Syed Kamall, Conservative trade spokesman in the European Parliament, has responded to the news that the European Union and United States of America have ended a dispute over hormone-treated beef:
"The European Union has shown a great deal of goodwill towards the United States. While opening access to markets is always a welcome move, it must be matched by the USA delivering on its agreement to ditch duties on European products. Removing trade barriers must remain a two-way street.
"The beef wars, along with the banana wars, were a symbol of ongoing protectionist tensions between the EU and the USA. It rests on both Europe and America to lead the world away from protectionism and, with this deal, we have sent generally the right signal."
The European Parliament has just voted to ban (with a few exemptions) seal products from Canada.
South East MEP Daniel Hannan (who thinks that such decisions should be made by national parliaments) has commented on his blog:
"What is it about baby seals? Why do they excite our sympathy in a way that seagulls or scorpions or slugs do not? After all, they're hardly an endangered species: on the contrary, there are many millions of them, and they are extremely efficient hooverers up of fish. Canadian seals chomp their way through 1.5 million tons of cod every year. They have played a cameo role in the collapse of the Labrador and Newfoundland trawling industry.
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[O]ur objection to Canadian seal-clubbing is aesthetic rather than ethical.
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Then again, since when did emotion invalidate the democratic process? People have just as much right to object to something on irrational as on rational grounds. To take a recent example, the campaign to admit former Gurkha soldiers to Britain, in plain defiance of what they had clearly understood when they joined up, was not strictly logical. But it represented a sincere and generous national instinct and that, in a democracy, should be the trump argument.
So with the cute baby seals. Who am I to say that the voters are wrong? In a democracy, the voters are never wrong. They may be inconsistent, sentimental, mercurial; but not wrong. If I were to say: "People are being sappy about seals", I would be in the same category as those MEPs who say "People are being emotional when they vote against the European Constitution, and we who understand their true interests should therefore disregard their stated views"."
Mr Hannan has also posted a video of his speech on the subject.
Tom Greeves
Neil Parish, an outgoing Conservative MEP and PPC for Tiverton, has issued a press release after the European Parliament backed tougher laws on animal testing which he drafted.
This legislation is aimed at making animal testing obsolete by promoting alternative methods, while stopping short of an outright ban. However, there will be regular reviews into the necessity of testing on primates. The '3Rs' principles of replacement, refinement and reduction will be followed.
Mr Parish commented:
"It is essential that we balance the need to reduce and eliminate animal testing with the need to ensure that high quality research for new medicines for human health continues.
This directive sets the framework to allow us create an environment where animal testing is made redundant yet it will not impede scientists’ work in tackling debilitating and terminal medical conditions.
This law will ensure that animal tests are carried out in the most humane way possible. The current law is over 20 years old and desperately needed updating.
These proposals would mean that testing on animals - particularly primates - could only be conducted if there was a strong scientific case for doing so and a clear potential benefit to human health.
We all look forward to the day when we no longer need any animal testing. This new law is intended to make that day come far sooner."
East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer has commented in light of another failed attempt to scrap the Working Time Directive opt-out. Talks took place between the Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers with the aim of hammering out a deal. But they collapsed on Tuesday morning and the issue now looks to have been put to bed until after the European elections.
Mr Helmer said:
"The result of this breakdown in negotiations is that the opt-out remains secure until the next time Labour MEPs have a chance to undermine it. Our right to choose our own working hours is safe for now.
Over three million people in the UK work more than 48 hours a week, and in these tough times it is more important than ever that people should have the free choice of how best to fend for their families. This outcome is good news not just for the East Midlands retai