Articles / Letters
Seals on thin ice!05 Mar 2008
Robert's article in the European Voice regarding the threat of global warming to seals.
Ship Breaking
03 Mar 2008
Robert's article on his experiences at a ship dismantling yard in Bangladesh.
Foie Gras
27 Feb 2008
Robert's letter to the editor of the Times regarding Foie Gras.
The Future of Pakistan
11 Feb 2008
Robert's letter to the editor of the Times regarding the future of Pakistan
Elections in Pakistan
07 Feb 2008
Robert's letter to the editor of the Guardian on the elections in Pakistan
Emission Trading Scheme
27 Sep 2007
Dear Editor
The House of Common is right to try to keep the pressure on airlines on all aspects of carbon off-setting including encouraging passengers to buy their own offsets.
However, this particular issue has now been surpassed by proposals made by the European Commission to include aviation in the existing Emission Trading Scheme.
Whilst carbon offsetting provides passengers with an opportunity to relieve their guilt at their own carbon footprint, the ETS scheme is a real and tangible way of curbing the growth of aviation emissions.
The ETS scheme has followed on from the ambitious target set by the European Council in March this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and other industrialized countries by 30% by the year 2020.
For the Animal Lovers of London
12 Sep 2007
As a Euro-MP for London I would like to inform all animal-loving constituents that the European Parliament has adopted a law to end scientific testing on primates, which includes animals such as Monkeys and Apes.
A huge number of concerned constituents have written to us about this campaign and I am now delighted to announce that the end to this horrific practice is in sight. Laboratories are no place for these incredible creatures that have similar social, mental and emotional functions to humans, and can suffer greatly in captivity.
Asian Voice - Friendship Express
09 Jul 2007
The Eurostar runs from London to Brussels ten times a day and takes about two hours twenty minutes. There is a similar service linking London and Paris and more and more people are now choosing this mode of transport between the three capitals. There are good connections to dozens of other European cities making the train a more comfortable and environmentally friendly alternative to aeroplanes. In addition, the European Parliament transport committee, of which I a member, has just strengthened passenger rights on international routes.
The original idea of a channel tunnel linking England and France was first suggested over two hundred years ago, but it was not opened until 1994. It took nearly two hundred years of thought, eight years of building, cost billions of pounds to construct and was a remarkable achievement in every sense.
Asian Voice - The Death Penalty
10 Apr 2007
The news that Bangladesh has executed six alleged Islamist militants should be greeted with alarm. The men, all believed to be members of the banned group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were convicted of a series of bombings in 2005 and hanged in different jails across the country. The Supreme Court rejected their appeal late last year and President Iajuddin Ahmed refused an appeal for clemency last month.
Asian Voice Article - Bhutan
19 Mar 2007
The northern part of South Asia appears to be in a state of political change. Democracy seems threatened in Bangladesh with the postponement of the election due last January, Pakistan now appears to have entered a period of uncertainty and there are doubts about whether voting in Nepal will actually take place as planned this June. Meanwhile, further north in tiny Bhutan, the country appears to be moving in the opposite direction. The centenary of the hereditary monarchy, established in 1907 will be followed next year by the country’s first democratic elections!
Election Fever!
23 Jan 2007
I should have been writing this column from Bangladesh where I was scheduled to be observing the country's general election. However, as many readers will be aware, the 22 January elections were cancelled, firstly as a result of weeks of violence, secondly due to the boycott announced by one of the party alliances and thirdly due to the suspension of both the United Nations and European Union Observation Missions.
Parliament Magazine - Erasmus
18 Jan 2007
The Erasmus scheme, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, is the world's largest university exchange programme and the most symbolic programme of the European Union. With its motto; 'Bringing students to Europe, bringing Europe to all students', since 1987 it has successfully promoted student mobility within the European Union. Often described as 'the chance of a lifetime', Erasmus has attracted over a million students from 31 countries and now covers 90% of European higher education establishment. The celebrations surrounding the 20th anniversary constitute the opportunity for not only a performance review and the highlighting of what works well, but is also the beginning of a conversation about future hopes for the programme.
Asian Voice - World Aids Day
04 Dec 2006
Last week was World Aids Day and I was proud to do my small bit to bring greater public awareness to the fact that the Global AIDS epidemic continues to grow and to pay my tribute to those who have died from the disease. The latest statistics published by UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation disclose that around 40 million people are now living with HIV. (over 60000 in the UK)
Worldwide in 2006 alone there were over four million new infections, with 2.8 million of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. So far this year nearly three million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. In India at least five million are currently living with HIV. According to some estimates, India has a greater number of people living with HIV than any other nation in the world.
Asian Voice Article - Opium Production in Afghanistan
09 Oct 2006
Last month the UN drugs agency reported that the opium harvest in Afghanistan had increased by around 60% on last year's levels. This news has serious ramifications not just for our troops, who are now engaged in some of the most turbulent regions of Afghanistan, but for our own towns and cities in Britain, which may provide the final destination for much of that opium, in the form of the drug heroin.
The scale of the problem is formidable, it is estimated that poppy production is worth £400 million to Afghanistan's economy and that nearly three million Afghans are engaged in the poppy business. Disturbingly the Taliban who had previously opposed the opium trade and had suppressed production levels, have reversed this policy and are now in cohorts with drug producers. The result of which is that the proceeds are being used to buy the arms that are being used against our servicemen and women.
Asian Voice Article - 18th September
18 Sep 2006
It was pleasing to hear that the leaders of India and Pakistan had met for talks during the recent Non-Aligned Summit in Havana, Cuba. It came just days after a bullish General Pervez Musharraf visited the European Parliament and gave positive indications on the future of nuclear proliferation talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Apparently the two leaders agreed to meet again for future talks at which they aim for a "peaceful negotiated settlement” to their differences, whilst recognising that “success is important for both countries and the future of the entire region".
Brent Times Article - Congo
02 Aug 2006
We tend to be fairly blasé about elections in this country. As many as half of us aren’t motivated to vote in general elections every four years and even fewer participate in local contests.
Imagine then not having the right to vote at all.
That was the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before last week’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections, for which I had the privilege to be one of the European Union’s team of official observers.
Tribune Article - Elections in Congo
02 Aug 2006
“After waiting 45 years another five hours doesn’t seem very long,” remarked an elderly Congolese man as he stood patiently in line to cast his vote. This was Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, experiencing its first elections since Harold MacMillan was Prime Minister in Britain,
At stake was the Presidency of the third-largest country in Africa; one rich in resources (from copper and diamonds to the water from the River Congo itself) and enormous potential.
But this potential has been suppressed for years, first under the dictatorial rule of Mobutu and more recently by a series of violent of civil wars, which have left the country in ruins and some four million of its people dead. Many people are living on the poverty line and thousands of soldiers, teachers and civil servants rarely get paid their salary.
Erasmus Scheme
30 Jun 2006
A colleague in the European parliament remarked recently that the most widely spoken language in the world is “poor English”. Wherever we go in the world, he said, we meet people who have an ability to speak at least some English. And strikingly, these English language skills are increasingly competent.
The flip side of that coin is that we native English speakers are, by contrast, getting steadily worse at learning other languages, a fact that is evident at all stages of our education system and which is having a negative effect on UK business. Trade is now significantly lower with non-English speaking countries than with English speaking ones.
Asian Voice Article - June 2006
20 Jun 2006
I have enjoyed recently watching the Sri Lankan cricketers and I am equally sure I will enjoy the matches against Pakistan later this summer. All international cricket teams have their own way of playing; their different styles and specialisms that make them attractive to the crowds. Last summer I watched cricket being played in Vancouver and I was struck by the thought that, wherever it is played, be it the West Indies or South Africa, India or New Zealand, the game is the same, the laws identical.
Letter to the Times
30 May 2006
Dear Sir
I have no way of knowing whether 1000 or more wild boar is too many to be sustainable for woodland in East Sussex and Kent. (Hunts could end rise of wild boar, 29 May 2006)
Asian Voice Article - Worried about the situation in Sri-Lanka
29 May 2006
I am very desperately worried about the situation in Sri Lanka, which is now very serious. After all the bloodshed and false dawns over the last quarter century, we are now at a crucial stage. The 2OO2 ceasefire seems on the point of collapse. Last week, Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim, who is acting a mediator called on the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government, to ‘take a step back’ to the peace process. He also criticised both sides for not fulfilling their commitments.
Letter to the Financial Times
29 May 2006
Dear Editor
You are of course right about seriousness of the situation in Sri Lanka with the worrying possibility of the island slipping back into a bloody civil war. (Tiger Trouble Returns, 29 May) Such a return to conflict can be in no ones interest.
Like the admirable Norwegian negotiator Erik Solheim, the FT is also right to recognise that both sides, the LTTE and the Rajapakse Government must fulfil their commitments to the peace process and halt the rise in violence. No one knows the true number of casualties for the figures usually refer only to one side. Many more Tamils, especially civilians, have been killed than are reported. This is partly the method and secrecy by which the LTTE works, but equally it is due to media manipulation by the Sri Lankan Government. The more this goes on, the more one should question whether or not the Sri Lankan military really are under control from Colombo or whether they are a law unto themselves.
The Birth of a New Nation
21 May 2006
There was something of a party atmosphere in Montenegro even before the results were announced on Sunday. In bars and cafes supporters of both sides sat side-by-side in camaraderie. But half an hour after the polling stations closed and with exit polls showing a positive result in their favour, it was the independence supporters who took to the streets with flags, fireworks and noisy celebrations.
By morning, the importance of the decision they had taken was beginning to sink in. “No” voters were, in the main, resigned to independence and prepared, it seemed, to make the most of it.
Letter to all local papers - Campaign to scap monthly move between Brussels and Strasbourg
15 May 2006
Dear Editor,
I am writing to inform your readers that as their local Member of the European Parliament, I am supporting the campaign to scrap the monthly move between Brussels and Strasbourg.
The present arrangement - whereby the Parliament is nomadic between Brussels and Strasbourg - was set in stone in Edinburgh by then Prime Minister John Major. However, this pointless move costs around 200 million pounds a year, wastes time, interferes with efficiency and is abhorred by nearly all British MEPs.
Letter to the Daily Telegraph
09 May 2006
Dear Editor
Lord Baker (letters 9 May) in criticising the appointment of two Scots, John Reid MP as Home Secretary and Douglas Alexander MP as Transport Secretary, conveniently forgets that under the Conservatives both William Hague and John Redwood were Welsh Secretaries whilst representing English constituencies.
We all know that the Conservatives opposed the devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales, but is Lord Baker seriously suggesting that some future Tory administration would reverse devolution or just that they would only appoint English people to cabinet posts ?
Robert Evans MEP
Labour - London
Letter to the Daily Mail
09 May 2006
Dear Editor
As one of the country's finest novelists Frederick Forsyth (letters 8 May) will know the theory that there are really just a few storylines that get recycled over and over again.
This does not however give him the right to repeat the fiction that 'Brussels' is removing our rights or imposing things on the UK without our say so or knowledge.
The reason the whole question of border controls is now an EU competence is because the UK agreed, recognising sensibly, that no one country can address the challenge of asylum and immigration on its own.
Asian Voice Article - Aid and Corruption
10 Apr 2006
"Corruption hurts the poor" was the message from the European Parliament last week as we debated a report on development aid and the fight against corruption. I joined with colleagues in calling for tougher measures in the fight against corruption and for more effective use of European Union aid.
Letter to all local papers - Mobile Phone Charges Abroad
30 Mar 2006
Dear Editor,
The cost of travelling abroad has been reduced significantly in recent years, with low cost airlines making overseas visits an affordable reality for more than half the population. But for too long mobile phone companies have taken advantage of our desire to stay in touch with home by charging through the nose for calls abroad.
Not any more. Under new proposals from Europe this week, mobile phone companies will be forced to scrap “roaming” charges making it cheaper to stay in touch on the move.
Asian Voice Article
27 Feb 2006
As a Member of the European Parliament I am often asked to assist people who have got into difficulty in another European country. In many cases they have unwittingly transgressed a law, not aware that something, legal in Britain, was illegal elsewhere.
Just as the legal system in England and Wales is different from that in Scotland, so are there marked variations between the laws in each of the twenty-five member states of the European Union. From speed limits on motorways to buying a house, the differences in the law can be quite marked.
Letter to the Financial Times - European Research and Development
15 Feb 2006
Dear Editor
It is both disappointing and surprising that the Financial Times, of all newspapers, should be so negative about an idea to promote European research and development. ("Barroso's bad idea" -Tuesday 14 February 2006)
In an age when not just the USA and Japan, but China, India and many other countries are investing heavily in the future, surely this proposed new venture, a European Institute of Technology, should be welcomed? The opportunity to share good practice among 25 countries, complement skills and promote the best possible innovations should not be so quickly dismissed.
Letter to Local Papers - Labour are the only sensible option in Local Election
06 Feb 2006
Dear Editor
We were told David Cameron was looking to be inclusive and to reposition the Conservative Party on the political 'middle ground'. In the European Parliament, however, he is doing the exact opposite. Many of my Conservative colleagues are openly in despair, as Mr Cameron seems hell bent on isolating the Tory MEPs onto the far right.
Letter to the Sun
03 Feb 2006
Dear Editor,
I was dismayed to read your article lambasting the idea of teaching our children about the European Union (Feb 2).
We teach our children about Hitler and Auschwitz, Drake and the Armada, and Nelson and Bonaparte - in fact every aspect of strife and conflict in Europe for the last 1000 years. Now we have half a century of peace and a strong union of nation states working together; shouldn't we be teaching our children about that as much as we teach them about war?
Climate Change - Letter to the Ealing and Acton Gazette
29 Jan 2006
Dear Editor,
I was disappointed to read the letter from Tom Fisher of the Ealing Green Party (Letters, January 27) in which he chose to label my views on climate change “ignorant”.
The purpose of my original letter (Letters, January 19) was to support Mr Fisher’s plea for a wider political debate on green issues, but instead of welcoming support from across the political spectrum, Mr Fisher chose instead to insult me.
Asian Voice - Female Infanticide in India
24 Jan 2006
As one of a family of four boys it is with some trepidation that I approach the subject of female infanticide in India. I believe my mother would have liked a daughter but in the absence, settled for bringing up four boys. In Europe the vast majority of mothers and fathers are happy for a healthy baby of whatever! gender and the idea of aborting a foetus just because it might be the wrong sex would be totally abhorrent.
Letter to the Sutton Guardian - Improving Air Quality in London
16 Jan 2006
Dear Sir,
I read with interest the article in your paper last week (Sutton Guardian Jan 12) regarding moves by Mayor Ken Livingstone to improve air quality in London.
As the Transport spokesman for Labour in the European Parliament, I applaud Mayor Livingstone’s plan to implement a Low Emissions! Zone in Greater London. However, I am concerned that this is somewhat of a “band-aid” initiative. Excluding high polluting vehicles from our towns will no doubt improve air quality in the short term but it doesn’t solve the problem long term.
Letter to Hammersmith and Fulham Chronicle - Happy New Year!
10 Jan 2006
Dear Editor,
I should like to take the opportunity to wish your readers a happy and prosperous 2006 and to look forward to the challenges the year ahead holds on a local, national and international scale.
2005 was for many a very difficult year, not least because of so many natural disasters; the Asian Tsunami, the hurricanes in the US and the earthquake in Kashmir to name but three. But from the depths of disaster the full warmth of human compassion shines and it was heartening to see the European Union, and notably Britain, pull together to provide aid for the victims of those disasters in their time of need.
Letter to the Harrow Times - Taking an active interst in Politics
09 Jan 2006
Dear Editor,
I was heartened to read the letter from your correspondent M Robinson urging readers to take an active interest in politics and public debate in order that their political representatives be rightly informed about the issues close to the community’s heart (Harrow Times, January 5).
I couldn’t agree more with the writer when he says “everybody has their little axe to grind” but yet very few take the effort to bring the debate to the politicians’ doors.
Asian Voice - January 2006
06 Jan 2006
January is the month when the new year starts and the old year can be left behind. It is invariably a time of optimism and hope. Expectations for 2006 will be as high as ever with the world keen to leave last year behind.
2005 was a very difficult year, not least because of so many natural disasters; the aftermath of the Tsunami, the mudslides in Guatemala and the earthquake in Kashmir to name but three. In addition there were the atrocities in Darfur, the tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the on-going situation in Iraq. All areas where I hope we will see improvements in 2006.
Letter to the Ealing and Acton Gazette - Climate Change
05 Jan 2006
Dear Editor,
I read with interest the letter from Tom Fisher of the Ealing Green Party (Ealing & Acton Gazette Jan 6) lambasting local representatives for showing little interest in climate change.
While I feel Mr Fisher takes a narrow view of the world when he says climate change is “more important than any other issue”, I applaud his overall sentiment. I would like to assure him that, as the Euro MP for Ealing and Acton and a member of the European Parliament’s Transport committee, I take an active interest in this issue.
Letter - European Health Insurance Card
04 Jan 2006
Dear Editor
As your local Euro MP I am writing to help ensure all your readers are fully prepared for their travels abroad in 2006. People may not be aware that, from 1st January, the familiar E111 form has been replaced by a new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
The EHIC will allow everyone to benefit from free or reduced-cost emergency medical treatment in the event of falling ill in the European Union. The card also covers treatment for chronic illnesses (such as diabetes), maternity care, illnesses you had before you went away, and things like kidney dialysis and oxygen therapy (with prior arrangement).
