Tameside MEP Chris Davies writes in his blog today about the plan to reduce Britain’s deficit:
“Most people know that the country is in a very bad situation. But I don’t think many of them realise just how bad things are, or how much worse they could get if the Government gets the strategy wrong.
To understand you have to go back to 1997.”
Den Dover, the former Tameside Conservative MEP, has been ordered to pay back £345,289 to the European Parliament and could now face prosecution for fraud.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg today dismissed attempts by Dover to avoid repayment of the money that the European Parliament stated was wrongly claimed between 1999 and 2008.
Dover made the following illegitimate payments from the allowance paid to MEPs to meet the costs of paying for staff:
The Parliament also sought the repayment of £167,903 it claimed represented the costs of VAT that had not been paid. But the Court concluded that this was a matter for dispute between the British authorities and the former MEP.
Dover was ordered to pay his own costs.
Tameside’s Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies, a longstanding campaigner for tighter rules on the use of public money, is calling on the police to investigate former Tory MEP Den Dover and believes he could go to jail.
Chris, who in 2008 made public the contents of a secret auditors’ report into financial malpractices by European MPs, commented: “Most MEPs know the difference between right and wrong when spending public money, but Dover treated the European Parliament like a private piggy bank and let greed overtake honour.
“The Parliament has been shamefully weak in the past and has too often turned a blind eye to abuses, but it is now demonstrating that such behaviour will no longer be tolerated.
“I am calling on the police here to investigate whether Dover’s actions were fraudulent and warrant criminal prosecution. I expect the parliamentary authorities in Brussels to provide them with full cooperation. In my view Dover tried to cheat the public purse and should go to jail.”
Police forces across Europe will have more power to crack down on human traffickers after the UK signed up to support tougher measures today. Tameside’s Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies, who has campaigned for the UK to sign up to the new anti-trafficking directive, said:
“The UK has long been a leader in the fight against human trafficking and today’s announcement sends a powerful message that we intend to maintain that position.
“Along with fellow MEPs I helped to lobby the Government to opt in to this directive after they initially decided against doing so. Certain issues are more easily tackled by 27 countries acting together than by each acting alone. Had the UK failed to opt in, efforts to curtail this abhorrent practice would have been hampered.
“EU involvement in this issue may have caused arguments within the coalition but as a Lib Dem I welcome this as a victory for the protection of vulnerable people.”
Lorely Burt MP
Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Business, Innovations and Skills, Lorely Burt, together with her parliamentary colleagues MP for Cheadle, Mark Hunter and MP for Bradford East, David Ward has been leading a campaign to prevent the phasing out of cheques.
Commenting ahead of the delivery of a ‘save the cheque’ petition to No 10 today, Lorely Burt said: “Last year alone there were over one billion cheque transactions which shows just how widely used this form of payment still is. For tradesmen and small business, cheques are an essential method of payment as other methods can be expensive to administer. “For many older or vulnerable people, particularly pensioners or those who are housebound, cheques are a necessary alternative to keeping wads of cash under their pillow and leaving themselves at a greater risk of theft and burglary.
“Our petition has received support from thousands of people from all across the country, of different ages and walks of life. Today we’re calling on the Government to acknowledge that banks have a social responsibility to serve and protect their customers, and that retaining cheques would mean little or nothing to banks but a great deal to millions of their customers who still rely on them.”
Chris Davies MEP
The new body already has the support of MEPs from 14 countries, including Tameside Conservative Sir Robert Atkins and Labour’s Linda McAvan (Yorkshire). With up to 80% of fisheries being managed unsustainably the European Commission intends to propose major policy reforms later this year.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has already announced that she wants a science-led approach and aims to ban the wasteful practice of discarding fish into the sea, dead, when quotas have been exceeded. Fisheries management will be transferred from Brussels to regional organisations involving local fishermen, food companies and environmentalists.
But Chris Davies warns that the reforms are likely to face tough political opposition and are at risk of being hijacked. He said: “In many European waters there are too many boats chasing too few fish. Capacity must be reduced and that will be fiercely resisted.
“Our seas are capable of supporting many more fish than now exist after so much overfishing. We cannot allow the agenda to be set by short term thinking that ignores the need to ensure that we have fish on the table in 50 or 100 years’ time.”
The MEP claims that support for reform has the support of all parties in Britain but faces likely challenges from MEPs and ministers representing Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.
He said: “The Coalition Government’s fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, is arguing the case for change at every opportunity, but the extent of opposition he faces will become known only when the European Commission publishes the details of its plans.”
Today co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury committee Stephen Williams has announced policy proposals to give shares in RBS and Lloyds to the British people.
In his pamphlet “Getting your share of the banks” Stephen Williams argues that the mass distribution of stakes in the banks is the fairest way of giving taxpayers a share of the rewards while ensuring the Treasury returns its investment.
Commenting, Stephen Williams said: “There is danger that when the banks return to the private sector, it is business as usual. There is a general feeling in this country that we need to get something positive in return for the bailout.
“HM Treasury needs to recover the approximately £66 billion it spent bailing out the two banks. There is a general feeling in the country that we need to get something positive in return for the bail out.
“This pamphlet puts forward an idea for giving us all a stake in the banks, for HM Treasury to clear its debt and restore public confidence in the state owned financial institutions.”
Today the Government announced that it would be supporting Liberal Democrat peer, Lord (Tim) Clement-Jones’ Live Music Bill, which seeks to remove the bureaucratic burden from small venue owners, such as pubs and community halls, who want to have live music play for their guests
Lord Clement-Jones said: “There is clear support across all parties to reform the current system as the Licensing Act has had a deadening effect on the performance of live music in small venues.
“The Live Music Bill will benefit hundreds of small pubs, restaurants and church and community halls who want live music at their venue by generally removing the need to apply for a complicated licence.”
“I’m glad the Government has responded so positively to this Bill and I look forward to working with them to fulfil the Coalition Agreement’s pledge to put an end to red tape and bureaucracy.”
Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Secretary Chris Huhne today launched My2050, an online simulation which gives the you the chance to decide what you would do to secure Britain’s energy future.
An array of sweeping reforms will put an end to unwarranted local authority snooping and unnecessary scrutiny of individuals.
Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today welcomed the publication of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. The Bill steps up the coalition government’s commitment to restore hard-won British liberties. An array of sweeping reforms will put an end to unwarranted local authority snooping and unnecessary scrutiny of individuals. It will see: (more…)