Shark law needs more bite

Sharks may have a reputation for causing harm more than being harmed, but a Tameside Euro-MP says that measures to protect them need more bite. Liberal Democrat Chris Davies is campaigning to curb the practice of shark
finning from killing off some of the ocean’s largest predators.

Finning involves slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea.  It is driven by high demand prices paid by Chinese buyers in order to make shark fin soup. Often the shark is still alive after being finned and either drowns, is eaten by other fish, or starves to death.

Chris says that shark numbers have in some case fallen by 90% over the past two decades and is seeking the support of his fellow  MEPs to end the practice in EU waters.

His “written declaration” is cosponsored by MEPs from France, Finland and Romania has been signed by 78 MEPs in the first few days.

Said Davies, “Not only is shark finning wasteful, it is cruel.

“Many species of shark are in real danger of extinction but they are being hunted for the sake of one body part that doesn’t even taste of very much.

“It is time we stopped letting one of the oceans most successful predators die in agony just so people can show off that they can afford shark fin soup.”

If more than 369 MEPs sign the Davies declaration by 20th December, the European Commission will have to look at a proposal to strengthen current laws and end legal loopholes that allow EU fishing fleets to fin sharks.

Rat plague fears calmed

Fears that towns and cities could be overrun by a plague of rats have been calmed after MEPs defeated EU plans to ban the use of killer chemicals. Pest control experts had warned that European Commission proposals to severely restrict anticoagulant rodenticides could lead to an explosion in Britain’s rat population.

But changes in the draft law were made after Tameside MEP Chris Davies brought together EU officials and industry advisors to discuss its implications.

And now he has helped secure the defeat in the European Parliament of attempts by Green MEPs to have the most widely used product immediately taken off the market.

The new law on the use of biocides now looks set to restrict future use of the highly toxic rodenticides to pest control professionals, but EU governments will each have flexibility to determine how the rules will be applied.

Chris Davies said the products used to kill rats were “nasty, cruel, but sometimes necessary.”

“These chemicals kill in a horrible way. If pet animals were treated like this there would be public outrage, but because the targets are rats and not cats the complaints are rare.”

The law will encourage pest controllers to try and find less cruel ways to deal with the problem of rat infestation, but if this is impossible the rodenticides will still be available.

Final details of the new law are still to be determined but the MEP said that so far it had proved a good example of the way in which the EU law-making process is supposed to work, but sometimes does not.

Tameside MEPs spat about Royal Mail

Tameside Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies has flatly contradicted a claim by UKIP’s Paul Nuttall that the EU is responsible for the possible privatisation of Royal Mail.

Davies says the reasons lie with the growth of the internet and the decline in the number of postal deliveries along with inadequate investment by successive governments.

Davies said, “The truth is that it is Britain that has been promoting a more liberal economic agenda in the EU not the other way round.

“UKIP have a long history of spreading myths about Royal Mail and it is time they stopped peddling paranoid conspiracy theories about the EU.”

Tameside MEP tops the league

Chris Davies MEPTameside Euro-MP Chris Davies has emerged at the head of a ‘league table’ comparing the performance of representatives in the European Parliament.

The Liberal Democrat has spoken more often, tabled more questions, and has the best attendance record of the eight MEPs who represent the North West of England.

The figures compiled by independent organisation Votewatch.eu are based on the European Parliament’s own public records since elections were held last year.

Davies has made 34 speeches in the Parliament on subjects ranging from the need to introduce sustainable fisheries policies to the situation in Middle East, but he concentrated in particular on environmental legislation.

The second most voluble MEP was British National Party leader Nick Griffin, who spoke 14 times during the year.

Bottom of the table was Conservative MEP Jackie Foster, who spoke on just three occasions and tabled no parliamentary questions at all.

But UKIP’s representative, Paul Nuttall, claimed the record for absenteeism, being present on just 58% of the days that the Parliament was in session.

Chris Davies said that numbers did not tell the whole story but was pleased that he had topped the table.

He said: “I’m involved in the shaping of laws that will be binding on 27 countries.  A lot of work goes on behind the scenes but parliamentary debates do provide an opportunity to put ideas on record and to hold the European Commission to public account.

“Perhaps the UK Independence Party should learn some lessons.  You can’t stand up for Britain’s interests if you are not present when votes take place.”

Time called on Tameside cowboy scrap dealers

Time is being called on the activities of Tameside cowboy car scrap dealers.

A loophole in vehicle licensing rules that has allowed millions of cars to be scrapped but not deregistered is to be closed after a campaign by Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies.

Environmentalists claim that it has led to thousands of tonnes of oil and brake fluid being poured down drains, while millions of old tyres have ended up dumped on wasteland or in the countryside.

The loophole allows owners of old bangers to claim that they are scrapping the cars themselves.

It has been exploited by rogue scrap dealers who use it to avoid paying to meet the depollution requirements of EU end-of-life vehicles legislation introduced 10 years ago.

Now the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea is to start the issue of revised V5C registration forms.

Davies has been working for four years with operators of licensed waste treatment facilities to get the changes made and environmental standards improved.

He said: “The figures suggest that up to a million cars have been taken apart and scrapped on peoples’ driveways in the last 5 years.  This is clearly absurd, but it’s been an uphill task to persuade the DVLA to make the changes required.

“Rogue scrap dealers advertising for old cars need to be put of business. They are not paying tax, they harm the environment, and they undercut legitimate vehicle dismantlers.”

However, the DVLA claims that it will take at least two years to issue new registration documents to every car owner and that could mean another 300,000 to 400,000 cars slipping through the net.

Davies, who will shortly meet with new Business Minister Mark Prisk to discuss the issue, wants owners of every car destined for the breaker’s yard to be told that they should insist now that scrap dealers supply them with a
key document.

He said: “A Certificate of Destruction is essential.  It ensures that the car is deregistered and properly depolluted.”

Davies says that DVLA procedures have until now failed to ensure that vehicles are deregistered even when they have in fact been dismantled.  He warns that if a car taken for scrapping is in fact put back on the road by a
rogue trader, the original owner will unknowingly retain responsibility if it is involved in an accident.

“The EU end-of-life directive is a good environment law intended to ensure that the millions of cars disposed of each year are treated properly.  The time is long overdue for Britain to apply it across the board.”

Andy Kenny, spokesman for the End of Life Vehicle Recyclers Association said, “Cowboy dealers with a mobile phone and a van have been undercutting legitimate businesses for years with the help of the DVLA.

“Chris Davies has worked with us to slam the door on the people who dump tyres in laybys and pour poisons down the drain.

“There have been many false dawns on this issue and I hope that this time the DVLA will stick to its guns.”

Controversial children’s database ContactPoint to be scrapped

Today Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Education, Families and Young People Baroness Walmsley welcomed the Government’s announcement that the controversial children’s database ContactPoint will be scrapped.

Liberal Democrats opposed ContactPoint from the start. At the last Lib Dem Autumn Conference a motion was passed calling for an end to the database and to invest the money in alternatives to help staff more effectively.

Commenting, Baroness Walmsley said: “It is very important that we improve our child protection services and make sure that no abuse or neglect can fall through the cracks. However, ContactPoint was not the answer.

“We have campaigned against this database for a very long time. It was a waste of time and money that staff neither wanted nor needed. The privacy and security implications of such a large collection of personal data were another headache that those working to protect vulnerable children could have done without.

“Now we need to look for ways we can help the professionals do their jobs properly.”

RBS must use profits to help struggling businesses

“We cannot simply allow banks to go back to business as usual while viable British firms are suffering,” says MP Stephen Williams.

Commenting on the £1.1bn pre-tax half year profits announced by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Treasury Policy Committee, Stephen Williams said:

“RBS is almost entirely owned by the taxpayer, so these huge profits must be used for the national interest and not just to pay massive bonuses to senior staff.

“There is no excuse for RBS not to loan to good British companies that are struggling to get credit. We cannot simply allow banks to go back to business as usual while viable British firms are suffering.”

End to unreasonable stop-and-search

Commenting on the Home Secretary’s announcement that stop and search powers will be subject to stricter conditions, Tom Brake MP, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs, Justice and Equality, said: “This is a very welcome announcement. Section 44 was an unreasonable power, applied in an indiscriminate way.

“This change strengthens our civil liberties, building on a longstanding commitment from Liberal Democrats.

“When the Labour benches attacked the coalition for what they described as an obsession with defending civil liberties, it just highlighted their dangerous obsession with eroding them.”

No need for the Pied Piper

Fears that an explosion in rat and mice numbers could result from a new EU law intended to curb the use of dangerous chemicals have been calmed.

A meeting called by Tameside Euro-MP Chris Davies to give public health and safety experts the chance to explain their concerns to Brussels officials has paid off.

In a formal response to a parliamentary question, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potonik has now promised ‘open discussions’ to ensure that rodenticides can continue for essential uses.

Davies said: “Problems such as the damage that rats and mice can do to electrical wiring in buildings had been overlooked by the Commission when it drafted its proposal. Good law making requires listening and learning.”