected. The website then pulls up a set of personal information that shows ones individual pension proposition - collating that persons pension benefits from state, employer and private savings all in one simple format, allowing the individual to predict what they may get in retirement and reconsider their own saving strategy. I'm told Sweden has a similar scheme.

Cutting Strasbourg

2011-03-10T09:30:00.004Z

My West Country colleague, Ashley Fox MEP, has just led an iconic victory through the European Parliament to cut visits to Strasbourg. MEPs are obliged to hold 12 plenary session in Strasbourg each year under the European Treaty. Changing this needs unanimous consent of all 27 national governments across the EU and is not in the hands of MEPS themselves. The monthly migration from Brussels to Strasbourg costs tax payers 15 million Euros each month.

Last year, Ashley proposed an amendment to the Parliament´s annual calendar which would allow for two of the Strasbourg sessions to be combined into the same week. MEPs voted down the suggestion. However Ashley believed that some MEPs from the larger S&D and EPP groups, who would have liked to support the amendment, were being leant on by colleagues from some of the countries closest to Strasbourg.

Last September Ashley tasked his Conservative colleagues to "find a friend", each UK conservative was asked to find 3 MEPs from those that had voted against the original ammendment and persuade them to change their minds. The campaign posters urging MEPs to "Save money, time and CO2" in 21 languages have been appearing in lifts and loos.

Today MEPs voted on the 2012 and 2013 calendar - this time Ashley´s amendment to roll two weeks into one was co-signed by 216 MEPs from across the parliament. He also asked for it to be a secret vote to stop bullying by larger delegations. The result was 356 to 255 in favour of reducing trips to Strasbourg.

This all matters because it is the first time MEPs from across Europe have come out so clearly in a vote against the two seat parliament. We hope that this will give national governments the change to re-consider their position regarding Strasbourg altogether. Its a beautiful City - but we we must stop this travelling circus which is such a waste of taxpayers money.

Weekly Brief on Greece, Commodities, Long Term Investments, Fuel for Van Drivers and Pensions.

2011-02-20T13:51:00.003Z

Last week, I travelled out to Strasbourg via Frankfurt to spend a morning with the European Central Bank (ECB) and back via Paris for a conference of politicians, central bankers and financiers discussing priorities for France’s presidency of the G20.

Not surprisingly much of the conversation with the ECB was about the situation in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The ECB has been buying debts of these countries over the past year and now owns 17% of the total but, when asked, they would not disclose what average price they have bought the debt at. They say that Greece should be able to reduce its debt burden by selling off government owned real-estate. I then leant that the average Greek household already owns more than 1.5 properties and the two Greek MEPs present were rather more skeptical about the state of their property market.

In Paris the big debates were on commodity prices and trading, the impact the new rules for bank capital and liquidity will have on the wider economy including long term investment, whether this will create a larger “shadow banking” culture and what to do about systemically important financial institutions. There are some who thought that the new banking rules were done and dusted when agreed at previous G20 meetings and then finalised during the debates at the international Basel committee - but it is actually very clear that the ink is far from dry on the detail.

Commodity markets will be in the spotlight during the French G20. There was a very divergent view between those who would like to see all commodities derivatives markets closed down and others who believe that these are useful for hedging risks for manufacturers and food producers - most East Anglian farmers I know have sold their grain long before they harvest it. Everyone agreed that there is a lack of transparent information in commodity markets, both on production levels and traded markets, as well as a need to address long term shortfalls in food supply and raw materials.

It was helpful to listen to a discussion on long term investment, in the UK as well as across Europe there is a desperate need for investment - for infrastructure and especially energy infrastructure. UK and European companies are much more reliant on bank lending than for example their US counterparts with 75% of EU capital coming from banks as opposed to 25% in the US. There is little doubt that if we push banks to hold much more liquidity we will reduce their long term investments. Pension funds which should be longer term investors are also being forced by regulation to hold more liquid shorter dated investments.

In Strasbourg this week we voted on long term targets for fuel emissions from vans. A big issue in the East of England not just for the thousands of tradesmen and delivery drivers who drive vans, but also because the Vauxhall factory in Luton is General Motors main European production facility. The new targets have taken a year to negotiate and we probably a sensible compromise to levels that the manufactures may be able to achieve. Having spoken to many van drivers during the year its clear that fuel consumption is a major business expense - they would like to see more fuel efficient vans but not if the price of the vehicle itself starts escalating. As ever EU targets won’t be the driving factor that create change this will happen because of the consumer pressure to force manufacturing innovation.

We also voted on a report on pensions. Funding pensions is a huge concern in all 27 countries but conditions such as life expectancy, demographics and savings differ significantly. A lot of MEPs were worried that the EU would try to introduce a standard pension age and minimum pension level. Actually the report says these decisions should stay with individual countries. During my work on this report I discovered that the first state pension was introduced in 1889 in Prussia by Bismark. The life expectancy then was just 45 so really very few people ever got to pensionable age at all.

Weekly brief on Environment, Pigs, Bank Accounts and Economics...

2011-02-14T15:32:00.002Z

This week saw a high footfall of visitors to the European Parliament - a large crowd gathered to see Prince Charles, lots of people turned up to support pig welfare, but the bankers came unaccompanied.

Many more MEPs turned up to listen to the Prince of Wales than would turn up to listen to the Presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament or the European Council. Indeed all 3 presidents turned up for the Prince. In my notes on the Prince’s speech I have written that HRH argued that to have a sustainable economic system you need a sustainable eco system -for long term economic growth one needs long-term environmental sustainability. I’m glad I wrote this down as a fellow MEP, who had not been present told me later that the Prince had said we should stop economic growth altogether.

In another meeting room down the hall there was a well attended screening of the film “Pig Business” (www.pigbusiness.co.uk) which shows some horrific footage of pig factory farms in Poland and the environmental damage that is associated them. My email box has been full of notes from residents of the East of England asking me to attend – so I joined the following debate, having seen the film on an earlier occasion.

This is a particularly important issue in East Anglia because so many of England’s pigs are in this part of the country. A few years ago the UK imposed higher welfare standards than across the EU which the caused many British farmers to find they could not compete against imports and they stopped production altogether. The EU is now looking at pig welfare, I would like to see the playing field moved upwards to UK standards - as well as clearer labelling to give consumers choice. I have long been a supporter of Country of Origin food labelling. This went through the European Parliament by a narrow majority last year - it will happen but will take time.

I met the consumer rights group Which?, who wanted to talk about whether your money is safe in a bank. As you remember, after the Northern Rock crisis there was a flight of money from the UK to Ireland when the Irish government said they would guarantee all the cash in personal bank accounts. This race for which government would guarantee the most clearly distorted free competition, jeopardising otherwise healthy banks. As a result there is now an agreement that there should be a standard guarantee of €100,000 (about £80,000) across the EU. In each country banks should set aside money to fund this, rather than taxpayers. We are now negotiating the finer details. “Which?” asked what happens to the person who has just received the insurance money because their house was burnt down - we need to make sure that one- off extraordinary bank balances are still covered.

When asked by “Which?” - what happens if you have some money in for example HSBC and other money in First Direct - a brand of the same bank? I’m afraid I did not agree with their suggestion that the two bank accounts should be covered separately. I don’t want to see life savings wiped out but if you are in the lucky position to hold more than £80,000 in bank accounts you need to be able to take responsibility for checking who guarantees it - better consumer labelling may be helpful here too.”

A delegation from Norway also came to talk to me about the deposit guarantees - Norway is not part of the EU - they have no vote and no say - but their trade agreement with the EU obliges them to apply all EU rules. They are extremely concerned how new rules on bank deposits could affect their own domestic banking system.

During the week I joined a group of 6 British MEPs from 3 major parties and a German MEP in a meeting with a senior management team from Barclays bank. I also attended a dinner with leaders of insurance companies, pension funds and banks. There is a plethora of legislation on financial services and economic matters working its way through European legislation- some of which is as a result of global discussions following G20 agreements. Senior management from other banks from Germany and the US amongst others have been regular visitors to Brussels, UK banks less so.

“A balance still needs to be achieved between requiring banks to put aside money to prevent further collapses versus lending money to the wider economy, helping save for pensions etc - as well as achieving a global level playing field. I still believe that there is much more that the financial services industry could do to help ensure that a correct balance between safer finances and funding growth is achieved.”

why do british companies not borrow from Europe? Should the UK be like Norway? and other questions

2011-02-06T21:20:00.002Z

Weekly view from Brussels

This week was a “mini-plenary” which means we have a selection of committee meetings, group meetings and then on Wednesday and Thursday some debates and votes. So it can be quite busy.

Outside the public meetings I met with new representatives of the CBI in Brussels. We have been working quite closely with the CBI over the past year when looking at the impact of new rules on financial services on the wider economy. Their new boss John Cridland has said they will keep the UK government “on their toes” when it comes to decisions that could affect growth. One of the questions I would like them to help answer is why so few British businesses take advantage of loans from the European Investment Bank. These loans are meant to be one of the ways to help innovative businesses Looking at a recent presentation I saw that of the E6.3 billion loans issued between 2007 and 2009 nearly a quarter had gone to German borrowers, 14.3% to Spain, Sweden 10.3% but the was UK down at 8.4%. Lending to businesses has been a big concern since the financial crisis and the European Commission suggesting large increases in EIB loan availability. I want to understand why companies in the UK don’t seem to apply for them - are they too expensive, poorly administered, poorly advertised?. I’m also writing to my local chambers of commerce across the East of England to ask their members’ thoughts.

I had a long discussion with Statoil the Norwegian Oil company regarding Offshore Oil drilling. The European Commission has said they are considering new legislation in offshore Oil production - this is an interesting situation for Norway who are not in the EU, they implement EU rules but have no votes on the legislation. They have more offshore oil production than the 27 members of the European Union put together. We talked about the safety regime that has been established in Norway to prevent spills and how the industry is working to be better prepared to cope with them should they occur as well as the discussions they have on safety and environmental issues with countries outside the EU like Russia. I hope to hear more from the Norwegian authorities in the weeks ahead. I have also invited Statoil to a public hearing I will organise in the European Parliament next month.

Along with the other 5 MEPs who are leading the scrutiny of the “economic governance” package we had various meetings with the European Central Bank, the European commission, social partners - including business, unions and voluntary sector representatives as well as a rather full press briefing. One journalist asked if we had any “red-lines” which is an interesting question as to be honest there are still may fluid issues which will be debated in months to come. My “red-line” though remains to ensure that there is a sensible and practical distinction between those in the Eurozone and those outside - if countries outside the Eurozone wish to “opt-in” to higher levels of scrutiny and the potential fining mechanism that should be permitted. But fines designed to protect Eurozone stability should not be imposed on those who are not in the zone. The ECB was quite interesting on to this issue as well - pointing out that issues such as “macro economic imbalances” are sensitive in all countries but even more so in areas where there is a common currency.

Back in the region last night I joined representatives from the Bio-science research community. We had a long discussion about the issues accessing EU funding for research, last year I worked with the European parliament on a paper suggesting 71 different ways of simplifying the process and cutting red tape but so far the commission has announced action on just 3.

weekly brief on super cars, pensions, and gold

2011-01-31T22:18:00.003Z

I meant to post this on Friday but it was a bit of a busy time.... here were my highlights of last week.

Lotus I met representatives from Lotus Cars who were in Brussels to meet with the European Commission to explain their new business plan. Lotus are intending to move into the “super car” market. EU legislation on co2 emmisions will to set targets for each manufacturer. This was agreed a couple of years ago before I became an MEP but in the following months the actual targets will be set. .

Lotus is a Norfolk based company. This was a very helpful update. It is important that we focus on how legislation affects local companies when rules are implemented as well as during the initial negotiations.

Pensions My amendment calling for a review of the EU’s own pension scheme was passed - at least at the committee stage.

Pension costs are a large and growing element of the EU budget so I have been calling for a review of the pensions policy of EU institutions. The EU pension scheme has a retirement age of 63 and was last reviewed in 2004. Given that in many EU countries people are being asked to work longer I thing it is only right that the EU should take a fresh look at its own policies. Last Autumn my Group didn’t get support from the rest of the Parliament on this in a similar vote - but this week in the Economic Affairs Committee we (just) got a majority. This will now go to another vote of the employment committee and then hopefully full parliament in upcoming weeks.

raw materials and recycling this week I went to a “hearing” in the Parliament on raw materials - these events often bring in experts from industry and others. We learnt about the importance and value of including precious metals in recycling - especially as these become rarer. For example one tonne of ore in a gold mine will on average produce just 5g of gold - but a tonne of mobile phones contains around 300 -350g. Yet less than 2 percent of mobile phones are recycled. The phrase “urban mine” was a new one to me but one I expect to hear more of.

Banks and Finance - I’ve had a series of meetings regarding banks and finance this week. Including listening to Danish bank, Nykredit, telling MEPs about their unique system for financing mortgages which gives the house buyer direct access to market prices. I also joined a group of German, French and Austrian MEPs on a trip to London meeting MPs, members of the house of Lords, the Treasury and the Bank of England. The MEPs were given clear messages about needing to work on better thought through regulation not just at a European level but globally too - as well as the importance of getting lending working for the wider economy.

Economic Governance - As one of the 6 MEPs working on the “Economic Governance” package I took part in the debate on these reports. An other MEP are called for countries to have to have their economic budgets audited by the European Court of Auditors - and for them to have to pre agreed economic forecasts with the European Commission. Whilst it is perfectly reasonable to expect countries to provide clear transparent information and listen to concerns of their neighbours, in my view national budgets are a national decision.

Finally - Sharon Bowles MEP, chairman of the Economic Affairs committee kindly let me sit in on a meeting with Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan. He had come from Washington via Brussels en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos. At the European Commission he had been given the red carpet treatment but on arrival at the European Parliament there was such a huge queue for visitors he couldn’t get through security - so we had the meeting very publicly in the entrance lobby! We discussed issues from bank capital to derivatives to market transparency to the global economy. Now thats not being lobbied behind closed doors.

Weekly Brief - from Strasbourg this time

2011-01-20T16:21:00.004Z

Well there was a bit of interest from last weeks email to local journalists telling them what I´m up to so. Mostly on fish - I´ve been asked to be a "sofa guest" on Radio Suffolk. Sounds interesting ... I wonder if its a real sofa? Therefore I am continuing with my new years resolution to send a weekly brief for at least one more week.

Here is the message that is going out this week.

This week the European Parliament moved to Strasbourg for its monthly Plenary session. This is the time when the Parliament meets as a whole to debate and vote on proposals that have been submitted from the Parliaments numerous committees.

For many years UK Conservative MEPS have voiced their discontent with the "two seat" parliament pointing to the waste of time and tax-payers money. The UK Coalition government is also opposed to this . However resolving the situation does not lie in the hands of the European Parliament but requires a unanimous agreement across National Parliaments in all 27 EU Countries.

The main piece of new legislation voted on this week was a directive on cross border healthcare. From 2013 this will allow UK patients the option of seeking treatment for planned procedures (such as planned operations) in other EU countries, provided they have the prior approval of the NHS to meet the costs (usually from their home GP and specialist. It will also mean that the NHS will not need to treat patients from other EU countries for such planned treatments unless there is prior agreement from the patients home health service to repay the NHS.

"I hope that this new directive will clarify the position both for patients and for medical professionals, give patients more choice and protect NHS budgets."

In the Parliament´s question time hour Vicky quizzed the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso, regarding cutting red tape on EU funding for Scientific Research. Vicky reminded President Barosso that research and innovation is critical to maintaining a competitive economy and that for the first time a university in Europe topped the global league tables for Scientific Research - Cambridge University. She said that European funding for research also supported research in many less well known universities as well as businesses large and small. However she is concerned that plans to unlock bureaucracy may be stalled.

"The EU budget for Research is huge - over E50 billion for the 2007-2013 period. This is a very significant source of funds for UK universities and innovative businesses. It is one of the areas where the UK gets back as much cash from the EU budget as we put into it. I have seen some cutting edge research in the East of England funded from this pot of money. However, it also has a reputation for being the most bureaucratic funding system on the planet. Last Autumn after long conversations with science and industry, the Parliament voted almost unanimously on a wide range of practical suggestions to speed up the grants process and simplify the system. Whilst the Commission President voiced his support for simplification I am concerned that very little may actually be happening"

In a debate on EU competition policy Vicky Ford raised the issue of hikes in domestic heating oil prices.

"The European Commission has massive power to investigate and take actions, including levying fines, if they believe that companies are price fixing or acting in an anti-competitive manner across EU national borders. This year the Commission will be looking at the Energy market. However they tend to focus on just Electricity and Gas Prices. In the East of England nearly a quarter of households do not have access to mains gas and the vast majority of these rural homes rely on domestic heating oil. Between November and December´s cold period residents experienced price rises in some cases over 50%. I know that suppliers worked incredibly hard to try to meet the very high demand in treacherous conditions however various MPs in the UK have called for an Office of Fair Trading investigation to check whether there are cartels operating to fix prices. It is right that if this is purely a UK National issue then it should be investigated by the UK regulator but there have also been price hikes in other countries including Ireland. I wanted to ensure that the Competition Commissioner is aware of the issue. In their review of Energy markets they must recognise that different countries have different energy supply systems and they should not forget rural areas."

Vicky met with ENI, an Italian Oil company and spoke to Statoil a Norwegian Oil company regarding Safety of Deep Sea Offshore Oil Drilling.

"After the Deep-Water Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico Italy immediately put a moratorium on all offshore drilling, but is now considering lifting this. The UK did not impose a moratorium but has taken numerous actions including increasing safety inspections. I have been reading about the UK´s own rigorous safety procedures and the recommendations from both the UK Parliament investigation and US investigation. Poor legislation contributed to the events that led up to the Gulf disaster. It is important that lessons are learnt and best practices are upheld."

Vicky has had various meetings with outside experts and other MEPs regarding Economic Governance. She is the Parliament´s Rapporteur on a new directive on fiscal frameworks that discusses how countries set national budgets.

"this Directive will NOT give Brussels bureaucrats the ability to reject British budgets. It calls for national governments to have at least a 3 year forecasting horizon when looking at tax and spending policy. The UK already does this. Some in the Eurozone wish to give more centralised powers to Brussels following the Eurozone crisis, this should not be automatically applied to those countries who have chosen to stay out the Euro. The UK government has agreed to take part in a new annual "European Semester" when national governments can discuss and comment on each others budget forecasts - I believe it would be more transparent if the EU´s own budget was also discussed at the same time".

Pensions Vicky took part in a debate on pensions in the Committee of Economic and Monetary Affairs. The European Commission has recently launched a consultation on pensions and the Committee will vote on a series of recommendations from the Parliament next week. Vicky has submitted an amendment requesting a review into the pension schemes of EU institutions. The issue of an ageing population and how to fund an ever growing pensions gap is faced by many countries across Europe.

"I was glad to hear many MEPs saying that pensions policies should remain with National Governments not with European Institutions. However there could be improvements by sharing best practice on for example information that is provided to savers on their pensions options. In addition more could be done to make sure that pension savings from one country can be moved to others."

New year - New transparency

2011-01-16T19:39:00.005Z

I've started 2011 with two new year's resolutions. One is to try to be on time for meetings (not great so far but better) the other is to send local and regional press organisations a very short weekly debrief on some of the meetings or discussions that I have had each week.

Below is what went out on Friday with issues including Offshore Oil drilling, Bank reform and bonuses, Female only car insurance, Economics of the Eurozone and governance reforms as well as fish discards and mobile broadband. The press release offers that any local journalist can call me or the office in Brussels or the UK for follow up details if they are interested to know more. So far Radio Norfolk asked me to speak about the outrage of fish discards, one local paper has put it on its website and another journalist has emailed a "thank you".

My husband hates the "Vicky is" "Vicky said" format - and I agree - so if anyone has a better format idea let me know.

Journalists and others often complain about lack of transparency from Europe - this is my attempt to help but if there is not a lot of interest in weeks to come then I will break the resolution and perhaps try something else.

- Vicky has been tasked by the Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee to draft a parliamentary report on the safety of deep-sea offshore oil and gas drilling. Vicky is looking to prepare a first draft of her report by March to influence the Commission's thinking on any new potential legislation at an EU level.

"Offshore oil and gas in the North Sea is extremely important to the UK. We have more experience in this area than all other EU countries so it is a huge honour as well as a responsibility to be given this role. Post the Gulf of Mexico "Deepwater" disaster there are serious questions that deserve an answer. I will be consulting the industry, national regulators and environmentalists in the weeks ahead. I hope the report will allow MEPs from all countries to come to an informed and well-considered view."

- Meeting with many representatives of European and International banks regarding new global rules on bank capital and liquidity. During recent months Vicky has been one of 5 MEPs from different parties and countries looking at how these rules can be introduced in the UK and Europe in a co-ordinated manner. Vicky is a former banker and was invited as a key note speaker alongside representatives from the British Banking Association and the European Commission.

"As we saw in Ireland the banking crisis in Europe is still not resolved, there needs to be stronger, more stable banks. Taxpayers should never have to bail out banks. The UK has already ensured that all our banks are well capitalised but new rules need to be brought into place across the globe. Whilst we need strong banks we also need banks that are able to lend to fuel the economy. Globally all countries have signed off on high-level agreement but the devil is in the detail - it is right that certain countries try to ensure that good local practices are not disadvantaged (like the UK Building society model) - but MEPS must not try to protect not poor local practices- especially given the Eurozone crisis. This meeting involved issues from domestic lending and mortgages, to trade finance (important when exporting to emerging countries). I have had subsequent follow up meetings this week with asset managers on to the unintended (but potentially very costly) impact on insurance rates and pension fund returns of other new rules on financial services, especially hedging."

-meeting with ESure - owner of "Sheila’s Wheels" an insurance company aimed exclusively at women. The European Court of Justice is currently deliberating whether it it discriminatory for insurance companies to offer cheaper rates to women drivers than male drivers.

"The European Court is a totally separate body from the European Parliament but I am worried by what precedent could be set. As a mother of two boys it is of course alarming to hear that young male drivers still have far higher accident rates than their female counterparts - but facts show this is the truth. That is why women are offered cheaper car insurance. Where could this end? - should everyone have to pay the same household insurance even if living in lower crime areas? - whats the incentive then to have a watch-thy-neighbour approach to crime prevention?- this does open a Pandoras box.

- meeting with Struan Stevenson MEP, vice chairman of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament regarding fish discards.

"This week UK TV viewers have been able to see an excellent and informative program by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtstall that demonstrated the outrageous effect that of EU Fishery Policy leading to a million of tons of healthy fish being caught but then dumped overboard. We have been fighting this for many years but are seeing hopeful progress for reform."

- meeting with Chief Executive of Ofcom Ed Richard regarding broadband access and other issues.

"It was extremely helpful to quiz Ofcom on many issues - especially on broadband roll-out where he believes that the UK is set to be well ahead of other countries in just a few years. However, I had a lot of questions regarding the issue of rural broadband."

- meeting with other MEPs regarding Pensions. Vicky is one of 5 MEPs looking at a parliament report on pension policy. MEPs have submitted amendments.

"The issue of how to fund our lives as we all live longer is a common issue across Europe and I have nothing against sharing best practices - but all countries are different and should not be forced to be the same. Fortunately many other MEPs from other countries seem to agree on this. Public sector pensions are a huge issue in many European Countries including the UK and I have submitted a suggestion that the EU institutions (including the European Commission) should review its own pensions scheme that they themselves are following best practice. it could be controversial but in my view is only right.

- various meetings regarding the Eurozone situation and "economic governance". Vicky is one of 6 MEPs leading the Parliament's review of new proposals regarding national government's budgetary planning and excessive deficits.

"This is a huge work stream which I have been involved in since last summer - as we have learnt in the UK ballooning of government debt carries an extremely painful price for all - but this is multiplied in many parts of the Eurozone during this crisis. In the UK the government prepares 3 or even 5 year forecasts before setting taxes and deciding spending - and we still got into difficulties. Many other countries don't do this even though they have continually promised to do so. My report does not give EU officials the right to set UK budgets but does suggest that best practice in setting national budgets should be followed. It also suggests that the EU's own budget should be equally scrutinised. Other parts of the Economic Governance package refer to specific actions to be taken within the Eurozone following the crisis, such as applying fines and other sanctions to countries that breach financial rules. These fines will not apply to the UK.

- Bankers' bonuses - Last year Vicky was one of the the leading MEPs setting new rules on bankers’ bonuses. The Coalition government has chosen the toughest line to take within the framework of the European rules. These are now amongst the strictest bonus rules across the globe. At least 40% of bonuses for senior risk takers must be deferred and no more than 50% can be paid in cash.

"Banks must moderate their remuneration and act responsibly. One of the causes of the financial crisis was that risk takers were paid large amounts of money upfront but long term risks of the positions they had taken remained with the bank. New rules do need to be agreed internationally as we all know that banking is an extremely mobile and global business.

Why I've been a bit busy

2010-12-12T22:43:00.001Z

For many weeks now, I have been working on the so called “Economic Governance” package of European legislation - in simple terms this is the agreement on what countries should do in the future to try to prevent another Greek or Irish crisis - and to bring the weaker economies of Europe back on track. Of course its much more complicated.

A team of 6 MEPs from different countries and different political persuasions have been tasked by their groups to lead on the package. We have had meeting after meeting, picked the brains of experts from across the globe - there are areas where we agree but we’ve also had many debates about differences. Given the economic situation I’m not sure it helps anyone to add the extra confusion by blogging on the twists and turns of those debates.

I’m in a slightly odd position as, unlike the other groups of the European Parliament, my group is almost entirely non Euro-zone. Indeed only 2 of my 54 group colleagues use the “common” currency. The rest of us are split have into those new member states whose countries are committed to join “when ready” and the UK Conservatives who have always stood to keep the pound.

Since September I’ve sometimes felt a bit like an agony aunt. A year and a half ago MEPs from across the Eurozone would have tried to tease me that Sterling should still join the Euro - now members often come instead to seek my views. They understand that non Euro countries can not automatically underwrite euro bailouts and that if Eurozone countries want to hand more power to Brussels this needs to come with opt outs for non Eurozone.

This week I hope that our group of 6 will each put our first thoughts on the table. The rest of the parliament will then get a long period to submit their own amendments there will be public debates and final votes probably in March. Following that there should be a negotiation period with National Governments via the Council of Ministers and final legislation in June.

As of now amongst the group of 6 we will agree that transparency is vital especially decent data and statistics - Governments should not be able mislead with their numbers. Countries will be asked to provide 3 year forecasts and ensure they can get monthly cash reconciliations (the UK already does this - but many don’t).

We will agree that all countries should share and discuss their budgets annually so that they can understand the impacts of their decisions on each others affairs. We will agree that the European parliament should be involved in those discussions.

However there are points where we don’t all agree - I have suggested that the EU budget should be discussed annually at the same time but some have already suggested they will probably not agree with me.

Everyone agrees that there need to be incentives for countries who perform as well as sanctions for those that don’t - but there are long debates about whether one of the incentives should be a common government bond issuance program in the Eurozone (Even though this would only be in the Euro I worry that its expensive with moral hazard). On the sanctions side, my Eurozone colleagues are concerned about the levels and practicality of fines, and when they should be triggered.

There are still points to debate on state vs private pensions schemes and some of my colleagues want to add a European Monetary Fund to this legislation.
On top of this the feisty talk may come in the area of correcting “macro-economic imbalances”. This is economics code for either correcting credit bubbles (think Ireland) which I agree is needed - or for giving the European Commission the right to try to level out almost any economic trend regarding what makes a richer-country-poorer or poorer-country-richer.....

This has a long way to go.

A very expensive day in Europe

2010-10-20T16:43:00.007Z

Today in Strasbourg, I (and my Conservative colleagues) voted for a freeze in the EU budget because it is unacceptable for EU institutions to keep spending more taxpayers´ money when national governments are having to rein back spending at home. We voted to reduce the expenses of MEPs and to reduce the costs of Parliament. We also voted against increasing maternity pay to 20 weeks because I believe that this sort of decision should be taken by national governments not international parliaments (especially given the dire economic times).

Sadly colleagues from other countries and other groups did not agree. The Parliament voted to increase the EU budget by 5.9% (£843 million gross contribution for the UK). The vote on maternity leave was lost by just 7 votes (327 to 320)- this is predicted to add costs of £2.5 billion a year to UK businesses and government.

These are not yet final decisions as national governments will now get their say.
Lets hope some sense prevails.

A small ray of light was that MEPs did agree to at least review the pension arrangements of EU employees... but even that is going to take a while.

Is it any wonder that members of the public feel the EU is increasingly out of touch?

Conference Season

2010-10-09T17:33:00.008Z

It is not just conference season in the UK - last week I raced backwards and forwards across Brussels between debates in the Parliament (from the impact of the latest Free trade agreement on cars to the EU wanting to leverage its budget) to attend parts of Europe’s annual conference for central bankers, legislators and financial services (how do we get private sector money back investing in the economy?)

Then on Sunday I travelled to Birmingham for the first party conference of the new government. It was great to see many friends, many now sporting the letters MP after their name - many others starting with a range of new and exciting opportunities. I was armed with a back to back diary of meetings mostly with businesses and a long list of upcoming legislation that I predicted would be raised - copious notes later I returned to Brussels on Wednesday with an even longer list.

On Wednesday night we debated how the new international “Basel” rules for banks would be implemented in Europe - across the continent many MEPs were asking for local exemptions. I’m not at all convinced this will help restore confidence in banks or markets.

On Thursday meetings, votes then back home. Friday though was glorious. Norfolk day.

Starting at Anglia Farmers - a buying co-operative for over 2,000 farms that orders over one million litres of bulk fuel each week and handles 10,000 mobile phone accounts. Clarke Willis was a fount of knowledge on the rural economy, energy needs, commodities markets etc etc. The "trading floor" would not look out of place in the City but in fact is on a farm site near Norwich - I heard how they were checking each farmer's Vodaphone bill item by item - apparently you should be too at the moment!

Then a tour of Colman’s mustard - on the same factory site in Norwich since 1854, but full of new ideas, more efficient modern production techniques run side by side with the traditional ones. I had never thought about the complexity of running a single facility that produces over 200 different products. There is a huge family spirit and staff loyalty is every bit as fearsome as the mustard.

Lunch was spent catching up with councillors re Broadband - they are going places and hope to soon start connecting up rural villages via a WiFi system linked to the village schools’ fibre connections.

Last stop was to meet one of the county’s larger egg farmers - from the end of 2012 keeping hens in battery cages will be illegal in the EU. After significant investment the UK is more than ready to comply - others must do too.

On Monday I will attend a conference of Manufacturing Engineers in East Anglia - yes it is the conference season.

Is the UK's voice getting stronger?

2010-09-18T19:17:00.003Z

The car in this photo drives itself - well not quite but it is really cool, hence my laughter. A bit of clever electronics and software stored on a mobile phone had adapted the cruise control. I drove along a twisty country road and through roundabouts in town without touching the brake or accelerator. All I needed to do was steer and over-ride if other cars appeared. The inventors from Ricardo in Cambridge are now working on a project that will allow you to totally hand over the controls of your car to a driver in front. Letting them negotiate the M25 traffic jam for you whilst you check emails or watch a movie. Very cool and fuel efficient too.

Ricardo had asked me to come and hear their experience with research projects funded by the EU. They had some specific suggestions - a less complex process for managing foreign exchange issues (currently they need to reconcile exchange rates daily), for the EU to be able to pay grants directly to junior partners rather than having all money funneled through the lead (with resulting business risk) and for a web based “dating” service to help find research partners.

Last week I went into a negotiation armed with a list of changes I would like to see. I walked out of the meeting with a tick beside every point. A year ago I found it incredibly difficult to get a UK voice heard on anything - in that meeting I found I was at least listened to on everything. Thank you to everyone who has answered my call for advice on the EU research program - PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING. I’m not a researcher/scientist/engineer/innovator but if you are and have experiences or good suggestions then I can at least try get them aired.

OK the arguments we are having on financial services and economic reforms are a LOT more complicated - but even there the attitude towards the UK’s point of view is markedly more friendly than a year ago.

Feedback wanted on Research and Development

2010-09-06T21:19:00.001Z

It is a little known fact that there are more universities, businesses and other organisations participating in European programs for research and development from the UK than from any other country.
It is also a vast amount of public money – the EU budget for Framework 7 which runs from 2007 to 2013 is €51 billion. Indeed, the amount of money spent in the UK on R&D from EU budgets is roughly equal to the entire amount of support given domestically through R&D tax credits.
The European system of Framework Grants has a reputation for being the most bureaucratic and complex system in the world. Nevertheless, supporting research and development is vital for innovation and fundamental to future economic growth.
In light of this I have volunteered to be one of a small group of MEPs, and the only UK member, on a working group looking at simplification of framework grants and future strategy.
I would be interested the experiences and opinions of readers who have been involved in Framework funding projects in the past. Please email comments to office@vickyford.org.

What is wrong with a GM potato?

2010-07-15T22:28:00.004Z

It's been just a bit busy recently in Brussels ... and there are a back log of more complex questions I would like to ask the blogging community - but please tell me just what is wrong with the GM potato trial I saw near Norwich earlier this month....

A wild South American blight resistant mini potato has been crossed into a common supermarket "Desire".

1. Potato blight devastates crops - think back on Irish history

2. Farmers have to spray fields with chemicals up to 15 times a season to cope with potato blight.

3. Potatoes are grown from tubers i.e. from last season's potatoes ... not from seed. Bees are not interested in potato flowers so the risk of cross pollination to "traditional" crops is negligible.

4. This scientific trial is not funded by a large industrial oligopoly but, as far as I can see by scientists and philanthropists genuinely interested in how we meet the food needs of the world's growing population

5. This particular trial is not a fly by night experiment - its taken years of science to get to the planting trial stage - but still many more years before deciding if this is scientifically acceptable, let alone a marketable crop.

It is time that an intelligent crop-by-crop approach is taken to the issue of GM foods. Those with a longer history tell me that the EU has sat on the fence regarding individual GM crops for 15 years. This week the European Authorities slowing began to agree that decisions on individual crops should be taken by National Governments and not at an EU level.

So for the record I would eat this potato....

First Strasbourg of a new era

2010-05-20T21:14:00.005Z

The volcanic ash has added a new frisson of excitement to an MEP’s life. As I left home on Monday morning it was not at all clear which of my colleagues would make it – and I found myself chucking a few extra items of underwear into the suitcase in case I got stranded.

Of course this was also the first voting session of the European Parliament with a Conservative and Liberal government back at home. In the European Parliament we sit with different groups and there are differences of approach but in my first year as an MEP I have found many “market” Liberal MEPs on the Continent whose views on business and energy issues are similar to those of my own.

Monday was spent navigating my way across Europe’s train network so I arrived in the Parliament early evening to speak in a debate on Energy in Buildings – here I have worked closely with Fiona Hall MEP and leader of the UK Liberal delegation on legislation we hope will help save some of the 40% of Europe's energy that is used in homes and other buildings. Exporting good practice from the UK across the rest of the EU should be encouraged.

At 9pm we started the late night vote on the now infamous Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive – 4 of the 5 “liberals” from across Europe joined the Conservatives in voting against the legislation, united in our concerns that a protectionist approach could hurt pension funds and other investors.

On Tuesday I raced around Parliament helping to gather signatures for a motion to prevent the increase in MEPs staffing allowances – Greens and Conservatives joined forces here – sadly for the tax-payer we lost the final vote.

On Wednesday all UK MEPs (bar 2) voted to try to reduce the number of weeks we spend in Strasbourg (quite the biggest symbolic waste of tax payers money)– again we lost but it was closer than ever before and inspired us to try and try again.

By Thursday it was time to win some votes. A controversial paper on “Long Term Sustainability of Public Financing” had initially been drafted by a socialist economist – needless to say it was rather long on the ”spend, spend” theory of economics. Through the process of MEPs amendments and close
votes involving the EPP (Centre right)/ ECR (Our group) versus Socialists/Communists/Greens the document had been significantly redrafted in committee to more of a “lets the repay some debt, get sustainable budgets, focus investment on growth” theory of economics. As we raced into the deadline of the final full parliament votes today the EPP agreed to help vote down most of the clauses that we disliked and ECR/EPP/Liberals together defeated some last minute amendments from the Socialist side. And when it came to the final vote, on balance, I felt we had a paper that was not 100% perfect but worth supporting so I raised my thumb upwards and signalled to my colleagues to vote for the motion. It was passed by the narrowest of votes with the UK Conservatives making the difference – as a result we now have a paper passed by the European Parliament that emphasises need to restore fiscal restraint.

The week has also included two lengthy “Trialogs” i.e. the critical negotiation sessions to try to reconcile views between parliament, representatives of national governments in the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. It was our final trialog session on the Prospectus Directive – as a result it should now be cheaper and less bureaucratic for companies (especially smaller companies) to raise equity; a pleasing result and led from the Parliaments side by a German Liberal.

The other trialog sessions on the “supervisory architecture” for cross-boarder financial institutions are just getting started - these cover 7 different directives and promise long hours of meetings over the coming months.

I had a long chat with the Federation of Small Businesses on how to help them campaign against the working time direct,ive for self employed Truck Drivers (a ludicrous suggestion as they already have time limiters in their trucks). After most had packed up work for the day I had dinner with a group of US Banks and coffee with representatives of UK banks – important as we need to make sure that new rules for banks in Europe are, if possible, in line with other markets – we will be voting on some of these crucial and complex reforms within the next few weeks.

I spoke in 3 debates in the main chamber and attended a seminar on Research and Innovation – how to share Scientific discoveries better across Europe and globally? A key note speaker was Giscard D’Estaing who seemed to take great pleasure in telling the audience that Europe’s current woes were due to the Eurosceptic Brits – I couldn’t resist chipping in that on the subject of the conference British inventors are most pro-Europe and indeed there are more universities or businesses involved in EU cross-border collaborative research programs than from any other country.

It is time that some continental colleagues thought a bit more about the subtlety of the UK’s views on Europe.

Reasons to be Happy

2010-05-12T21:00:00.003Z

It has been wonderful to see David Cameron in Number 10 and so firmly getting down to business today - actually some of us didn't wait for last night's agreement. The European Parliament was of course continuing full steam ahead on a vast wave of financial services legislation that is coming through Europe.

Eve of Poll last Wednesday when I returned from talking to undecided voters in Thurrock we were up till the early hours working through the latest drafts of financial services legislation. Whilst it would have been nice to grab some sleep after a long and successful election day in Ipswich, on Friday we were looking at yet more proposed re-drafting from other countries MEPS and on Monday it was back to Brussels to vote (Suffice to say I didn't agree with quite all of the proposed text). The following days and weeks will include some crucial negotiations between European Countries on financial services reform - and less than 24 hours after DC set off to meet the Queen there is a UK government team pouring over the nitty gritty details at the highest levels. Well done.

I am very pleased to see so many friends arriving in Westminster - 17 new Conservative MPs from the East of England. They are a highly talented bunch - both men and women. Some have suggested that it would be nice to see more women in the cabinet now... I'm relaxed. Let the newly elected MPs get their feet under their desks and there will be lots of new talent for cabinet posts in years to come.

I am sorry to see some great candidates that were not elected. They worked so hard and would have been great MPs. With 52 of the 58 seats in the East of England now Conservative held it is a small number - but I can not thank them enough for their hard work and friendship.

5 more days to change our politics

2010-05-02T21:58:00.002Z

Westminster MPs may live in a bubble but the Brussels bubble can be even more isolated. It has been great to be back on doorsteps, in shopping centres and markets talking to voters and hearing their concerns. I've spent the past couple of days manning a call centre talking to hundreds of undecided voters. There were some who just didn't want to talk but a some who really, really do. People know that their vote this time is very important. The longer conversations were with public sector workers who know that changes need to be made and some had great suggestions.

I have to get back to Brussels for key meetings on financial services reform tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday. The rest of the world doesn't stop for our election and it vital that the UK voice is still heard... its a bank holiday here so the UK trains have a reduced timetable... looks like the alarm is set for 5am.

Dusty thinking from the European Parliament in Strasbourg

2010-04-19T17:21:00.003Z

All day yesterday, Sunday, my blackberry was silently vibrating as email after email arrived from MEP colleagues stuck under the Volcanic Ash cloud begging for this weeks Strasbourg meeting to be cancelled. It was very clear that even if the parliament did meet this week MEPs from further flung parts of the EU would simply not be able to be present. Other MEPs begged that the monthly migration to Strasbourg could be evacuated back to Brussels.

No answer back. The issue of Strasbourg is just too sensitive to the French, Germans and some other central Europeans, admitting the need to re-schedule is to them a loss of face too far.

There was a moment of no return when I boarded the Eurostar this morning. I knew that many of my UK colleagues were grounded as the train seats out were fully booked by last Friday - I was also told that all trains back were fully booked until this Thursday. In my diary in addition to the normal Strasbourg votes I had 4 meetings about key pieces of up-coming legislation that affect the UK more than most. However I was not prepared to risk leaving UK without a voice.

As the train raced through France the email traffic continued 3 of my 4 meetings have been cancelled. The queues at both Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est were horrendous. It is clear that even in the centre of mainland Europe travelling is causing huge trauma.

Arriving in Strasbourg the powers-that-be have decided that it would be undemocratic for the Parliament to vote as this would exclude members from further countries. However they have decided that debates must continue. I thought democracy was as much about the right to free speech as the right to vote. Having admitted that it would be wrong to vote when various countries are unrepresented why is it acceptable to have debates when they can not make their opinions heard
? Is this suggesting that the debates don't count?

The volcanic ash cloud is forcing many to re-think their reliance on travel and transportation. It is causing real pain to people and businesses. We politicians are constantly asking those we represent to save energy and think twice before making un-necessary journeys. Please let's get rid of these un-necessary journeys to Strasbourg.

And They're Off

2010-04-06T20:38:00.004Z

As Mr Brown was travelling up the Mall to call the election today I was back on the Eurostar to Brussels. Since Tony Blair announced his intention to stand down as PM immediately after the 2005 election my country has been without a committed, elected leader at the helm and finally five years on they have a choice.

So what does an MEP do during a national general election campaign? MEPs from different countries and different groups give different answers - even from our own country and my own group there are different answers. Here is mine.

1. I want a change of government in the UK for the benefit of the UK.

2. I want to see a large number of the excellent candidates across the East of England elected to parliament. Over recent years I have made good friends with many of them, seen their highs and lows as they juggle work, politics, community and family. I know that the amongst the new generation of MPs in waiting there are some true stars. Fighting an election is great fun but can also be lonely and brutal - I want to help them and their teams.

3. BUT .... we also can't afford to drop the ball with the European legislative agenda. This afternoon and evening I prepared a voting list for over 100 different votes that my colleagues will face tomorrow. This takes some time - and was on amendments just one report - to do with Energy savings. When a document is negotiated via hundreds of amendments and babel-fished through 22 languages it often becomes totally intelligible. The working language is English and being present in the re-drafting meetings and adding the native English speaking voice makes a difference.

4. However .... I also want to a change in the UK government for the wider world. I'm fed up with the recent trend of the UK blaming "global" issues for our own troubles - perhaps I'm arrogant - but the UK I'm proud of is the UK that used to help to solve global issues. There is not a great deal of point of me fighting in the European Parliament if our battle-grounds are not even inspected by the Council of Ministers where our National Parliaments are represented. Each piece of EU legislation requires approval by both Parliament and the Council. Over recent months there has been a steady stream of Conservative MPs through Brussels - working with their MEP colleagues to make sure they are ready and briefed to take up their council seats on every bit of EU legislation. They are thinking positive and ready for the challenge.

THEREFORE ... over the next few weeks I will be back in the UK as much as possible and keeping up with the day job in Brussels. Over the Easter Weekend I spoke to many friends from different jobs, backgrounds and financial circumstances who are going to try to find the extra hours to help out in the election over the coming weeks. Join them - I will be.

Who wears the trousers?

2010-03-30T22:24:00.004Z

I enjoyed reading the Con-Home article this afternoon on whether not jeans are appropriate attire in a Council meeting. I recently spotted the normally most elegant Rachinda Dati MEP from the EPP wearing jeans (expensive looking ones) in the European Parliament but she was so surrounded by her usual entourage of TV cameras that I didn’t butt in – Ms Dati has a bit of a reputation for wearing Sarkos trousers when test driving his ideas in the European Parliament.

A few days later another French MEP Sylvie Goulard from the "Liberals" was again wearing jeans in a meeting. Sylvie is normally much more eloquent in both words and dress. Quietly, I lent over the rank of desks between us and told her that on this occasion I not only disapproved of her words but also her attire. By the time we had returned for the afternoon session the jeans had gone. I know my place and would never even think about “Out -Styling” a Parisian but after months of listening to Ms Goulard lecture the room on what is wrong with the UK, I did chuckle.

The past couple of weeks have been very intense in the Ford office with five of the pieces of legislation we are looking at all arriving at a climax at the same time. Those who are familiar with Westminster are often surprised with the level of detail that MEPs needs to get to grips with in any particular directive or report. As a committee member I can table amendments on each of the documents my committee is looking at (the Economic and Monetary affairs committee is scheduled to look at over 50 documents this year). After everyone has thrown in their cards most documents have over 100 amendments – some many more – there then follows a lengthy process behind the scenes of negotiating compromises and intricate complex voting lists winding through each amendment. Given that we rely on the babel-fish translation between 22 different languages and across 27 different countries it should be no surprise that most times the ending legislation is, at best, clunky.

The glass is sometimes half full though – where there are no combatants for trouser wearing and genuine sharing of interests. I have enjoyed working on a directive on dodgy drugs. The increase in counterfeit medicines from Internet Viagra sales to now hospital cancer drugs is potentially terrifying and its been good to work across country, across party and across the industry to try to find solutions – this needs the sort of international procedures that is why we went into common market in the first place. I’ve met pharma companies, pharmacists and doctors and I hope that new bar-coding procedures across Europe may save lives without making everyday asprin more expensive.

Sometimes the negotiations are trickier. Various MEPs from across the continent have been calling for “more powers to Europe” i.e. Megga trouser wearing in Brussels taking control of financial services. The UK is many miles from perfect but it is rather ironic that MEPs from the same countries suddenly tabled delaying amendments to new banking rules. Thus realising that perhaps there were more skeletons outside the UK’s closets than those within.

This has a long way to run – but it’s been good to have a few days back at home.

Today in Castlepoint, Basildon and Watford meeting voters and hearing their concerns over taxation, services and our national debt. Its very clear that on the Streets here there is not a lot of support for Gordon Brown continuing to wear the trousers in Downing Street.

Action packed week in Strasbourg

2010-03-14T17:30:00.003Z

This week was a bit of a busy one in Strasbourg. Despite years of lobbying by MEPs to stop the second seat, the Parliament still meets there approximately once a month in Strasbourg. This is the main time MEPS join together a debating chamber – speaking time is strictly limited and MEPs have to bid for the opportunity to speak.

Leaving home early on Monday morning I finally go to the office at about 5pm - time to start the working day with a debate on financial taxes. I dont like the idea of new taxes being implemented at a European level. There is a drive by some MEPs to use the financial crisis as an excuse to pass significant more power from the UK and other countries to the EU. I have no problem with asking banks to pay back the taxpayers for their bailouts – as a globally co-ordinated move. But, the idea that the EU could start to extract its own taxes potentially on every UK citizen’s pension fund, saving or investment is not acceptable. It is has always been sacrosanct that taxation is a national government decision and not subject to far removed decision makers in Brussels or Strasbourg.

Tuesday was mostly group meetings and votes, but on Wednesday it was back to the main chamber where I joined Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer, Dan Hannan and Robert Atkins in a series of questions to the President of the European Council; the Presidency rotates every 6 months and is currently held by the Spanish. We all spoke out for UK citizens who have moved to Spain and found their dreams and livelihoods shattered when changes in planning laws have caused their homes to be bulldozed. The procedures of the European Parliament are quite formal so it is sometimes difficult to get an issue a proper hearing. Whilst the Presidency is not strictly speaking meant to answer on domestic Spanish issues, some of us felt that this has been going on too long and just too far – people have lost their homes and their life savings, by asking a series of questions we certainly put the Spanish representatives on the spot. They got a clear message that UK MEPS are not prepared to let this issue fester out of the spotlight.

On Thursday morning was a debate about investing in Low Carbon technologies. I'm all for new ideas for energy saving and diversification of energy for security reasons. But EU funds are taxpayers funds, the East of England already has experience with using EU funds for investment and research. Companies and Universities across the East of England around Cambridge and elsewhere are often worldwide leaders in research. The EU has a phenomenal 50 billion euro budget for research. Some good projects have come out of the joint work that is done with other European countries and part funded from EU budgets. But there are also some very serious issues with bureaucracy, complexitiy (especially for smaller companies), inflexibility at adapting to new developments in science and some terrible stories about late payments from the EU to struggling businesses. Before the EU embarks on a new strategy for spending taxpayers money they could do with learning the lessons of the past.

Away from the main chamber, the email traffic was fluttering with MEPs offering to sign a letter to stop the “Strasbourg circus” (good idea). In a debate on financial services and specifically financial derivatives I was able to refer to my visit last week Thomson Holiday’s head quarters in Luton. They are the UK and Europe’s leading holiday company which organises holidays for over 30 million people every year. They, like many other companies, need to manage foreign exchange and fluctuating commodity costs like airline fuel – other MEPs need to understand that new EU regulations on derivatives must make sure that it becomes impractical for companies to hedge their risks. The costs would be borne by the customers, whether on their holiday or at home.

Friday was back in the constituency and catching up with three of the Conservative coastal candidates for the General Election. With Therese Coffey in Suffolk Coastal I saw the work that needs to be done to repair the harbour wall in Southwold. They are about £2million short of the money they need to make repairs and build a new dockside for tourism. Its frustrating that when you see so much money wasted capital projects like this struggle.

In Lowestoft, Peter Aldous had arranged for me to meet an impressively energetic crew from the combined local councils who have been making sure our East Anglian ports have all the facilities, land and expertise lined up to take part in the massive building of offshore wind turbines that will start in coming years. The next project of 1000 turbines off the Norfolk/ Suffolk coast produce 5 times the amount of energy of Sizewell Nuclear power station. This is big business and potential for big jobs in an area that needs them. I have been asked to write to a select group of companies in the supply chain and encourage them to take a look at locating services and production in our East Anglian ports. My pen and writing paper are going to be busy.

Then to Great Yarmouth where Bradon Lewis took me to meet a local award winning butcher. Don't forget that Norfolk/ Suffolk and Cambridgeshire farmers provide 2/3 of the pork and potatos in the UK. I'm working with the NFU to host a bangers and mash lunch in the Parliament next month to remind others of the extraordinarly high standards our farmers are capable of. The butcher was impressed, we had a long chat about various bits of EU legislation that have been threatened. I left having done the weekend food shopping.

Back to Brussels next week .....

Chocolate computers

2010-02-05T15:07:00.009Z

There are loads of downsides with the way MEP constituencies work in the UK - the patches are huge, proportional representation depersonalises the relation ship with voters - BUT the great thing about representing an area like the East of England is that I am continually finding out more of the great things that happen in this part of the UK.

Some recent photos...
Tasting the next generation Magnum at Unilever's research facility near Bedford... like Willy Wonka's factory but for Ice Cream... and much more. Issues - why EU is so much slower at approving new products than practically every other major economic area, pros and cons of EU research funding.
Joining a boat trip in Cambridge to hear about work to be done to clean up our rivers and water. Experts included water companies, the environment agency, fishermen, farmers and foresters. Issues - the Water Framework Directive, invasive species, pollutants, CAP funding for environmental programs.

Opening an IT suite at a small rural school in Norfolk. Rural broadband is a big concern in Norfolk. I am hoping to host a workshop bringing together industry, user groups and local government at the end of the month. Issues - the benefits of broadband access for isolated communities. How to share best practive.
Visiting the Vauxhall van factory in Luton. This is one of the most efficient factories that General Motors own and I was impressed by the commitment of workers to continual improvements. Issues - providing a level playing field for UK businesses and state aid rules, upcoming legislation for reducing CO2 in van emissions and why this is different to the car market.

Also in Luton Nigel Huddleston took me to the Dallow Community Centre in one of the most deprived parts of town. Here an incredible group of volunteers took on the task of building and setting up a community facility that is now used by over 50,000 people each year. I arrived on Friday - after the Muslim community's weekly prayers but before the Friday evening gospel choir and Saturday hockey games. Even our most diverse, deprived communities can be very vibrant.

Horse trading

2010-01-21T11:14:00.001Z

No wonder those outside the Brussels/Strasbourg bubble find EU legislation so confusing. This week has kicked off some horse trading that even the fastest tic-tac bookie would struggle to keep up with.

Firstly the debate on the EU commissioners has continued. The 25 men and women who have been nominated by their countries to become supreme commanders of the EU Commission have now been cross examined at length by the various committees of the Parliament. In principal this is meant to be a transparent public process whereby MEPs decide whether they think the nominees.

In practice this has been wheeler dealing behind closed doors. In the corridors and coffee bars MEPs have exchanged stories about what they have witnessed. Some nominees are no doubt able, one (Jeleva) was so woeful that she has already resigned not only as a commissioner designate but also as Bulgaria’s foreign minister. At best, among the others there are some square pegs in round holes. Suffice to say that the main federalist parties don’t want to criticise the EU publicly and it looks as if all the secret exchanges of letters will result in a stitch up deal that means the rest of these Commissioners get rubber stamped through. MEPs like me will only get a vote on the whole bunch – not individuals – very transparent NOT.

Today is also the final deadline for submitting amendments on the latest EU directive on financial services – the “Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive”. Those who follow Westminster style systems are totally flummoxed when I explain how MEPs can totally re-write a piece of legislation by amendments. So far I counted well over 500 amendments that have been tabled and I haven’t even spoken to half the committee. My Conservative colleagues have submitted over 100 and have been working on alliances with other parties on theirs. This directive, which was meant to target systemic risks building up in hedge funds, must be significantly redrafted or it could also be very damaging to innovative companies, pensions and investment in developing countries. Whilst I hope that we will be able to negotiate a workable solution - I have just tabled one amendment - calling for a full review after 2 years. So hopefully this at least gives us an insurance policy if the whole thing ends up as a disaster.

Photos from recent trips across the region would also be attached – if I hadn’t left the leads for my camera in the UK so here is just one of when I went to visit the local Ambulance service during the snow-season – I learnt even they need my help to fight back against other poorly crafted pieces of legislation, I can feel some more amendments coming.

Back to School for the European Parliament

2010-01-12T19:40:00.003Z

Today is only day two of the start of the New Year in the European Parliament but it has started with a bang. The questioning of new EU commissioners and subsequent debate is already going on long into the evenings.

The mood of European MEPs seems to have changed over the holiday and many continental MEPs appear much more concerned about the state of public finances than they were before Christmas. This should be a good thing as debate over tax-tax vs. spend-spend that has already started back at home in the UK is now being faced up to by some of our Continental colleagues.

I have now listened to the grillings being given to three of the potential commissioners - those for Economic Affairs, Fraud/Tax and just now Competition. There are grumblings in corridors that various Commissioner Candidates appear to be avoiding answering the questions, or ill briefed - plus ca change. The proposed Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia has at least tried to give more detailed and informed answers even though he is a Socialist so I don't necessarily agree with all his answers! A classic moment was when one of the tri-lingual French MEPs pointed out that one of the candidates described his priority as "Growth" when speaking English, "Employment" when speaking French and then in German this became the "Social Market"... I must add paying closer attention to translations to my list of New Years Resolutions.

Nuclear and Budgets

2009-12-14T10:20:00.001Z

I am writing this on the long train to Strasbourg. Leaving home at 7.45 am on a Monday morning I will get to my desk about 5.30 pm this evening – when I started this job there was a direct flight from City Airport but since that has been stopped I have been trying out the train route via Paris. Whilst I moan a lot, it uses less energy than flying (mentally as well as fuel wise) and a good chance to catch up on reading the wedge of papers in my case measures up to about 5 inches.

I have found that the Copenhagen summit has been a good time to focus on Energy use. Last week I joined a group from the European Parliament to visit one of Belgium’s nuclear power stations. In Belgium over 50% of electricity comes from nuclear power and given the UK’s recent commitment to replacing our Nuclear power station I thought it would be useful to see how it works in a country that is so nuclear dependent.

It really was a once in a lifetime experience. The plant was on shut down whilst having its massive steam generators replaced so we were allowed to go right into the heart of the operations. “Kicking the tyres” on a site visit is incredibly helpful. I had gone with 3 questions in mind – Security, Safety, and what to do with the Waste. Security was tight, I eventually lost count of the number of secure locks that I passed through. I expected Safety procedures to be very high – they were, we were each scanned for radiation many times on the way in and out to absolutely make sure that no one risked exposure – it was interesting to learn that there are actually more incidents of over exposure to radiation in the medical world than in the power arena due to medical applications like radiotherapy. However our guide left us in no doubt that politicians need to be very focused on the Waste issue. Even if no more power stations were ever to be built, nuclear waste exists today. Decisions need to be made and we learnt a lot about the options but it was quite depressing that even on this very detailed opportunity to visit a plant just an hour from the Parliament only two MEPs had joined the tour group.

This week in Strasbourg we will be voting on the EU budget. It is incredibly frustrating that there appears to be very little concern in the European Parliament for keeping costs under control. The budget has increased considerably from its initial drafts back in September – for some good reasons – but it appears that the amendments are always upwards and never down. At a time when our national finances are under such strain I would have thought Brussels could tighten its belt.

Not all so sunny in Spain – and busy in Brussels

2009-12-05T18:37:00.002Z

I spent the last two days of this week in Spain with a group of MEPs considering Economic Affairs. Unemployment in Spain has rocketed to nearly 20%. Whilst the country’s temporary workers are almost all not working , the unionised permanent workers have negotiated large wage rises. In an early morning walk around the block I saw a person wrapped in a blanket holding out a paper cup begging on nearly every doorstep.

The traffic was terrible – the governments “fiscal stimulus” (i.e. spending money) seems to be paying for relaying of pavements everywhere, and everyday travellers were often brought to a halt by siren blasting motorcades of visiting politicians preparing for Spain to take over the rolling presidency of the European Union next month.

Our own bus (with no outriders) took us to meet the Central Bank as well as insurance and market regulators, the employers' union (CBI equivalent) the bankers' association and Spain’s largest bank Santander. Despite their economic woes Spain survived the financial crash well thanks to their conservative regulatory approach in recent years. Part of our visit was to discuss the new European Authorities for financial services that have been causing in Brussels a stir in the UK press this week. Unanimously the Spanish experts said that whilst the European wide Authorities will be helpful for sharing information and setting guidelines they also stated firmly that regulation of individual financial institutions should remain a national concern not an EU concern.

Back at home people have asked me why my office in Brussels and Strasbourg are so busy. Part of this is because of the new group that the Conservatives have helped form in the Parliament. The committee structure of the EP means that every bit of legislation is scrutinised in detail by one member from each political group. Whereas before the Conservatives sat within the very large EPP with over 200 members now our group is 54 members. This means we have a much stronger voice and can be involved in every issue.

My own office is leading on the new European Banking Authority, Bank Capital (yes and bonuses) and new rules to tighten up on Tax havens. Through my second committee I am looking at dodgy drugs (well actually counterfeit medicines) and we have recently completed work on Energy requirements for buildings – helping to bring the rest of the EU close to UK standards. I am also helping colleagues with their scrutiny of legislation on alternative investments, which if we get it wrong will have a huge impact not only on UK pensions but on investments in innovative start-ups and in developing countries. The devil is in the detail on all of this with sometimes hundreds of amendments proposed by the parliament to any given paper – it’s fascinating, stimulating and yes sometimes a mountain of paper work.

Is the EU hiding debate on its accounts...

2009-11-26T23:18:00.005Z

I have been a bit rushed off my feet over the past fortnight in manning the front line in Europe (with a stinking cold) but I thought I had to blog about today.

This morning there was the open debate about the court of auditors opinion on last year's EU accounts. As I sat listening in the chamber it was clear that whilst some members are willing to brush aside the controversial issue of 15 years of "qualified" accounts, there were also members from all parties with strong and critical views. There were also a number of suggestions of how the situation could be improved. Many others made good suggestions of areas they think could be improved. I heard socialists, liberals, greens, centre-rightists raise questions that deserve answers. No time was given for answers.

Is the EU trying to hide the MEP's voices in this debate?

The first thing that raised my (now very cynical) antennae is that the debate on the accounts happened today whereas the vote was yesterday. (I voted against). The second issue is just how long the secretariat of the parliament took to post the video on the website. Whereas normally the video record of parliament appears almost immediately - this debate took until the end of the day. Other debates have quite clear labelling on their subject matter but this debate is just labelled as "2008". Who will ever find this on a google search in years to come? Will our questions be answered or are they just being brushed under the carpet?

If you want to watch the whole debate you could spend hours searching the internet or you could perhaps find it here.. My contribution is about an hour in.

From Fridges to the Future of Europe and Financial taxes

2009-11-08T20:36:00.008Z

Britain’s next aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, due to enter service with the Royal Navy in 2016, is still years away from being completed, let alone battle ready. On Friday, in a damning testament to our defence procurement system, I saw the final touches being applied to the fridges that will stand in her galleys. As I stood at my own village war memorial this morning I listened to the familiar family names in the roll of honour and I wondered what our British soldiers in Afghanistan would think about the money that has been spent on un-needed fridges.

Actually I was very impressed by the fridge company. Based in deepest Norfolk they are Europe’s leaders in commercial refrigerators. Every product is hand finished and environmentally of the highest standards. Even with the recession their sales have held up – declines in domestic sales helped by increased exports especially to France and Germany. In a week when Britain has ceded so much control to Europe this reminded me that it was to help companies like this that we went into the common market in the first place. On the other hand the company also explained that the last thing they need is the “Agency Workers Directive” – the vast majority of their staff are permanant but to be competitive they need to employ agency staff when they have bigger orders. This was a real world example of the opt out of Employment law from Brussels is so important.

Negotiations in Brussels are often more complicated than they first seem. I have been looking at the plans to create new European Authorities for banks, financial markets and insurers. Everyone agrees that we need a new form of regulation and must not go back to the risk taking that led to the financial crisis. We need better ways to share information across borders and to manage not only national but global risks. But these new authorities potentially go much deeper – the current drafts cede powers from the FSA/Bank of England to Europe to manage emergency failures in the future. With Britain being home to the world largest financial centre and such a vast amount of British tax-payers’ money currently on the line with our banks I believe the current draft crosses a red line.

To date the principal has been upheld that if national taxpayers are affected then national regulators (not Europe) should make the decisions. Gordon Brown’s step this weekend to propose a “transaction tax” on all financial trades starts to move into a potential grey area. Whilst I totally agree that financial institutions need to show some austerity and pay back the tax payer for the pain they have caused, I also know that if trading is more expensive in Europe then financial market business will just be driven overseas. But if Europe starts to set up a “pool” for future bail outs then Europe will argue for central decision making and ultimately wrench control of financial institutions from National regulators. Is the UK really ready to see the Bank of England subservient to the European Central Bank, the European Commission, or majority votes of the other 26 member states?

It may be easy to brush Gordon’s proposal of a transaction or “Tobin” tax away as pre-election posturing (the first reactions from the US are so negative that it’s unlikely to happen globally and therefore maybe not at all) but it does open up the possibility of another set of very difficult negotiations with Brussels.

Unsexy Methane, Railways and more

2009-11-02T14:47:00.002Z

I have been (rightly) told off for failing to boast on my blog about how delighted we are to get EU funding for the upgrade of the railway lines East West across the UK to allow freight to travel by rail not road. This is a project I have been working on for over a year, and since elected working very closely with my Conservative MEP colleagues Geoffrey van Orden and Robert Sturdy. The press release we put out last week is here. Its good news.

I’ve just had one of those luxury weeks when the parliament doesn’t meet and MEPs get a chance to catch up with their home issues. Yes it is a luxury to stay in one’s own bed for a week but it is not a week off!

In Essex I met up with Rebecca Harris who has appeared in recent newspapers for having an “unsexy interest in methane gas”. She is right. Rebecca is the Conservative Candidate for Castlepoint, a constituency that includes Canvey Island. The small Island has 45,000 residents, one exit route and a very large and now old gas storage plant. Many of the residents live within a mile of the plant. Post the disaster of the Buncefield fire residents are justified in asking questions about safety. Rebecca and I met local campaigners. They were very well informed. I have offered to raise the issues of safety as part of the debate that we will have on Gas Storage in the parliament this month. It is always good to be able to try to help a local issue.

In Cambridgeshire I visited yet another world leading organisation. The Welding Institute (TWI) was founded during WWII to investigate welding and joining material. I saw how they have been involved in everything from formula one cars, to heart by-passes, nuclear waste to gas rigs. It’s a superb institution at the forefront of real research – I hope that they are successful in their bid to expand.

I had a few days in London discussing finance – I am becoming concerned about the speed that some of the new legislation may rush through Brussels without real debate. In particular I have been looking at the plans for the new “European Banking Authority” – now I have no problems with sharing information between banking regulators and yes we do need a new system of regulation – but, digging into the detail, it appears to me that various national sovereign powers are being transferred over to Brussels and I am yet to be convinced that this is in the interest of taxpayers, savers or borrowers.

At the weekend I joined Conservatives from across all 58 Westminster constituencies of the East of England for a regional conference. The final session of the day was a talk from Joe Johnson, deputy editor of the FT. Inter alia, Joe pointed out that a 1% increase in the rate UK Gov pays on the National Debt costs £15 billion per year. That’s a hell of a lot of money. We need to get our debt burden down – not just because it is so high but because the ratings agencies are watching us and if we don’t investors will start demanding higher spreads. Food for thought as I sit on the Eurostar rushing back to Brussels – the spending capital of Europe.

Another Strasbourg Week

2009-10-25T17:29:00.002Z

I have been told by some of the older MEPs that we new kids on the block have it lucky. "Just wait until the new Commission arrives, then you'll really see a Strasbourg voting list". They say.

Given that this week I have been asked to vote on everything from the death penalty in Iran - to coercive abortion - to dairy subsidies - to increased funding for EU embassies - to how many vehicles should be in the parliament car pool... I almost can't believe that it could get more varied.

The big vote of the week was to be the EU budget. I understand that every year the same charade is played out. The Commission proposes a budget, our national governments through the Council of Ministers reduce it and then the various committees of the European Parliament put it back up again. Many of the increases seem for very worthwhile causes, but at a time of economic crisis when our own workers are facing very constrained times I just could not bring myself to back the EU's bulging budget. Sadly the majority of MEPs didn't think the same way. We now go through another round of haggling before coming back to a second vote.

Just in case you want to know where my thoughts lay this week: I don't support a death penalty; I don't think women should be forced to have abortions against their will; I am very concerned about our dairy farmers (but we need to find a long term solution); I think it is shocking that the UK is reducing its embassies around the world while the EU is opening up its own (without giving the British people their vote on the Lisbon treaty); I don't think we need any more cars in the pool (the majority of MEPs agreed); I also voted to reduce MEP travel allowances by 25% (the majority disagreed).

This week constituents have been writing to me regarding shocking disclosures of how horses are treated on their way to slaughter (I agree that something must be done) and whether MEPs should have passes to the House of Commons (ideally yes, because we need to co-ordinate closely with our colleagues in the House of Commons and therefore have a great deal of business in the Palace of Westminster) but I pray that the BNP never get a vote in that parliament).

This week we have seen the UK entering its longest period of recession ever and across Europe unemployment is still rising. In the meantime the parliament is still arguing a lot about what caused the recession in the first place and spending tax payers' money like never before.

Sometimes its easy to understand why voters are disillusioned.

Damage limitation and a bit of match making...

2009-10-19T06:46:00.002Z

"Its 95% damage limtitation and occasionally a bit of match making." These were the words of one of my experienced MEP colleagues when describing the work in his brussels office. As we travelled back towards London pouring over thick drafts of potential regulation and covered them with red ink it was very clear what he meant about the damage limitiation part of the work. MEP's can and do put forward ammendments on individual pieces of legislation. So we are often checking the fine detail of directives.

The match making part of the role is very satisfying. One meets so many people doing this job that sometimes it may be possible to introduce those with a problem to those with a potential solution.

Last week the Chambers of Commerce leaders from around the UK arrived in Brussels. Over a coffee a representative from the Midlands explained that some of her member companies in the building ceramics trade are being asked to pay for gas and electricity up to 6 months in advance. I understand that the recession means that utility companies could be wary of customers making bricks and tiles but this did seem an excessive payment to me. Later in the week a delegation from RBS arrived. They were very keen to tell me that RBS is trying to lend money to businesses that need it - and I told him about the brickmakers dilema. I was impressed that the gentleman from RBS was aware of the problem and that they were working on ways to help these companies. So I have swapped the business cards and hope that the matchmaking will find a solution to the problem.

Also in Brussels I learnt about plans to restructure the dreadful EU fishing quota system. Emails are now pinging back to friends in some of our Eastern ports to make sure that they get involved in the consultation.

Compassion in World Farming turned up to discuss long journeys taken by animals en route to slaughter. They make some excellent points. I hope their campaign for better "origin" labelling for meat products is sucessful. They explained that they would like a 8 hour maximum for all animal journeys - However a few hours later I met representatives from the thoroughbred breeders and racing industry. They explained that rules regarding transport for horses en route to slaughter would be totally inappropriate for thier mares, foals and racehorses. As there are around 7,000 people employed in horse related industries around Newmarket I do always try to understand their concerns.... yet another bit of red ink may be needed.

I find that these sorts of meeting make a welcome break from discussing banking and financial regulation - where my drafts of potential directives are now covered in red ink, comments and question marks.

A tale of two conferences

2009-10-12T07:07:00.004Z

My carbon footprint has taken a bit of a battering over the past fortnight. Last week, in the middle of Conservative Party conference I left Manchester at 5am to hop back to Brussels for a debate on alternative investments. The week before I flew from Brussels to join a conference in Gothenburg (Sweeden).

In Gothenburg the masters of the European finance universe mustered. Central bankers, finance minisers, economists, regulators, "wise" men. We were locked in a complex outside the city from 8am 'til 11pm. So what did they debate? At no point did I hear employment or indeed unemployment mentioned, there was a (very) occasional cursory glance to Europe's ageing demographic and the pensions deficit, a few voices flickered on the public sector finances burden. BUT The weight of debating time surounded the proposed "Supervisory Architecture" of the EU banking system - committees of European central bankers and regulators that will meet to (perhaps) help pinpoint financial risks in the future. I returned home frustrated that so much energy had been spent on bureaucracy of the future rather than addressing the problems of today.

What a contrast then to Conservative Party conference where employment and debt was the key focus. George Osborne's speech was described by some comentators as brave - but no one doubts it was full of reality. Over the weekend I have had the chance to discuss with doctors and teachers George's policies on the public sector pay freeze and increasing the retirement age. Even the most left leaning doctor told me she thought these were acceptable suggestions if they help maintain jobs.

Back to Brussels today - by train this time - so at least I will feel a little less guilty for the planet.

Final thought for the weekend

2009-09-27T23:00:00.003Z

All this week I have been talking to people back home in the UK who are already being asked for serious tightening of belts. From firefighters to universities.

Tomorrow I will go back to Brussels and into the bubble that seems to pretend that the real world simply does not exist. Over recent weeks each EP committee has proposed amendment after amendment of UPWARDS revisions to budgets.... with UK Tories usually in the minority saying "NO!".

Would the European Union just notch in its own belt a bit please.

A week at home....

2009-09-27T11:26:00.006Z

Even though my journeys to Brussels are by Eurostar the carbon footprint of a travelling MEP is frightening - so its been good to spend a week back in the UK. Just before you believe that our "green weeks" are a total waste of time here are some of the things I've been doing.

Universities - I followed up on invitations to visit both Hertfordshire and Cambridge Universities - the former is an outstanding example of skills led education: close relationships with leading local and national businesses help them to direct courses towards real employment opportunities and students talked of the desire for close ties with its community. Cambridge University retains its world leading academic status. Its graduates are still sought after across the world (Indeed a Cambridge student will be joining my team for an internship next week). I heard their deep concerns over years of declining UK exam standards, and the need to raise funds especially to encourage world class PhD students to study in the UK.

Small businesses - the Federation of Small Businesses hosted 5 of the region's MEPs for an evening discussing many different issues. We all signed up to their campaign to stop French blockades of Channel Ports. I encouraged them to work through their members to help us highlight examples of EU red tape and UK gold plating - we need the ammunition from real companies to help us fight the battle on bureaucracy. Another issue raised was a case of the EU being slow paying amounts owed to small businesses for research grants. This is the second time I have been asked to help with this sort of problem (I suspect there are many more?). I spoke to the company concerned and have offered to help follow up their case when back in Brussels next week. I also visited a small medical research company hoping to get a grant for development of a Motor Neurone disease treatment. It was very useful for me to see a real example of the bureaucracy involved.

Public Services - again in Hertfordshire I visited the fire service's training facility. I was extremely impressed to hear that Herts Fire Service is to lead the first cross European major disaster training exercise for Urban search and rescue. They will lead emergency services from the UK, Germany, Ireland and Denmark in exercises across cities and urban areas in the UK. 120 UK firefighters went to Holland this week to take part in the "storm surge" exercise to learn how they may attempt to deal with a North Sea flood disaster - if such an event were to occur it could be devastating for parts of East Anglia.

Financial matters - The next few months will see a plethora of legislation regarding financial services coming in front of the Economic and Monetary affairs committee that I sit on in the parliament. I have spent large parts of this week joining commuters from across the East of England on their way to the City of London. Meetings with industry players like the Stock Exchange and British Bankers Association are helping me to understand some of the details of the proposed legislation - its vital we focus on the impact of legislation on the end user. I'm not convinced that the UKIP heckling of the head of the FSA from behind my right shoulder at the Mansion House dinner on Tuesday evening really helped to move forward the complex debate about balancing the need for new regulations with assisting the real economy to get back on it's feet!

Fighting for jobs back at home - This week we have heard very worrying rumours of potential layoffs at the Vauxhall works in Luton. Robert Sturdy MEP, Geoffrey Van Orden MEP and I wrote a strongly worded joint letter to the Competition Commissioner back in Brussels reminding her that UK jobs should not suffer because of potential government cash sweeteners elsewhere on the continent. EU rules on "state aid" are there to prevent anti-competitive state subsidies and should be enforced!

Back in the office we've been debating the finer details of the Energy in Buildings Directive that I am now shadowing and helping with a tragic story about the difficulty of repatriating loved ones lost in accidents overseas. Meanwhile my mail box is filling up with voters' concerns about horse transport on the continent - thank goodness Newmarket is in my area so I have been able to get some helpful advice!

A varied week but I do admit that I took my birthday OFF (well mostly).

Five good reasons to leave Strasbourg scaffolding behind us

2009-09-20T21:35:00.013Z

It's Sunday night after living in the bubble of a Strasbourg week and my sanity(?)has begun to return.

Here are my five reasons why we must work to reform not only the macro problems of the EU but also continue to fight the micro issue of the Strasbourg parliament itself.

1. Waste of taxpayers money. Much has already been written by previous members from all parties on the waste of money, see here, here and even here. In today's austere times when public spending is under the spotlight it is even more unacceptable for elected members of any chamber to put up with such a symbol of waste.

2. Waste of time. OK this might sound a bit of a whinge but its a nightmare to travel to for work. Strasbourg is an outstandingly beautiful city and steeped in history. I would recommend anyone a visit. Most MEPs can to get Brussels by direct trains or flights but not so Strasbourg. Unlike many others I spent only 11 1/2 hours travelling this week and was able to squeeze in some constituency and office work on Monday morning and Friday. Many members spend both the Monday and the Friday just getting to and from the parliament, let alone staff and assistants.

3. The political frenzy. I hadn't realised before becoming elected how the Strasbourg session takes possession of the political wheel. When Westminster sits votes are spread out over many weeks. In the EP a month's worth of negotiations get squeezed into a tiny number of voting days. This week I have seen that reasoned negotiating positions that had been listened to in Brussels can suddenly find themselves fighting against the short term newspaper strapline or TV headline. Yes a week is a long time in politics but the cameras run dangerously faster in Strasbourg - It's only my second Strasbourg session and already I have seen that good sense can disappear to short termism.

4. The impact on the city itself. On my way back to the airport I shared a car with a new Swedish Socialist MEP. We discussed the circus of the parliament. She was eloquent in her concerns for the city itself. "Why does the city need to live with this?" she said "Would it not be better for them to have stability and a permanent public service institution, instead of the 40 odd days a year the MEPs are present." Looking over the headrest I could see how uncomfortable our driver felt with the conversation. His income no doubt reliant on our few days. In his face I saw why it would take a brave French politician to concede ground in the Strasbourg debate - but they would have a united political front from all other countries behind them.

and finally
5. Is the building still falling down?... The Houses of Parliament were built by the Victorians, construction of the US Capitol began in 1793 so the Strasbourg parliament buildings are mere babes. Last year the roof fell in. My own 11th floor office is in a building opened only 10 years ago. I'm not spaced out by tall buildings - I used to work on a 46th floor but I wont get into the far right lift. I doubt if the drop and recapture exercise it performs between floors 10 and 6 wouldn't get through the laxest of health and safety officers in the UK .. Interesting scaffolding has begun to appear. Even my children's school writes a long letter to parents when practically a single pole of scaffolding is erected. But here it has arrived without a word. UMMMM

A run in with the military police

2009-09-12T20:49:00.012Z

When I left home yesterday I really wasn't anticipating a confrontation with the anti terror squad.

The invitation was to visit Happisburg in North Norfolk to discuss coastal erosion with 3 teenagers who are gradually watching their village disappear under the sea. It's important. I threw out some ideas, they threw out others --- we discussed their frustrations (those with responsibility have no budgets, those who have budgets appear to have no responsibility). I gave them some ideas on campaigning tactics. We concluded that they need to get local people and the local council to come up with a practicable local plan. If they get a plan I will do what I can to see if they can unlock some EU funds. Its a bureaucratic nightmare but my colleagues' experiences is that sometimes local residents' solutions are far more affordable than top down ones.

As we left the village I realised that we were only down the road from Bacton, where the UK's main gas refinery is located on the North Sea. As one of my committees in the parliament includes energy I had wanted to visit this facility anyway - but its is miles away from just about anywhere. As we were nearby I thought it would be worth a detour.

Turning up a the main gate I called security on their intercom and explained I was a passing MEP. I was politely told to make an appointment. My assistant took a couple of photos from the public road for the album and we drove off.

We'd only gone about 200 yards when suddenly two (armoured?) police 4x4s appeared with sirens blazing and trapped my trusty Astra in their pincer movement. Suffice to say that the military police are a formidable force and I had stirred the hornets' nest. I would not advise others to do the same. It took a lot of IDs, business cards, numberplate searches and general interrogation before they conceded that I probably was who I said I was and this might not a bad thing for an MEP to be interested in. Eventually I left on friendly terms.

Though it was pretty frightening, in retrospect, I am pleased that the MoD did demonstrate their strength. Energy secruity is an extremely serious issue. I'm also extremely glad that my colleague (and former Brigadier) Geoffrey Van Orden MEP will be making a more official trip to Bacton in a few weeks. I will certainly be arming him with some questions.

Next time I'm on the coast perhaps I will use up my freetime with a paddle and an icecream..... beats Brussels anyday!

A dog has 4 legs.... latest update from the EP

2009-09-10T20:42:00.003Z

“A dog has four legs, my cat has four legs – therefore my cat is a dog”.
I started writing this 30,000 feet up on the Easy Jet from Prague to Stansted which reminded me to try to look at the big picture.

I was reading Jose Manuel Barosso’s paper on the “politicial guidelines for the next Commission” - His vision for the next 5 years as president of the European Commission. Like many pieces of Euro literature it is full of wonderful intentions (get the economy going, stem unemployment, upgrade skills, lead on climate change, thriving rural economies, innovation revolution) but the tangible actions are much less evident. My colleague Ashley Fox summed up Euro-logic with the description of his four legged cat/dog friend.

As an MEP I have found that one rapidly gets caught up the silo of committee work. There are so many issues that perhaps it is best to keep focused but I am beginning to bore for Britain about money – but especially in a recession that is important. We started the week in Brussels quizzing Mr Barosso on his paper – he is seeking our votes to retain his position. I asked how is he going to pay for this? Where are savings coming from? I see a commission aide has just filled my email inbox with his “detailed” answer.... more numbers... serves me right....but reading the email no more answers.

My second question was rather more complicated. A Federation of Small Business survey in the UK recently showed that access to bank capital remains a huge concern. Mr Barosso has promised that businesses in Europe will have “ a level playing field” with the ability to be globally competitive. But the more I meet financiers or dig into the detail of the mountain of papers on my desk I find examples of where the EU (through the commission) are getting ahead of the rest of the world with legislation and regulation. I have no problem with regulation if its good regulation, but I don’t want our businesses to be kicking up hill.

I went to Prague to join other MEPS from across Europe for the first of our “working days”. The big picture. Listening to members from other countries – especially our Eastern European countries about their priorities helped me to understand just some of their issues. Their history, why they joined the EU, why their relationship with Russia matters, how important their relationship with the West and the US are, their concerns about to energy security (yes it does matter to all of us if the gas is switched off but they are in the front line)... it has reminded me how different each member’ s problems are. . They don’t need cat=dog solutions.
Dirkjan Eppink MEP has summed up his vision of the ECR. We don’t want a United States of Europe but a United Europe of States.

... meanwhile the day to day challenge of running the MEP’s office continues. Whenever someone complains about any group/ their voice/ their role always ask if this was because they really just want a bigger office. For various reasons we have had to move office. Tom, my assistant carefully packed all his hard won forms of” work contracts”, “flat contracts”, “health contracts” and a lot of my diary into the “office move” boxes provided by the bureaucrats. The removal men moved them over night. In the early hours of the morning the cleaners came in removed the boxes to the shredders . I later found out that Charles Tannock MEP lost 10 years of carefully kept files on over 250 countries in exactly the same manoeuvre.

Business, Brussels and Boris

2009-09-02T16:33:00.005Z

Today has been one of those Brussels business days when suddenly everything happens at once. It was the first major meetings of the "committees" of the new parliament. My own committee, "Economic and Monetary Affairs", has had a packed agenda - discussing need for a global regulation of financial markets with US Congressmen, setting the agenda priorities for the months ahead and opening the debate on the first major piece of legislation to hit the desk (The Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive.

In the midst of this I was able to welcome Boris to Brussels. Hotfoot from the Eurostar the Mayor of London arrived to make sure that every possible parliamentarian understands the implications that the plethora of financial services legislation passing through Brussels would have, not just on the City of London but actually on UK and European businesses trying to raise capital and on the pensions or future savings of our voters back at home.

In the parliament it is often tempting to make sweeping statements for headlines but with so much of this legislation the devil is in the detail. In the back of my mind today I have been thinking about some of the companies back at home that I have been able to meet over recent months. Companies in inovative industries like hi-tech, software, bio-tech. Businesses that (if we get it right) will be the drivers of new economic growth, jobs and prosperity. If we get it wrong, these inovations will either not happen or happen overseas. Little tiny details in the single directive that we discussed today could make it much, much more difficult for those companies to access the capital they need to survive let alone grow. Putting our real economy at a global competitive disadvantage is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

Of course we need regulation of financial services but it must be better regulation - Over the past few weeks working with my colleague Kay Swinburne MEP I have been given many example of how "little" details in the vast wadges of legislation would have unintended consequences not just in the City of London but in the real economy too. Boris helped make those points today. It has been helpful to hear others from across the political spectrum make similar points.

A busy day, on the whole a good day, but its early days...

My Saturday Evening on the Combine Harvester

2009-08-24T07:10:00.005Z

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed going out to meet the harvesting crew on Saturday evening. I could sit with briefing paper after briefing paper but I always find I learn so much more when I've actually been to "kick the tyres" on any subject.

There's no 45 hour week during the harvest season. Bruce, driving the brand new New Holland CR 9090 has been behind the wheel from morning until 11pm every day for the past fortnight only stopping when the rain is really heavy. Even with this state of the art machine there is no time to rest, and he hopes to have finished by Tuesday.

I saw real team work. The combine is accompanied by a fleet of 3 tractors and trailers off loading the grain in a constant cycle back to the store. No time wasted. Within a day of harvest another crew will come in and either cultivate and re-seed with rape or plough ready for for the next wheat crop. The new seed must get in the ground and start growing before winter sets in.

Innovation is constant. Jim proudly showed me the new cultivator rig that he had modified and built himself to meet the farms specific heavy clay soil and significantly beating the performance of the best available in the market.

There is real care for local wildlife - birds, hares and foxes were lovingly watched out for as they scampered away. "the countryside is what makes the job so special" said Bruce.

Care is taken of the ground too. I asked Charlie the boss why he was re-ploughing the straw back into the earth when I saw neighbours bailing it up for sale. He explained that he ploughs back every nutrient he can. "Its the potash - the world is running out" he explained "it won't be an issue in my lifetime but will be for my son." Charlie's son is only 8 but in farming those who care about the future think many years ahead.

Charlie went on to explain that despite the better technology and exceptional team work the actual yields per acre of ground have not significantly improved for many decades. "The world population is growing but we're not growing any more. We will run out of food" Charlie explained. This is all before climate change. He asked me to focus on the importance of research and development in seed types. (Incidentally I notice that Defra is worried about this too - their consultation Food 2030 was launched mid August and they are hoping for comments by the end of the summer - I wonder how many farmers will have time to do that over the harvest period?)

On the way back home we discussed the volatility of world food prices and the challenges his friends and family members have around the country, from cattle (beef) to dairy herds, the milk price and power of the supermarkets.

In just a couple of hours on a Saturday evening I have learnt so much and started thinking about much more. Thank you to our local farmers for sharing their harvest thoughts.

What have you done this August?

2009-08-21T19:49:00.004Z

Its nearing the end of the holiday period and I have to admit its been good to spend the past fortnight based at home.

The local radio station called today. They wanted to know my views on the "112" emergency phone number that one should be able to can dial from anywhere in Europe as an alternative to 999. Seems like a sensible idea but it will be interesting to find out if the radio listeners have every heard of it or tried to use it!

I've learnt that its impossible predict what might come through the MEP postbag. From do I support the NHS (yes) to how should one challenge a parking ticket in Florence or a Cypriot insurance claim? The advantage of having 3 Conservative MEPs in the region is that we can share out these case work issues and also learn from each other's areas of expertise.

Very many people have been extremely helpful in helping teach me about a cross section of different issues. A leading Cambridge entrepreneur explained the pros and cons of Silicon Fen vs Silicon Valley. Rebecca Harris (one of our South Essex PPCs) and I went to vist Ford's R&D facility just off the M25. We saw how each new generation of engine is developed and tested .... Did you know each minor modification is stress tested to make sure it will start at -39C just in case it is ever asked to cope with a Finnish winter. They have some pretty impressive fridges!

I'm also discovering that every meeting like this raises a number of questions that deserve following up. I can't do it all myself! Even people who I thought knew a lot about politics are surprised when they learn job doesn't come with any pre-assigned assistants. Maria who is running the UK office has spent her summer overseeing building of dividing walls and negotiating rents as well helping with the emails. From next week Tom will be running the Parliament research side.

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I will join one of our local MPs for a canvassing session and have just heard back from the local farmer who's going to take me out on the combine in the evening. Conversations outside our local post office often involve recent movements in wheat prices. Next week I will spend a few days meeting a cross section of different financial institutions prior to the first discusssions on the plethora of legislation on the upcoming agenda. After that I have a week in Brussels, week in Prague and then to Strasbourg. Thank goodness for August!

Week 2....

2009-07-23T22:05:00.005Z

Anyone who is frustrated by the red tape of European beaureaucracy will not be surprised that it takes more than 6 weeks to get a phone number in the European Parliament.

Over the past few weeks I have had to fill in so many forms I have lost count. Each form requires a queue at a different door. The first attempt is usually rejected and one is sent off to get another stamp from a bank, accountant's certificate, accompanying birth certificates, marriage certificates etc etc. One then rejoins the queue a couple of days later. Just getting the phone number to put on a business card feels like a great achievement.... though rather futile as there is no voicemail or ability to divert calls to a mobile. The office with the phone is a good 10 minutes walk from where meetings happen so unless I recruit a band of staff it will ring to an empty room. The parliament won't let my EU email ping to my blackberry so I can only pick up EU emails sitting at my desk but whilst at the desk there is no wifi coverage to check up my UK email account. Thank goodness I type fast and text for Britain.

On Monday I left home at 6.30 am to join a packed room in London for George Osborne's launch of the white paper on sound banking regulation. Then to Brussels and another 4 hours of forms. Peter Wilding an old friend from our voluntary work in Rwanda took me out to see the City - beautiful in parts but boy do they have a grafitti issue!

Tuesday Morning saw the co-ordinators meeting of the Economic and Monetary affairs committee. Kay Swinburne our MEP for Wales is a calm head and would normally be our co-ordinator but due to her constituency engagements I stood in. I'm sorry but I got a bit stroppy..... As a new member this felt like classic smoked filled room stuff - behind closed doors. A major piece of legislation that affects every single pension and investment in Europe was being debated in rather fast French with no translation. Given that over 70% of the members of this committee are new to the parliament I make no apology for asking for clarity in working practices!

During the rest of the day and on Wednesday Kay and I spoke to representatives from trade associations, regulators, leading banks, lawyers and investment companies about the plethora of legislation on the upcoming agenda. I don't think it is unreasonable to ask these institutions for "impact assessments" - what will the regulation cost the consumer or borrower. If they don't like the regulation what would they suggest as an alternative? For someone who has always worked in open planned offices I find it crazy to have to walk for at least 10 minutes to get back from a meeting place to my desk and by Wednesday mid-day there were blisters. NOTE will need comfier shoes.

Before catching the last train back to the UK last night I had a good meeting with local representatives from the East of England office about my ambitions to get more EU money back to my local area. Ideas whirring round while I did my homework on the Eurostar. Home 11.30 pm.

Today I've been in Norwich North - fingers crossed for Chloe in the count tomorrow. On the doorstep I met a man who has been on the local authority housing list for 15 years and is still waiting. I enjoyed a lengthy discussion about how to keep the local foxes away from the household chickens (its not all an urban constituency!)... and my daughters chickens have been wiped out 3 times in the past 18 months.

Tomorrow I go to an EERA meeting regarding EU grants in my area. Another 3 hours driving and hugely frustrating bureaucary, will it help to unlock funds?

The parliament now won't meet again until September. I am looking forward to some time back in the UK as well as our annual trip to the West of Ireland. The only mobile coverage there is in the local purveyor of Guinness, which puts it on a similar level of communication technology as the European Parliament!

Week One of the European Parliament

2009-07-18T22:02:00.005Z

This was my first week as an MEP. I formally started on Tuesday

I got to the Parliament building in Strasbourg early to pick up my crucial voting card only to find that Glyn Ford the former Labour MEP who was not re-elected last month had beaten me to it and somehow signed out my card.... "There is only one Vicky Ford" said the person at the desk. "Yes, I know, I am her!". Fortunately another voting card was found, though I'm not sure what happened to the first one...

No sooner had I found my seat than I had to make my first decision. The "European Anthem" started up and around the chamber members rose to their feet. Sit or Stand which was it to be? I sat. For me this was not out of disrespect for the organisation but simply a message that the Lisbon treaty which introduces the anthem has not been approved by the British public.

The first day continued - much has been written about the activities of a certain (now ex) Conservative and the results. Dan Hannan, as ever, has the words to sum up a very long day. One small advantage of the late night meeting was that Syed Kamall our very helpful MEP from London showed me how to log on to my new parliament email address from my new laptop!

On day 2 after a strong coffee with the Association of British Insurers I was gently strolling into the back of the chamber again to listen to the first debate. "Someone needs to speak from the UK" I was told. I nodded. "They should speak about the financial services regulation that's coming through the parliament". "Yes" I concurred again. "OK, you'll be speaking in about one hour"......errrrr.... Jelly legs and head whirring I disappeared back into my new office, with a very helpful assistant I started scribbling. I think I was the first of the new intake to make a maiden speech - it wasn't great, I over-ran my time (arch sin)- but I was congratulated later by members from across the floor as well as my own team so perhaps I did get the point across. Good to get the first speech over and done!

We need to get financial regulation right - not just because we must learn from the disasters of the credit crunch and if at all possible stop it happening again but also because if we get it wrong we risk putting every lender both in Britain and across the continent at a huge competitive disadvantage and forcing businesses to up sticks and move overseas.

Later in the day I was told that I will be representing us on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and a substitute member for Industry, Research and Energy. My first choices, and a good fit with our other two regional MEPS - Geoffrey Van Orden on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Transport and Robert Sturdy on Trade and Agriculture. Somewhere in the day I also attended an NFU briefing.

Early on Thursday I returned home - and no I didn't sign in and sod off. I spent the day preparing the 600 odd letters that I have sent across the East of England encouraging Councillors, PPCs and MPs to share experiences of getting EU grant funding so that hopefully we can become more aware of how to get our money back! I did sneak off to the Harry Potter movie with the kids... its great. We finished the letters at 1am.

On Friday (was that really only yesterday?) I started by meeting business representatives of the Bio tech industry in Cambridgeshire organised by ERBI. Frightening. I was told that 40% of the members have less than 6 months funding. The senior civil servant was told in no uncertain terms that if the government doesn't get its promised funding out to small businesses by Christmas they might as well pack up shop. They urgently need to access promised money for research or yet another UK cutting edge industry faces a crisis. I then went to Lowestoft on the edge of the East of England for a fundraising thank you lunch and finally down to Brentwood in South Essex to speak in a debate about the economy. During the day I got the good news that we have provisional approval for our EU fund bid to help get freight off the roads and onto the railways across East Anglia and the Midlands. EXCELLENT.

Next week is back to back Monday - Wed in London and Brussels learning more about the key issues in financial services regulation. On Thursday I hope to get to Norwich North to help with polling day and Friday is our quarterly meeting to learn(?) about EU funding in the region.... always a frustrating meeting full of red tape, but a vital issue while so much of our money is tied up in these funds. I hope to be able to help with this during the coming years.

Where is that money.....

2009-07-12T19:52:00.005Z

In the past fortnight I have been combined a trip to Brussels to sort out office etc with a whistle stop tour around the East of England meeting businesses and some of our community leaders. On Friday I was in Bedfordshire meeting the new Central Beds council. Tomorrow, before flying out to Strasbourg, I will meet councillors in Essex. Yesterday I was at Hertfordshire County Hall for their annual reception. There I met councillors, community leaders, many local mayors and representatives of the Youth Parliament (pictured). In addition I have met business leaders, farmers and rural business owners in Cambridgeshire. I've spent a day in Norwich as well as Suffolk Coastal.

The constant complaint is the lack of funds - and more specifically - the impenetrable maze of red tape that surrounds EU grants. At a time when purse strings are tight everywhere it is incredibly frustrating to know that British taxpayers money has been paid into funds, that the funds are "available" but somehow may not be getting back to where they are needed.

For example, we have over 500,000 small or medium sized businesses (SMES) in the East of England and they are a crucial part of our economy. Many of these companies are involved in Research and Development where the EU has a 7 year budget for over €50billion. The EU target is to allocate at least 15% of the budget to small or medium sized companies. I'm not a fan of top down targets but hearing that our region with so many SMEs is 20% below that target does back up what the companies themselves have been saying. The money does not appear to be getting to where it is needed.

I have been told again and again that information on different funds is very confusing. In the next few weeks I will be writing to councillors across the region asking them to share examples of good or bad experiences from grass root levels. We also need much clearer information on what may be available and how businesses, voluntary organisations or local authorities can find help navigating this maze.

A trip to Norwich ....

2009-07-08T19:22:00.015Z

Today I was back in Norwich helping out Chloe Smith's by-election campaign.

There are lots of good political reasons to get over to Norwich now - all by-elections are crucial, some are frenetic but this is clearly one where the helpers are not only working incredibly hard but also enjoying.

Chloe is a super candidate who has energised local campaigners and, yes, the feedback from the voters is that its Time for Change.

Norwich is also a wonderful day (or weekend) out for the family. A couple of Saturdays ago I turned up in the morning with my 3 children (aged 11,9 and 7). We delivered some leaflets and then had some family time. The covered market is a glory for pocket and birthday money. A late (not expensive) lunch in one of the side streets was followed by a trip to the Castle.... they do a £1 ticket between 4pm and closing time. My children's only complaint was that they had not left themselves enough time to enjoy the hands on experience created by the outstanding museum staff. I've taken them to plenty of "Historical Sites" or "Museums" over the years but rarely have they been united in demanding "more!". Come on over to Norwich, help the campaign and enjoy the city.

p.s. just in case you are interested in what else I am doing I got back late last night from Brussels (see previous post) and tomorrow will be meeting one of our leading Agri-businesses in Cambridgeshire and then local councillors in Bedfordshire... had a good day on Sunday meeting residents and speaking at a lunch in Aldeburgh (Suffolk).

Caught between a Rock and a Hardplace... and all those forms

2009-07-08T18:38:00.005Z

Yesterday I was in Brussels for the second of our meetings of the new European Conservative and Reform Group. I continue to be extremely impressed by members I have spent time with in the new group, especially from some of the smaller countries. I can not tell you how un-impressed I am with the bureaucracy... I have no bug with individual members of the staff but the FORMS! Hours and hours and hours filling in bits of paper. Over a month since polling day but we are still not formally inaugurated so I can not even get a phone line. Apparently there is a parliament email account with a bulging inbox in my name that I will not be allowed to access until next week.

In the meantime my home email and blackberry have been buzzing with questions from constituents.

Yesterday afternoon we met two of the candidates for the presidency of the parliament. Both prioritised human rights, energy security and environmental issues (hard to argue on the principal but the devil will always be in the detail). One was a UK Lib Dem who suggested MEPs should have MORE expenses (for self publicity) but at least conceded that we should have a debate on the future of the Strasbourg circus. He suggested that all the truly horrid things he had said about the new group during the election should be put down to the heat of battle and he didn't really mean them...(!)

Next we met the Polish EPP candidate, a respected free marketeer with a businesses and research background. Sadly no debate on Strasbourg offered and he's a firm backer of the Lisbon treaty. Whilst I have been elected to vote on behalf of the electorate of the East of England I am realising that decisions will often be weighing up the proverbial rock vs hardplace.

Key Statistics

2009-07-02T22:26:00.006Z

Today I met the head of the Regional Development Agency.... I am not a fan of "Regional" organisations but she asked me to mull over two sets of numbers. I pass them on to you.

Her numbers....
1. In the East of England £5 million is being spent every day on unemployment benefits;
2. Someone earning £30,000 a year contributes £16,000 a year to the exchequer. If they become unemployed they take out £18,000 per year.

Looking at figures in this way is very blunt edged - the real implications of losing one's job are much more than just monetary, maybe others would interperet this data differently - but these numbers certainly get the brain cells in perspective..

I also met the Chamber of Commerce leader in Cambridgeshire... who sent me away with a long reading list on the cost of bureaucracy and promsies to help me meet his counterparts in other counties.

tomorrow I will be meeting a co-operative of local farmers, speaking at a fundraising lunch and then catching up with one of our bigger county council leaders

Setting up office etc

2009-06-26T13:53:00.002Z

A few people have asked what I have been doing since the election and why no blogs .... just so you know over the next few weeks I will be looking at launching a new website that will allow readers to peruse Vicky's new role.

Officially I start the job as MEP on 14th July when we are sworn into the parliament. This doesn't mean I, or the other MEPs elect have been sitting in the sun.

I know that if I am to do a good job I need research and admin support. I am in the process of setting up offices both locally and in Brussels and interviewing some of the many many people who have contacted me wanting to join the team. In the UK I asked a local headhunter and an experienced agent to take part in a final interview for the person who will be an office manager/ pa here.. So hopefully the UK end will be live pretty soon after 14 July.

For the Brussels office I have drawn up a short list for a research assistant based on interviews and sent them each a hideous piece of practice research to prepare overnight last night. So again decisions will be made soon. I had a good couple of days in Brussels this week. Mostly admin but also meeting members of our new group. Some very impressive people. Also catching up with the East of England office in Brussels.

I have been trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible with some of the legislation that will hit the new parliament. The financial services legislation in particular must be got right - we must learn from the lessons of the credit crunch and make sure new regulation is good regulation not just rushed into. This has involved various days of meetings in London.

I have been following some of the more local issues that we campaigned on. This week the 3 Tory MEPs (Robert Sturdy, Geoffry Van Orden and me) all signed a joint letter supporting the bid to get some EU funds for our project to help get freight onto the railways across East Anglia and beyond. I will be at a meeting about this on Monday.

I've attended a sub regional conference on "growth", have been campaigning with Chloe Smith in Norwich and am setting up some meetings with some of our council leaders and business leaders over the next fortnight. Tonight I am hosting drinks for some of the local candidates and campaigners who worked in our constituency and nearby (I hope the weather is nice!). This is all before the job is meant to start.

OK and I have also had two very nice Sundays watching cricket, seen the kids school play and cheered on a few races for sports day.

First Thoughts on being elected

2009-06-07T23:29:00.002Z

I can't tell you how good it felt to stand on the stage in front of the TV cameras and hear that over half a million people have put a cross on the ballot paper by the Conservative Party.

The past 6 weeks has been a wonderful experience. I have met thousands of people, seen many different issues and tried to keep people up to date via the blog.

The success today by the Conservatives in our region has been about team work. We had an exceptional team of MEP candidates who all campaigned hard - but more importantly an amazing team of local volunteer activists and county council candidates from Watford to Cromer, Peterborough to Southend and everywhere in between. They have all worked their socks off. Thank you so much to everyone, I promise to work my own socks off for our area for the next 5 years.

Heffer in a Huff

2009-06-02T19:50:00.005Z

This morning I met Simon Heffer. Boris may have encouraged him to stand for parliament but I was not impressed.

I left home at 5.30am and joined local Conservative Council candidates at Chelmsford station by 7am to hand out leaflets at one of the main commuter stations into London. We were there one evening last week meeting people on their way home.

This morning's campaigning was well received - over half the people we approached took our leaflet, I had to pop back to the car to reload. I was even told more than once that as we were the only party they had seen they would vote for us.

By around 8.30am the mass of hard working commuters had gone on their and the team went for a coffee and bacon sarnie. NO Expenses.

So it was well outside normal commuting hours when a 4x4 rolled up and Mr Heffer huffed out of the passenger seat.

I have a friend (just one, admittedly) who hangs onto every word Heffer writes. I wanted to say hello. I bounced up to the car, with a smile and held out my hand - "Mr Heffer, I am Vicky Ford, one of the Conservative Candidates in Thursday's election. I live near Saffron Walden" (that's the seat he thinks he wants to win from the Tories in the next general election). I offered him our LOCAL election leaflet. Mr Heffer stared at me in dismay - or was it disgust? He pushed aside the leaflet, announced he would be voting elsewhere and marched off.

He could certainly improve his people skills! Dare I say it, he could learn a lot from Tony Juniper of the Green Party (and sometime adviser to the Conservatives), with whom I shared a Platform at the Cambridge Hustings last night.

Politics is team work - from the very local to the national and international level This evening at Shenfield Station as well as questions on EU "In or OUT" - I was asked questions about how to deal with harassment on Brentwood High Street, local planning issues and the head of the local swimming club wanted to discuss the issues with "free swimming" policy. One local councillor discussed what he is doing with the police on the harassment issue (they left happy), the swimmer had an in depth chat with a board member from the pool (ditto happy) and we all had a heated debate about the planning issue. OK sometimes our team is not perfect, but when it works it is a million times better than a huffy independent.

Question Time in the East

2009-06-01T08:30:00.008Z

I was extremely impressed by the group of students from all across Norfolk who came to take part in the Politics Show question time debate. You can see it here. (Scroll in 29 minutes to avoid having to listen to Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson).

Their questions were on
1. expenses (we need transparency);
2. the un-audited EU accounts (which the Conservatives have continually refused to vote through)
3. the money Britain pays into the EU (I think the EU budget is too big - and often not well spent here at home ... wish I'd reminded the Labour MEP that his westminster colleagues are giving away our rebate too!);
4. Do we need a referendum - YES;
5. Immigration (the bottom of the recession is not a time to be isolationist, for decades we have relied on migrant workers, for example in farming, but it is also a real issue especially in some areas which is why we need a grown up debate and proper controls).

As someone who is not elected it is of course rather daunting to take on veteran MEPs in front of the TV cameras for the first time - but I enjoyed it!

Interesting Poster

2009-05-27T22:09:00.004Z

Passing through the very busy St Albans market today I nearly crashed into this poster van.. but took a picture instead.

From mending the potholes to hankies for Obama...

2009-05-21T09:58:00.005Z

Last night I met a David Cameron fans. A frail elderly lady in Cambridge answered the door. When DC and Samantha had their third child she knitted a baby blanket for them. She even showed me David's thank you letter. However she is extremely concerned as she has not yet received a thank you from Michelle Obama for the lace hankies that she popped in the post to the White House a few weeks ago. Could I help her sort out what is wrong with the US postal system? I suggested that she gives the Obamas a few more weeks to respond. It made a difference from the normal complaints about potholes and pavements but perhaps more difficult to sort out.

Seriously though there have been some accusations (from other parties!) that we Conservatives are not out and about meeting the public enough in this election - this could not be further from the truth. We are not only on the doorsteps but also actively going to places where we might meet as many members of the public as possible. Yesterday as well as canvassing in Cambridge we spent some time handing out leaflets during the home rush hour near the station. OK this photo was taken between trains! One taxi driver took my leaflet - read it and then came back asking for a bundle. He was so impressed he would like to share our message with passengers.

Tonight I will attend a public hustings organised by a community group in Woodbridge, Suffolk and on Monday I will attend another hustings in Cambridge.

That's Life comes to Luton

2009-05-19T19:40:00.011Z

This morning the Westminster parliamentary candidate for Luton North had a long standing meeting with the principal of the "outstanding" sixth form college.

As we were tucked away in the head's office learning about his funding issues, exam successes and building plans we heard that Esther Rantzen was down the corridor with the A level politics group. The BBC asked us to join in the team discussion.

It was all rather bizarre. Esther seemed to have got her geography a bit muddled. She is thinking about standing in the next general election in Luton South - not North. She told us that the young people had been discussing crime and not feeling safe at night - and the poor image that they complain others associate with their town - why didn't politicians focus on young people's issues? With a dramatic gesture she announced that if she is elected to represent the town weight she will bring her celebrity friends to bring ballroom dancing to Luton. This didn't exactly set the group on fire... though they were pleased to be listened to.

Jeremy Brier, our excellent young parliamentary candidate took an intake of breath, he explained that in recent weeks he has knocked on over 2,000 doors in the town. They are not all celebrities - he explained some of the things he think could be done with encouraging local community volunters.

Whilst I applaud Esther for highlighting the need to clean up the expenses scandal there is more to do. Tossing her hat into the ring here could end up splitting the vote for the Conservative candidate in Luton South Nigel Huddleston and allowing Labour back in - that is if Margaret Moran doesn't get the message before the election and step down.

I am not going to claim that I know all the solutions to Luton's issues but it will take more than a cha-cha-cha or a tango. There are the business and jobs issues I wrote about a few days ago as well as the concerns at Vauxhall. Christian and Muslim leaders have written to all candidates asking asking for peace and Unity following recent events of extremism that do not reflect the views of the majority. I do know from recent visits that we have dedicated conservative candidates and volunteers working with local people to help make a difference and feeding back the concerns and issues from the ground to David Cameron's team in Westminster helping to form not just local but national policy.

Jeremy and I then went on to meet volunteers at the hospital radio and record a non political piece about what working life might be like if elected to the European Parliament.

I then left Luton to join candidates in Hemel Hempstead for a VERY positive canvassing session. The local conservative MP, Mike Pelling is clearly very deeply respected. His experience as a trained firefighter shone through during the Buncefield Oil depot explosion. I heard from local councillors that the constituency had not even begun to recover from the loss of jobs from Buncefield when the recession started to bite. But what I heard on the doorstep tonight was a clear endorsement that they know their MP is on their side.

Away from expenses rows there are other issues too....

2009-05-18T19:26:00.008Z

Today has been a busy day on the campaign trail focusing on some of the issues affecting businesses in the region. Despite the understandable anger about MPs expenses, we should not forget these issues.

In Newmarket our MEP candidate team was joined by Jeremy Hunt, shadow minister for media, culture and sport. Around 7,000 people from all walks of life are employed in the horse training and breeding industry around Newmarket, and 80,000 across the UK. Horses from here travel all across the world. The industry like many others has been affected by the recession. Free trade is vital. We discussed what has already been done to lift trade restrictions, what more can be done as well as the worrying implications of some planned EU legislation and how we could help them.

At formal campaign "launch" we all signed a pledge on transparent expenses and our aims to stand up for Britain against EU rule, fight against the waste of British taxpayers money in the EU and defend British businesses in a free trade environment. Good stuff.

We went to visit the other end of the extreme in rural business. Three years ago a family farm in Norfolk decided to diversify into their dream and built England's only Whisky distillery. (Given that most of UK's malt is produced from barley grown in East Anglia there should be more!). This business employs only 5 extra members of staff but they are important jobs in a rural area. Within this short time they are already exporting around the world and had 20,000 visitors stop off for a tour last year. We discussed the benefit they have had from the lower pound.

Then to Archant Newspapers, owners of the Eastern Daily Press and many other papers and magazines across the East of England. This industry has been hit (there are lots of different reasons) but the recession has accelerated a downturn in revenues - think of the drop off in income from property and job ads alone. Local papers are important, not only do most people look in them if finding a home to rent or new job but they also are often vital in holding local government to account. They too want a level playing field with, for example, news sheets funded by local councils. Jeremy was able to discuss his concerns and share ideas.

Then to Norwich Castle and their excellent museum (I must take my children there). Again they are needing to be extra careful with cash. I heard that they have benefited from EU funds in the past and about their struggles with bureaucracy. Again this is something I would like to see reformed - it is British tax-payers money that has been paid over to the EU: we would like more back but it must be spent well.

Then on to Fakenham on the Norfok coast. I was given a tour of the town, and the race course that pulls in over 10,000 visitors on a good race day. Tourism and agriculture are the key businesses - as well as the chocolate factory. I spoke about what we would like to do to help agriculture with our Honest Food Campaign, and heard from those involved in "hospitality" how the lower pound may help with this years summer tourist trade. I explained our commitment to keep out of the Euro. Crime and antisocial behaviour are issues too, I saw the shop windows that had been smashed over the weekend.

We then went to knock on some doors. Not surprisingly the expenses scandal is the biggest talking point but as the conversations progress to other issues I was buoyed up by the large number of people who feel that the Conservative party is still worth their vote.

Being on the doorsteps is more important than ever before

2009-05-15T22:00:00.005Z

It is not easy out on the doorsteps in the middle of expenses-gate but it is important.

There are many who are not interested - many still are - and some just need to talk.

This evening in Hatfield I met a soldier's mother. When I introduced myself she told me she has spent each election reminding others that woman died for the right to vote - but she was so distressed by this week's news she said she would spoil her ballot paper. We talked.

Her son had been sent to Iraq without proper boots, he has fought for our country in Afghanistan. For a family that has given so much to be so disillusioned by their political leaders is truly desperate.

We talked for a long time - I explained the frustrations that had brought me into politics, my background, what we are fighting for in these elections. We talked about what our husbands like to do at the weekend. She even said that she likes her local MP.

With 5 1/2 million people living in the East of England it is impossible to talk to them all - but I felt that this mother more than earned her right to let all this week's anger out on someone who is standing for election.

Perhaps she will now use her vote. I will keep knocking on doors.

What the Teacher said.........

2009-05-14T19:50:00.003Z

This morning I met an outstanding group of sixth-formers. Despite it being the middle of exam season nearly 200 students gathered in the school hall (I believe voluntarily!) knowing they were going to meet and question politicians involved in the up-coming election.

I asked the students how many of them were entitled to vote in this election- many hands went up. I then asked how many would vote. The vast majority of those hands stayed up. We often hear negative things about young people but whenever I have had a chance to talk talk to school groups recently I have been very impressed from Norfolk to Cambridgeshire and today in Essex.

Caught up in the morass of expenses scandals there are many negative things being said about politicians. The three candidates today each gave our personal story of what had brought us to a stage where we decided to stop complaining from the outside and decide to put our own heads over the parapet in these local and international elections. The students then asked probing and informed questions. I was even followed out of the hall by two students wanting to know my views on Turkey and the EU.

OK this may not be a normal school in its approach to international affairs - it is a state comprehensive but an "International School" and the students sit the international baccalaureate, not A Levels.

At the end of the meeting the Co-Head Teacher gave a speech in defence of politicians. Very Brave. He implored the students to dig deeply into their education and conscience when deciding who to vote for. He asked them to think hard about why the newspapers print a story before believing it - he confronted the expenses scandal and asked them to debate what politicians should be paid (or go back to the dark days when only the wealthy could afford to do the job). He told them that the gap between politicians and people was larger than at any time he had known, but that without politics they would not today have their school, and it would be politicians and not bankers or financiers who have to sort out the mess of our economy. He even told them that politics is an honorable profession.

He told them that "there is noting wrong with having principles that evolve - what is wrong is having no principles". As a former banker turned politician I could have hugged him.

Feedback from the Streets....

2009-05-13T21:28:00.005Z

As a candidate in the upcoming European Elections I am covering hundreds of miles and meeting hundreds of people each day - I hope I am not spreading Swine Flu ... no sneezes yet!

In Kings Lynn today the shops were very busy. Lynn draws people from not just Northern Norfolk but across the fens from Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire too. It is no surprise that after the expenses scandals stories many residents say not going to vote but they were outnumbered by those who will - if I had a penny for every person who told me they were pleased with the action that David Cameron took yesterday then I would more than have covered all my recent petrol fill-ups. People are always surprised when I tell them that candidates are volunteers and not paid for their time or any expenses. Incidentally if elected I will publish any expenses on line.

I then went down to Eye in Suffolk to canvas with Cllr Guy McGregor who has become a friend through our shared passion to help get long distance freight off the roads and onto the rail. Guy informed me that the bid for EU funds to help this project went in today.... finally our lobbying of the Department for Transport has worked. The bid should have gone in years ago. British taxpayers money is paid into the EU and we must get our fair share back.

Guy had arranged a public meeting in the beautiful town hall. The crowd that turned up were surprised to hear that this is one of the larger audiences that have been at such meetings across the country. Guy and his fellow district councillors spoke with great passion about the differences that have been made to affordable housing, schools and roads in the areas... as well as how the care for the rurally isolated elderly population. Good stuff.

I'm sorry if I bored them to death with what the Tories are doing to fight back against silly EU directives affecting the poultry industry, food labelling, how new UK cars no longer need seperate tests in 27 countries etc -let alone everything that is wrong with the Lisbon treaty but they are important too.

A lifeboat story...

2009-05-11T21:35:00.004Z

Today has to be a personal highlight of the European Election campaign so far. When I was a child I collected bottle tops for a Blue Peter campaign to buy a lifeboat. Today I got to stand on one. - admittedly the boat was on shore in the shed but perhaps some day they will take me to sea. The RNLI is a fabulous organisation - so was the boat I visited today.

Today I visited the Caister lifeboat, near Yarmouth. It is the only non-RNLI boat in the country, has a 200+ year history and gets about 50 call outs a year. They raise over £140,000 a year just to keep the service going, all the lifeboat men are volunteers and their passion for serving the local community is palpable. When I asked how we could help they just told me to let people know what they do.

Earlier in the day I was at Huntingdon Regional College where again many members of staff were passionate about their desire to help their local community - both young and old. We need to provide hands on skills to help build our way out of this recession, local training is vital. But the principal explained that her building is obsolete, she has a cost effective plan for moving but is caught up in the multi million pound scandal of mismanagement of national funding budgets.

David Willetts explained to me in detail the capital expenditure accounting trap that has caused a double whammy for many similar colleges in the country. Sadly all the press were interested in was whether he can change a lightbulb - which clearly he can.

There are some very damning stories coming out in the press about those in political life - which is an insult to those who truly serve their communities. I have no time for those who fiddle expenses and the sooner this mess is cleared up the better.

Balancing Politics and a Family Life

2009-05-10T20:08:00.006Z

Since I was first selected as a candidate in the European Elections I have been asked one question more than any other - its not about my views on healthcare, education, the economy (or EU budgets) but very quietly from county town to tiny village I have been taken aside by a concerned voter to ask how I would balance this job whilst also being a mother.

Perhaps the past few day's diary will give you a snapshot. On Friday morning I dropped the kids at school. Then I went to Watford (Hertfordshire), met our Westminster Candidate and many volunteers to collect signatures in the High Street demanding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The children were collected from school by a friend, went swimming and then back home to dad. In the meantime I spent a couple hours in Loughton (Essex) with Eleanor Laing MP. It was incredibly impressive to see Eleanor meeting many friends amongst her constituents, handing out leaflets, taking notes of local problems to help with later. Her constituents know that on Friday evenings she is usually outside the tube station and one constituent even came off the tube with a bundle of papers on an issue she wanted to share with her MP. I then went on to Southend to a public meeting - returning late.

My 11 year old daughter has been pestering me for a shopping trip. So yesterday, Saturday we went to Sudbury (Suffolk.) Whilst I joined Conservatives campaigning in the High Street and market square while my daughter enjoyed the tweenie paradise of "New Look" and picked up some presents for school friends. I handed out leaflets and combined doing some food shopping with discussing business with local market traders and politics with shoppers.

We raced back home for my final rehearsal - I sing in a choir. Last night's concert was a mixture of Gershwin, Bernstein and then lots of ABBA. My husband peeled himself and my boys off the cricket pitch just a bit late for the first half.... everyone was a bit late to bed still singing Mamma Mia.

Today, Sunday - day off - cricket training with the children in Saffron Walden, lunch in a cafe in the market square. Then Hannah Montana movie with my daughter in the afternoon (Hannah has 200 million viewers every week - we grown-ups should take note) ending up in a family supper with local lamb and some of the English Asparagus I bought yesterday. Yummy.... and a bit of emergency ironing!

I have no doubt that if elected on June 4th I will miss my family hugely for the 3 nights a week I will often spend away. But this is no different to the life of friends who are midwifes, doctors or casualty nurses who also work hours away from their family. Like them, I will be doing a job that I believe can make a difference, and like every working mum in the country I will need to concentrate on devoting time to both work and family.

Difficult times and parliamentary expenses

2009-05-07T21:03:00.005Z

This morning, in Brentwood (Essex), I met a mother very slowly pushing her young daughter's buggy down the street - number two is due in July. They had just said goodbye to her husband who was made redundant recently. He was on his way to a job interview - perhaps he will be one of the lucky ones. I once put my hand up for redundancy and though for me it was "voluntary" and I was reasonably confident I had other options, it was still terrifying.

In Peterborough this evening I knocked on the door of a man who had just voted to take a pay cut in order to try to save his job, the company he works for and his fellow workmates. He had to explain this to his 17 year old daughter just as the TV was exposing another MP expenses story. Not yet able to vote herself she is already furious - so is he. He had spent 25 years serving his country on the frontline in the RAF. We talked.

I explained that if I am elected on June 4th and want to do the job well then I will need some help - but told him I won't employ any family members. Interestingly he said he didn't care about that - provided they are the right person and work hard. He said I should make public what is spent and what I've done.... so that if he thinks I have done a bad job or wasted his money he can vote me out. I agreed to do this.

In Hatfield - the difficult decisions of the credit crunch

2009-05-06T20:21:00.008Z

I was in Hatfield in Hertfordshire this morning. Elections can be really bizarre, one of the leafleting volunteers had been visiting some flats and noticed incredible heat and blinding lights behind the otherwise empty letter box... He then dropped into the local nick - is this going to be another cannabis factory bust?

I've been there a few times this year. We started off by visiting the town centre - it was market day but other than ASDA its not exactly drawing the crowds - the shopping area is a throw back to the 1950s and desperately in need of regeneration. The local council had agreed a huge regeneration plan that was weeks away from being signed when the credit crunch hit.

The Government was asked to put its money where its mouth is and help fund re-development as well as the new homes they force on areas like this from a regional master plan - but they anti-ed up less than a third of the cash that is needed even to paper the cracks and less than 3% of a regeneration plan.

The local community are doing what they can. A youth club had recently re-decorated a graffiti strewn area with some of the best "street art" I've seen.

I heard local traders talk about the quandry they now face... they cant afford increased rent or rates that a new development might need but are also desperate for something to be done. The two local councillors I was with are also leaving no stone unturned to try to find a solution - traders, residents and local politician are all working together... but the system doesn't support them.

Over the past year I have seen many examples of British tax-payers money being poorly spent by our UK government and quangos under an EU flag and then imposed from a massive regional height - yet when local people want support for a project they know is right for their area they find that the bureaucratic box ticking just doesn't help them. Solutions to development issues like this are never going to be easy but as far as I'm concerned the sooner we get rid of regional planning targets and use what little money there is to support local decisions the better.

How are small businesses doing?

2009-05-05T20:04:00.006Z

I have just got home this evening to discover that my 7 year old has dribbled Orange Calippo ice lolly all over my keyboard --- Sticky YUCK. Just one of the benefits of being able to work 24x7 from home!

In Luton this morning I met with a wide variety of small business and shop owners in the Bury Park area. This is not a traditional English high street but an incredibly diverse area of different cultures trading side by side. I have got used to seeing boarded up shop windows in recent months but there were none here. I met grocery shop owners, legal advisors, estate agents, clothiers and carpet sellers. All have experienced difficult months but all had gone into the downturn with little debt, hard working families sharing the workload and very loyal customers... and they are still going. Later I had the chance to chat to a very traditional village shop/post office keeper in a leafy village she said that exactly the same principles (low debt, long hours by family, keep supporting the customers) is what is keeping her business going too.

Its not all easy... one man explained that he had run his own business for 16 years before having to close 18 months ago. He has since been looking for work. His support from the local job centre has involved signing him on for a 6 week training program, ticking the "training" box and errr that's it.

The man in his early 30s behind the counter in one of the grocery shops asked me how long I thought the recession would ask. I started explaining how bad our national debt was and the need to both work our way out of this and the difficult decisions a future government would have. I was using quite simple language. He then told me he had studied economics for five years and has a degree from UCL - we ended up debating whether the Chinese Government stockpiling would have a long lasting effect on world rice prices and how he is now by-passing Euro-based wholesalers to import food directly from producer countries.

Back in Ely this evening I joined a County Council candidate who is new to politics. He describes himself as an engineer working in animal welfare. It turns out that from Ely he is working for sanctuaries as well known as the Battersea Dogs Home, and importing equipment from the US then exporting all over Europe.

Never underestimate the small businessman - or woman!

From North to South and only one UKIP voter...

2009-05-04T19:27:00.005Z

I met a UKIP voter today. He said he is going to vote UKIP because "what has happened to Britain since 1997 is all the Conservative party's fault... you should have got rid of Labour by now". I have to admit that I struggled so much with this logic that I had to leave him to his Beer, perhaps Iain Dale. will be able to explain. In the past 6 days of constant campaigning Mr Beer has been the only person to try to defend UKIP to me.

We were enjoying a blustery bank holiday in the village of Stilton at the northern tip of rural East Anglia where many, many hundreds had gathered to watch the annual cheese rolling competition - along with fairground, candy-floss, tombolas, plant stalls and carnival atmosphere that is so much part of British summers. Half a dozen Tories in blue rosettes could not have been given a warmer welcome - from young to old.

On Saturday I was in Thurrock - at the other extreme of the East of England. A stones throw from the Dartford Tunnel and the shoppers paradise of Lakeside, I was knocking on doors with Jackie Doyle-Price who is fighting a Labour stronghold for the next general election. I didn't meet a Labour voter all morning.

Finally this evening I was canvassing in a "Lib Dem stronghold" near Cambridge (actually not a lot of LDs here either). It constantly amazes me that people who say they are voting LD have no idea about their international policy on Europe. When I explain that our local LD MEP not only supports the Lisbon Treaty but also helped draft it - and that he wants to join the Euro - their support seems to melt.

One undecided voter asked me what I would do with the National Debt - "we will have to work our way out of it" I said. People know there are no easy answers but know that it is time for some straight ones.

Addendum .... sorry correction I did meet a lady in Thurrock on Saturday who had voted Labour all her life but she then admitted she had told her 17 year old daughter the night before that it was time for another Margaret Thatcher ... she suggested that I shouldn't count her as a Labour voter any more.

May Day in Norwich and remembering our Heroes

2009-05-01T20:54:00.013Z

As the troops of today come back from Iraq I had an emotional reminder from a hero of past conflicts.

I was in Norwich today with another candidate for the European Elections, John Flack, and our two Westminster candidates Chloe Smith and Anthony Little. We were given an incredibly warm welcome by shoppers and stall holders in the market. "I've always voted Labour but this time it will be for you" was the message repeated again and again.

I bought some Norfolk cheese and discussed our honest food campaign with the stall holder. I discussed the red tape on small businesses with others and pensions, savings and the difficulties finding jobs with many shoppers.

We saw the despicable state of the War Memorial that is left derelict and an EU part-funded arts installation that 2 years on is left to grow weeds. Where are our priorities?

We were then quizzed on a wide variety of political issues (from who pays for your bath plug to re-hab for drug addicted muggers) by older people at a drop in day centre before joining more older people at a lunch club.

I sat opposite Derek. He is 87 and communicates through gestures, smiles and struggled grunts. Perhaps it was because of the Gurkha news and troops coming back home but the group around him started telling me about their memories of The War. Derek's gestures became agitated with tears welling in his eyes. With help from his carer he told me he had been rescued from the beaches in Dunkirk and then fought for 3 years in Burma. He lost half of his hand and was awarded the Burma Star. Though we couldn't talk, sixty years on I could still feel the pain in his face as he tried to tell me about those years. Tears welled in my eyes too.

Over the next few years we will have an increasing older population. In today's economic circumstances decisions about how to help them will be extremely difficult. We owe it to our heroes of previous years to be honest in facing up to that challenge.

Later in the day we had an open meeting in a pub to discuss the European Elections with volunteers and a chance to catch up with a lady publican about the cocktail of issues that are closing down so many locals. Then on to Cambridgeshire to a briefing about rural businesses, water, food and agriculture, infrastructure and planning from the Country Land and Business Association. Another busy day. Tomorrow Essex.

Time for Gordon to go?

2009-04-30T21:49:00.004Z

Today I saw this poll in the Times. Even though in some ways I'd love him to stay as he is a walking train crash for the Labour Party's electoral hopes, I don't think the country can go on any longer with him as PM. Along with 88% of those polled so far, I voted GO.

I only hope the voting will be similar on June 4th and the country will send a crushing message to him in a real poll

A day out in Norfolk

2009-04-30T21:15:00.009Z

I'm not going to promise to blog every day on the European Election campaign but will try.

Today I saw a cross-section of Southern Norfolk. Andrew Mitchell, MP the shadow Secretary for International Development came to join me. Andrew took me on a trip to Rwanda to understand developing countries so I reckoned that he should come to Norfolk to understand rural East Anglian communities.

We started the day visiting a world leading Norfolk manufacturing company - yes some still do exist, this one was in Thetford. (After all if we are to give money to international development we need to make money here). Trox makes air conditioning systems and is leading research in making their products less energy intensive. We met long serving employees and new apprentices both determined that their company will be a survivor. They already export across the world. If I am elected to the European Parliament they have asked me to help them expose areas where other countries are being protectionist in their industry. They also discussed with their local council candidates how to help inspire and develop their local area.

After that, in Diss, we met with the volunteers who run a very busy Oxfam shop, Andrew was able to update them on what he has seen at the frontline of Oxfam's work in extremely difficult countries. (Andrew bought a very improving book on Africa and I bought a nice necklace and a box of tissues in case of swine flu).

Next the local retained firefighters told us of their work as volunteers to help their local community in emergencies- I was pleased to update them on our recent victory on the working time directive that would have made their work impossible. The local rotary club told us of the work they do - they not only support local charities but have also been networking across East Anglia to funding the building of wells in Zambia.

I also had a chance to brief a shadow cabinet member on the vital contribution of agriculture in our area and the need for decent infrastructure. Tomorrow I'm back in Norfolk again but today was a good day.

First Blood of the European Election Campaign

2009-04-29T20:33:00.005Z

It's not just postmen that get bitten by dogs... Today I was helping a local county council candidate deliver some letters to constituents. I lifted a letter box, pushed the envelope through and bang - jaws on finger.

As a dog owner I have never really believed other victim's tales of the sneaky dogs that lie in silence just waiting for that juicy deliverer's morsel - surely one must hear their mutley sniggers? - but I swear this dog gave me no warning. Does he/she/it only go for Conservative fingers or are all parties equal targets?

I'm OK - it's only a small bite. Not like a volunteer in Luton who lost her finger in a similar incident a few elections ago. I marched past the HUGE sign on the GP's surgery door that now tells everyone with flu symptoms to stay away - The district nurses were great; they checked my tetanus, gave me this smart bandage and told me to come back pronto for antibiotics if there is any sign of infection.

The highly observant of you will notice that I am not wearing a wedding ring. Hugo and I are still very happily married but I have taken it off for now in case of swelling. Perhaps I'm paranoid but we did start our wedding night in A&E having Hugo's signet ring cut off ... but that's another story.

Improving Rural Roads... With Limited Cash

2009-04-28T09:17:00.004Z

With public spending under pressure and purse strings needing to get tighter it will become even more important that public money and time is well spent. A few days ago I met all the Conservative candidates in Hertfordshire for a briefing in the run up to the Council elections... we discussed everything from schools to hospitals to the Lisbon treaty but the debate on potholes was the one attracting most public comment. Rural roads in East Anglia are not only a major issue but often a tragic one.

I went to check the signs on my local road. I have campaigned for improvements on the A1307 for many years. Over a year ago I wrote about the frustrations of seeing hours of public sector time spent on the road but no action. Last year 5 people died in on a ten mile stretch of this small road. Since then after much lobbying a safety campaign started and the signs pictured were erected. Whilst the road still needs substantial improvements it is going to become even more difficult to find that sort of money. However, these signs and the safety campaign have not cost vast amounts of money - but may have saved some lives, only time will tell. But we are all hopeful that the silence of ambulance sirens over recent months will continue.

As I talk to people around the East of England I continually hear frustrations about local roads. When I mention Europe people ask why other countries appear to have mile after mile of new tarmac provided by the EU but no investment happens here? Over recent years the UK has not benefited from the same EU investment in roads and railways as other countries. Some of this is simply due to the Department for Transport in the UK failing to prioritise bids for these funds. It seems to me that in the tough economic times ahead we must get our fair share of every penny available - and make sure it is well spent.

Helping Developing Countries

2009-04-28T08:40:00.008Z

At Conservative Party Spring Forum this weekend I was asked by a number of people about my experiences with Project Umubano and Conservative volunteers in Rwanda. I told them all that if they get a chance to spend even a few weeks offing volunteer time in a developing country they should grab the chance.

Two years ago I joined 60 Conservatives in Rwanda. My project was to restore and enlarge a pre-school at the Girubuntu Orphanage. Since I left the orphanage has re-located to a larger site- but there are now plans to start a new building. Last year Andrew Mitchell MP led over 100 Conservatives back again, this time to do many more projects. This year he plans an even larger group and to visit two countries.

Tomorrow Andrew Mitchell will be joining me campaigning in Norfolk. We will be finding out what it is like to be a volunteer in an Oxfam shop as well meeting local people who, despite tough economic times, are continuing to raise funds for those less well off than themselves.

Where is all your EU Money going?

2009-04-28T07:59:00.005Z

This Friday there will be a meeting of the East of England's European and International Affairs Panel. I do not approve of regional government or quangos but this quarterly meeting is the only local scrutiny of the hundreds of millions of British taxpayers' pounds that are sent off to Brussels and then recycled (with costly bureaucracy) before being spent by UK quangos and government departments in our own local area. Sadly the panel has no decision making power but it is at least an opportunity to question.

For the nine months, I have attended these meetings and put my questions. Our leading Conservative MEP has also used this opportunity to question. BUT for 5 years our two UKIP MEPs have never shown their faces or asked a question - despite UKIP constantly claiming how they will stand up against EU waste.

As I am no longer an elected councillor I can't ask my questions this week. But I have read the papers and forwarded my questions to Conservative Councillors who will be there. I have many.

Not only is the information incredibly poorly presented (it is almost impossible even for someone who is experienced in unpicking financial statements to get a clear picture of budgets - I've been saying this since my first meeting), but I also have detailed questions about where our money is going.

One example - last week the UK Arts council of the UK announced that it will not be funding any new projects in this recession, but EU money has just been allocated to "a programme of cross-channel contemporary arts tours" and "to exploit the film archives of the regions of East Anglia and Haute Normandie ...for communities to better understand their joint history".

Is it any wonder members of the public are so cross about where their money is going?

More on the EU Working Time Directive

2009-04-27T20:25:00.004Z

This weekend I attended the Spring Forum. I was delighted to hear that the leadership of the Conservative Party reaffirmed our commitment to bring key parts of employment legislation back to Westminster from Brussels. Here are my thoughts on the one size fits all EUWTD

Why I read the Lisbon Treaty on St George's Day.

2009-04-24T13:37:00.006Z

Yesterday was St Georges Day and I spent part of it reminding myself exactly how proud I am to be British - and, in preparation for the upcoming elections, in reminding myself just how much I dislike parts of the Lisbon Treaty and why I have campaigned for a referendum.

I'm not a lawyer - but unlike the Labour minister for Europe at least I have spent time reading the treaty.

My own copy kept my printer busy for ages - why should residents have to pay E40 if they want to order a copy of the treaty that could have such an huge impact on their lives. As I read I found myself scribbling huge "NO"s beside certain sections.

Clause 27 - on a common Foreign Policy "the Union shall conduct, define and implement a common foreign and security policy" NO - Why should the UK become subserviant to a common foreign policy - we have the UN (ok its often not perfect) but this also seems huge extra bureaucracy to me.

Clause 49 - On an EU Army - "Member states shall make civilian and military capabilities available to the Union for the implementation of the common security and defense policy" NO - we already have NATO, our British Troops are already hugely overstretched and other EU countries haven't exactly rushed in to help them in Afghanistan. Again this seems completely unnecessary.

Clause 4 - "The Union shall establish and economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro"..... That got a big NO from me too.

I could go on....

We were promised a referendum. The Conservative Party does not want these new rules and is committed to rejecting them either by offering the British People referendum (if that is still legally possibly by the time a general election occurs)... or if it has already been turned into law by re-opening negotiations. We can not let this rest here.

Being a councillor

2009-04-24T13:18:00.004Z

Yesterday I stood down as a district councillor. I have really enjoyed representing my community for the past 3 years and there have been many successes. It is a huge honour and I have learnt masses, not only about my local community but also about local government.

All too often we find that decisions that we know are right for our local area are impossible because of heavy handed legislation from Westminster or Brussels. On June 4th I will stand as a candidate in the European Elections - I see this as an opportunity to help roll back the bureaucracy, unnecessary legislation and financial waste that is so often imposed by Europe.

I am not complacent about this election - I have already visited nearly all of the 58 Constituencies of the East of England over the coming days our candidate team will be helping campaign in all of them - but I do know that if I am elected I will have far less time to represent my area on council issues. My area deserves strong and continuous local representation. A mid-year by-election would be expensive. I know how totally frustrating mid year by-elections can be for voters and I don't want to put my community through that.

By stepping down as a councillor yesterday a by-election will be called on the same day as the County Council and European elections. My neighbours will have the opportunity to chose who represents them at every level of government - bar Westminster.... How I wish that they had the opportunity to make that Westminster choice too!

Darlings debt just cost children another £1,000

2009-04-22T14:43:00.003Z

I suspect I am not alone in trying to grapple exactly what the mountain of government debt announced by Darling today means for my family.... but lets look at it this way.

The last estimate I heard was that each child born in Britain today has about £20,000 of government debt. Today's news will put that higher.

Darling also said that his forecasts show no return to government surplus until at least 2017/18... i.e. 8 years before we even start repaying it.

As the government announces higher borrowing forecasts, investors see the increased risks and demand that government pays higher and higher interest rates. Today the gilt market has fallen again so the cost of the interest has gone up again --- The yield on benchmark 10 year gilts has gone from 3.02% a month ago to 3.42% and rising when I just checked a few minutes ago.

0.4% may not seem high alone but annualized over 10 years on £20,000 means nearly £1,000 of extra interest per child. Add to that the debt per child is now higher and the actual time to repay the debt is probably longer. Whatever your assumption it doesn't make the extra £20 a year promised for child tax credits look generous.

Various commentators have also raised the question of whether the UK's AAA/Aaa credit rating could be threatened. We should pray not. Ireland has just lost its. That of course would push bond yields and the long term interest bill for each of us even higher.

With thanks to FT.com for the graph of 10 year gilt spreads.

Focus on Fishing....

2009-04-16T11:31:00.012Z

Today as the French trawlermen lift their blockade of channel ports, holiday-makers can start to return from their elongated Easter breaks. My family is peppered with amateur anglers (myself included) but over recent months I have learned that the issues surrounding fish stocks are far more complicated than is often reflected in the news. Many UK politicians with a short term view don't want to enter the murky waters of fishery policy but the resources of the sea are too important to be neglected. Centrally run quotas from Brussels have not succeeded in protecting fish stocks - the scandal of "discards" is just one example of its failing.

Today's cave in by the French authorities to offer more subsidies to French trawler fleets may have re-opened the ports for now but does not solve the long term problem.... and yet again puts the decimated UK fishing industry at a disadvantage.

On a winter's visit to the dawn fishmarket in Lowestoft, local fishermen told me that the East Coast cod stocks are on a high, that their line fishing technique was totally sustainable, and that this was local food at its best... though on closer questioning I discovered that the bait for their hooks was caught off the Falkland Islands (they said by Spanish trawlers) and shipped half way across the world.

A few weeks ago I was collared by another fishermen in Canvey Island at the mouth of the Thames Estuary. He explained that Dover Sole catch in the Channel was at his lifetime low - and he blamed the Belgians.

This is not a local industry.

Decision making needs to be more local - but can not be done unilaterally because the proximity of our coast to that of other countries means that we have to work together. The Conservative Party has suggested local fisheries boards - bringing together interested parties from each affected country in each local fishing area.

This is a system that on the whole works well for inland fisheries in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but just as a salmon river can be perfectly run by a fishery board but have its stocks destroyed by netting or fish farming in the estuary which is beyond their control, it will be difficult to influence the key players in the global fishing industry with a purely European solution.

Somehow we need to balance the needs of local communities and small local fishing fleets with the economics of the factory trawlers. As with the Common Agricultural Policy, the unthinking subsidy of the industry such as those proposed by the French Government today will not provide a long term solution

Little things...... sometimes add up

2009-04-15T21:12:00.003Z

I have now been a local councillor for nearly 3 years ... its often a thankless task with heavy wadges of bureaucratic papers and endless meetings but from time to time it is also the chance to do little things that just might help.

I live in a middle sized village, and as a councillor I represent seven smaller neighbour villages too. We are very rural - it is ten miles to a bank, further still to a police station but there have been a number of frightening break-ins. How does one reduce crime?

The public transport here is useless for commuters so cars are a necessity. Our village's carbon footprint is frightening... how do we reduce it?

Like many communities we struggle to find people with time on their hands to give to voluntary work.

Last month I put two notices in the village mag. I wasn't holding high hopes. One was to find volunteers for neighbourhood watch schemes. The second was to find people interested in helping to save power.

I'm glad to report that the village has come up trumps. Tonight's meeting set up four new neighbourhood watches.

On the "carbon" issue; working with the district council I am promised a handful of electricity monitors for use by residents. Within hours of the village mag hitting the doorstep three village volunteers have offered to run a library scheme so their neighbours can work out what's eating their electricity.... and today I had an email from a village nearly 20 miles away in a different county asking how they could do the same.

Small things....

Working Together

2009-04-06T18:27:00.006Z

This weekend I went to Basildon which has been in the national news over the past week as workers laid off by Visteon have been protesting for better redundancy pay from Ford.

I joined our Westminster candidate, Stephen Metcalfe and many local councillors. Steve told me that unemployment in Basildon was already up 70% by the end of January and that workers at the job centre are struggling to process new applications. This is before the news from Visteon. He, local councillors and a committed team of helpers have been hand delivering a door-to-door survey to ask people how the economic downturn has affected them personally and what more they think government or local council can do to help.

Here, where the economic downturn is biting hard the proclamations of last week's G20 leaders are a million miles away. Steve's team hope that local people will come up with some practical suggestions to help them at their own local level. People I spoke to were glad that someone was listening to them.

Who will put out the fires...

2009-03-24T09:41:00.004Z

Today I am going to Norfolk to meet firefighters - and find out from them how the EU rules on working time could put lives at risk especially in rural areas. I wrote about the impact on doctors a few weeks ago.

I've already spoken to firefighters in Cambridgeshire who have told me about the deep uncertainty in their profession caused by the debates raging in Brussels.

If the European Parliament does succeed in forcing the UK to comply with the 48 hour week and, as is being suggested, they include "on call" hours in the time limit then we will have a serious shortage of firefighters. The retained firefighters who do other jobs during the day but fill the rota in the evenings and weekends will be forced to give up one or the other. Either we will have a worse fire service or the tax payer will have to pay more... and which of us can afford that?

Labour MEPs voted for this suggestion. Conservatives did not. More later ....

Trains not Trucks

2009-03-09T19:18:00.003Z

Overcrowded roads is a big issue. On the A14 and across the East of England we often hear of accidents involving lorries. We need local freight but I would love to get some long distance trucks off our major trunk roads and give containers the option to travel by rail... OK, I may be turning into a bit of a train spotter but I hope that today's meeting moved this a step closer.

The upgrade of the main East-West railway for freight from the Eastern port of Felixstowe all the way to Nuneaton in the Midlands, would give container traffic the ability to intersect with East and West Coast mainlines as well as Midland mainlines.

Two years ago this didn't even seem on the political agenda- and the Department for Transport allowed bid deadlines for EU funding to slip by into sidings. Many local politicians have now said they would like to go full steam ahead with the upgrade but only 4 local councillors attended today's meeting (were they not aware of it?). Geoffrey Van Orden, Conservative MEP, sent a representative to help shunt the project along with some EU cash.

In the UK we are more than entitled to bid for EU funds (after all its our money). I want to see this project happen - but if the British tax payer is going to fund most of it then lets get our fair share of the EU funds to help.

This is not an expensive project (at least not compared to a new road!). Today's meeting was with Network Rail, Department for Transport and various others. £50 million pounds has been committed by DfT for the bridge improvements- (so the trucks can get under the 30 affected bridges...only 30 in hundreds of miles). Bridge work will be completed within 2 years. There are still pinch points... how to navigate Ipswich... (we were promised an answer on that next month) and signaling problems in Leicester - this could take 5-6 years... surely if this was a real priority it could happen faster?

A bid will go into the EU in June but only for the bridge works. Yet again bidding for EU grants for infrastructure seems pretty low on the UK government priority.

Next time you are stuck behind a slow moving foreign container lorry on our ludicrously over crowded roads think about the computers in the signal box in Leicester.....

Ask the audience....

2009-03-06T23:20:00.003Z

I asked a crowded room in South Norfolk tonight whether yesterday's decision by the Bank of England to push more money into the economy had made them feel more confident in their financial future or less.

Not a single hand went up for "more confident" - every single hand went up for less.

Nuff said....

A large quantity of unease...

2009-03-06T00:15:00.003Z

Iain Dale writes this evening about "quantitative easing" saying "I'm horrified that Conservative politicians haven't spoken out against this potentially disastrous move. In fact, no one has. It's about time someone did."

I've been pretty quiet about blogging about what I think about HMG's economic policies recently but I just can't let this one lie.

I'm not easy about this easing... and I'm not alone. I've just got home from a very well attended Conservative constituency dinner in Welwyn Hatfield, home of Grant Schapps MP. The members present certainly were speaking out about quantitative easing.

Here are my views.

I want it to work.... I really want to see the green shoots in my garden start to reappear in the economy, for consumers to have returned confidence in their income, employees to have confidence that their jobs are safe, my unemployed friends to find work and businesses to again be able to ask banks to finance future expansion not just struggling for day to day survival.

I understand that the Bank of England is trying to do something to help. Interest rate cuts have been tried to the end and whilst this has put some money in mortgage holders pockets - its not been enough to kick start spending... partly because cuts have not been passed on, partly because many people were on fixed rate mortgages so didn't benefit, and partly because confidence is so low that even those with more money in their pockets don't have confidence to make substantial purchases...in the meantime savers have really suffered. I understand why the BoE is trying to help.

In theory the announcement that the Bank of England is going to pump £75 billion into the economy should inspire the consumer to believe that the corner is going to turn and they should go and buy a new car at these discount prices. (As a point of reference, £75 billion is 75% of the NHS budget for England this year) We are also told that the money that banks and investors make from the great bond buy-back will encourage banks to lend more to our companies.

However, the reality is much more complicated.

We have already seen the government pump billions into the banks. In the past few months I have found that, from Hertfordshire commuters to Norfolk farmers, people are deeply aware that every penny of government money is their money. They know this "easing" uses their tax-payers money. Even though QE (although it sounds seductively simple) is hideously complex they know they as tax payers, will have to pay for the consequences in the future - either through increased government debt or inflation... I'm not convinced that this announcement will bring confidence rushing back to the British consumer.

So will it encourage banks to "lend more"? That's a more complicated question - before the credit crunch many many non-UK banks were lending to UK companies and many have retreated back to home turf. I don't foresee them returning in a hurry. If the BoE uses the money to buy back gilts then its not only UK banks that will benefit. (Perhaps someone else will let me know the % of Gilts held overseas- even with the fall in the pound it will be significant) If, on the other hand, the BoE uses the money to buy corporate debt - pushing down interest rates for companies - then the UK taxpayer is taking on yet more risk. Either way it will take some time for the money to trickle back into UK bank lending... and incidentally the last thing I want is for banks to start making ridiculous lending decisions again.

I hope I am wrong, I hope this works. But I am deeply uneasy.

Good things and Bad things...

2009-02-17T20:38:00.015Z

Times are more than tough, bad news and blame games everywhere... I will try to be positive.

My good thing of today was the Family Railcard that took me and 4 children (not all mine!) for a day trip to London from Cambridge for just £25. The bad thing was the journey back - not a single seat left - one child sitting in the luggage rack, two under the luggage rack and me and the fourth sitting in the alley beside the luggage rack. This was "travelling outside the rush hour". It is a fair assessment of infrastructure failings in the East of England.

The past few weeks have been sooooooo busy .... With some of the other Candidates for the European elections we have been learning and listening... here are some of the things I've been to see...

In Norfolk, we've been to see where the land is falling rapidly into the sea, I've met local business owners who are trying keep grounded in the economic land-slip and visited a NHS clinic that is facing having the rug pulled from under them despite massive local protest.

In Suffolk, I've met doctors who don't know how they will staff rotas in the future and the head brewer who is concerned about pub closures but very concerned about what increased taxes from Gordon Brown will do to those left.

In Essex, we've been to see post offices that have closed and ones that the county council are re-opening. We met the world record holder "Turkey Plucker" - yes he does exist, over recent years he has been a pioneer for local food and puts 120,000 turkeys on your tables each Christmas - the last thing he needs is the new regulations that are coming over the hill from Europe.

At home in Cambridgeshire, we've met council leaders about the state of the roads, hi-tech industries with real solutions to cut our electricity bills from the "standby" buttons. We've seen the raw end of the lower-tech companies who supply those hi-techs. I've met wheat growers who have used an EU Grant to help make "British Bread" available across the UK as well as those scientists looking at the seeds that could help feed the future.... its also been great to talk to some pupils in schools because they are our future.

In Hertfordshire, I met commuters worried about what future there is for financial services in London - great uncertainty, and especially so from the pensioners I met.

My own trips to Bedfordshire over the past fortnight were "snowed off", other team members have been keeping an eye in the sky (at the airport) and down below at local businesses many of which have a national or international reach.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done - for those commuters that I met sitting in the luggage rack and it would be much easier if basic problems like infrastructure had been sorted out many years ago.