|
|
17 Most Recent Press Articles
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in East Anglian Daily Times on Wed 30th Jun 2010
Coalition politics brings good news and bad news. For our region, it is good that a second runway at Stansted has been cancelled. It is bad that the cuts considered to be unavoidable by the new government have stalled the A14 improvements scheme around Cambridge, forcing everyone to endure for more years that slow and dangerous road. It is good, in my view, that we are to have a chance in a referendum to decide to move to a fairer voting system for the House of Commons. It is bad, again in my view, that EEDA, our regional development agency, is to be scrapped in favour of patchy, vague and uncoordinated 'local enterprise partnerships'. It is good, of course, that the Lib Dem presence in government has obliged the Tories to drop their visceral anti-Europeanism.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Mon 3rd May 2010
In Brussels and across Europe there has been a surge of interest in the British general election campaign. People had more or less accepted that David Cameron would form a Conservative government, probably with a large majority, but now the outcome looks far from certain.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Mon 22nd Mar 2010
Before Catherine Ashton can become an effective actor on the global stage, the European Union's new foreign policy chief needs to have in place the diplomatic service, ordained by the Lisbon treaty.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Tue 23rd Feb 2010
With Europe's economic and monetary union in a spin, it is a good time to ask what the new Lisbon treaty can do to help. In institutional terms, the most relevant innovation is the creation of the post of standing presidency of the European Council and the appointment to it of Herman van Rompuy.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Mon 25th Jan 2010
Like it or not, the European Union cannot work without the European Commission. And it never works well unless the Commission is strong.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Wed 16th Dec 2009
As the European parliament prepares for January's public hearings on President José Manuel Barroso's second Commission, the chief interest lies in the new post given to the UK's Catherine Ashton. The role is often dubbed 'double-hatted' but as more people begin to read the Lisbon treaty a rather different, and more complex, picture emerges.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Fri 20th Nov 2009
The Lisbon treaty will come into force, at long last, on December 1 after the Czech constitutional court this week abruptly dismissed the third appeal against the treaty by a group of recalcitrant senators. At the same time, Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, signed the ratification instrument and pronounced the end of Czech sovereignty. He was, as he had hoped to be, the last nationalist standing.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Thu 12th Nov 2009
Sir, Conservative opposition to Tony Blair as a future president of the European Council is indeed perceived by many as an act of petty spite rather than political principle ("Europe does not need a big shot", Gideon Rachman, October 27). But Mr Blair has long enjoyed the luck of the devil, and he may yet benefit from having the worst of friends and the best of enemies.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Wed 28th Oct 2009
Worried about the economic costs of isolation and armed with legal guarantees and an Irish member of the European Commission for all time, Irish voters gave a resounding Yes to the Lisbon treaty on October 2.
|
|
Published on Wed 21st Oct 2009
Following a meeting of local members on Tuesday evening, Hertford & Stortford Liberal Democrats have unveiled 22 year old Andrew Lewin as their Parliamentary candidate for the next General Election.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Fri 9th Oct 2009
On October 2 the people of Ireland will vote for a second time in a referendum to determine the fate of the Lisbon Treaty. Most voters will naturally focus on the consequences of a Yes or No for Ireland. Yet, while Brussels looks on nervously, we might do well to reflect on the repercussions of an Irish No for the European Union as a whole. Here are some of them.
|
|
Written by Andrew Lewin on Fri 25th Sep 2009
FROM HERTFORD AND STORTFORD LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
|
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Wed 26th Aug 2009
The Treaty of Lisbon continues on its high-wire act. On Wednesday, Germany's Bundestag, or parliament, held a first debate on emergency repairs to the country's long-winded attempt to ratify the European Union's reform treaty. The latest thrill stemmed from a provocative judgment of the German constitutional court, delivered on 30 June, calling for amendments to a law setting out parliamentary responsibilities under Lisbon.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Fri 10th Jul 2009
Half the members of the European parliament are new to the job. The reasons for such a big turnover need study, but the weakness of party politics at the European level is certainly one of them. Immature political parties cannot offer the prospect of a political career to MEPs. National politics offer greater temptation to those of less than certain European vocation.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Wed 20th May 2009
The last Strasbourg session of this European Parliament ended on May 7. Hectic negotiation between Parliament and the Council of Ministers saw a number of important laws enacted, many at first reading. One or two draft laws did not make it - notably, an important telecoms package which stalled as MEPs insisted on a prior judicial procedure to block internet access, and, secondly, the revision of the controversial working time directive.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Thu 26th Mar 2009
Contrary to first impressions, the European Union is coping fairly well with economic and political turmoil.
|
|
Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in FT on Wed 4th Feb 2009
The UK energy sector is facing huge and pressing challenges. We need a modernised power system capable of reconciling environmental commitments with long-term security of supply at an affordable cost. Achieving this, and avoiding a genuine energy crisis, requires a coherent energy plan and a sense of urgency.
|
Archive of earlier Press Articles.
 Press Article Feed(v1.0).
Printed and hosted by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY.
Published and promoted by Cllr Mike Wood, 11 Island Court, London Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts CM23 3LE
The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider.
|
