Sarah's bulletin: 16 April 2010

Published on Fri 16th Apr 2010

Dear friends,

I'm not starting with our own party TV triumph last night, because I must put first the terrible Smolensk air crash that took the lives of 96 of Poland's leaders last weekend.

Poland in mourning

We held a ceremony in the European Parliament on Wednesday led - poignantly - by our Polish president Jerzy Buzek to commemorate this terrible loss to Poland and Europe. I could not help a tear escaping as we listened to first the European anthem and then the Polish national anthem, and saw the roll-call of victims. It was only then that I realised one of the victims of the crash was actually Stanisław Komorowski, Poland's ambassador to the UK between 1999-2004; I am pictured here with him in 2003 at a Polish community event. This as much as anything brought home to me the magnitude of the loss.

I went to the Polish Catholic Church in Islington on Monday to pay my respects and sign the book of condolences, and made a statement expressing my condolences to the friends and families of those killed, and my sympathies to the people of Poland and the Polish community here in London mourning the deaths of so many of their political, military and religious elite.

Leaders' TV debate

A week of such mixed emotions. It's difficult to move from that sombre topic to a note of joy and celebration. But the fact is that 36 hours after shedding a tear about Poland's tragedy my heart is bursting with pride about my party leader's TV performance.

It's not just the LibDems who think our man Nick Clegg was the star of last night's debate. He outclassed Brown and Cameron, agree the press - even those not at all warm to us, such as the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Mirror. Even David Cameron has this morning acknowledged Nick's success. More importantly viewers agree, with one immediate poll showed that 3 out of 5 thought Nick the winner: Populus (Times): Nick: 61%, Cameron: 22%, Brown: 17%.

Of course we know there's a lot of hard work ahead in the next 3 weeks, but what a brilliant start. The key is not only the quality of our party leadership, but of our ideas….

Liberal Democrat manifesto: 4 steps to a fairer Britain

Nick launched our manifesto for the general election earlier this week. It sets out our four main pledges: fair taxes that put money back in your pocket, a fair chance for every child, a fair future that will create jobs by making Britain greener and a fair deal by cleaning up politics. As Nick said, these are not just promises, it is a plan. It sets out our progressive, fully costed and internationalist agenda for change that works for real people. It is full of really good policies such as making the first £10,000 you earn tax-free and a green stimulus package that will invest in large-scale renewable energy and create an Eco-cashback scheme where we will give you £400 if you install double glazing, a microgeneration unit or replace an old boiler.

It also outlines how we will put civil liberties back at the heart of British politics by passing a Freedom Bill that will repeal all of the illiberal legislation passed since 1997. Labour have shown just how true Nick's criticism is by accusing us of bring 'soft on crime' - because we believe it is essential actually to obey the European Court of Human Rights ruling that innocent people's DNA should not be stored! Labour has no respect for the rule of law, as they amply demonstrated in the illegal invasion of Iraq and in complicity with rendition and torture. Brown last night tried (unsuccessfully) to coopt Nick's support, but shows his true petty nature by still calling us 'Liberals'; he can't even use the name we have had for 21 years!

I urge you to take a look at the manifesto yourself here, it is a real liberal blueprint for a better future. Alternatively, you can order a paper copy on our website, or if you're still undecided about who to vote for you can also take advantage of Waterstone's 3-for-2 offer on all party manifestoes! Decide for yourself which parties will simply deliver more of the same, and which party has a plan to real change for the better.

Tories' "exotic" coalition falling apart?

Well, well, well - rumour has it that the Czech ODS - Civic Democratic - party is considering leaving the Tory-inspired small and isolated ECR group in the European Parliament and going back to the EPP, threatening the Tory coalition with imminent break-up. And indeed the Secretary-General of the EPP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz - who called the Tories current collation 'exotic' - has prophesised that Cameron will have to re-join the main centre-right grouping once he gets into government and realises just how powerless a marginalised Conservative-led Britain really is.

Hungarian far-right plays anti-Gypsy card

Last week I spoke about the need for a European strategy to address the discrimination and poverty of Roma. Gabor Vona, head of the horrible far-right Hungarian party Jobbik has confirmed this need by the way he 'played the anti-Gypsy card' in the Hungarian general election. His rhetoric includes references to "the problems of Hungary-Gypsy coexistence" and a pledge to eradicate "gypsy crime". The party shockingly got 16% of the vote. It is indeed frightening to see this rise of the far right happening all over Europe, and those of us who remain in the tolerant, liberal political ideologies must redouble our efforts to counter it.

The Record Europe's general election debate

Last week I took part in a debate for the BBC's The Record: Europe programme (broadcasted on BBC Parliament, BBC World and BBC News Channel albeit at rather strange times!) about how the UK general election will affect the European Union and what Britain's role in the European Union should be (click here).

You can still watch it on iPlayer for a day or so here. The dividing lines between the parties on the EU issue really showed up, and I tried (I think rather successfullyI!) to get the LibDem point of view across.

I am writing to the BBC's Director of News Helen Boaden to query the very poor broadcast slots for The Record Europe, especially on BBC World and the BBC News Channel. This programme covering European issues and politics is on at mainly unsocial hours such as between 3am and 6am in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays! The BBC Parliament times are a bit better but even so, 11pm on a Saturday is hardly prime time! (And the website gives the wrong Monday time, at least for this week when it was on at 9.15 not 10am).

The Beeb keeps pledging to improve its coverage of the EU, but the reality is that they treat us shabbily by broadcasting their only European politics programme - fronted by the excellent Shirin Wheeler - when most people are either preferring entertainment or fast asleep in bed! Even an avid follower of EU politics like myself is hard pushed to get up at 5 am on a Sunday morning to catch the programme!

Riposte to Lord Adonis' beg for LibDem votes

Nigel Scott, chair of the Hornsey and Wood Green Liberal Democrats, wrote an excellent letter to the Independent this week in response to Lord Adonis' desperate plea for Liberal Democrat votes. He outlines how the Liberal Democrats are a separate and distinct force in politics and how the Labour Party has failed on so many of its core aims:

"It has failed to narrow the gap between rich and poor; it has failed to exercise prudent control of the economy; it has failed to take the environment seriously (third runway at Heathrow, anyone?); it has failed to adopt an ethical foreign policy ("You want a war Mr President? We're with you."); it has failed to deal with the problem of asylum seekers humanely or speedily; it has failed to tackle the causes of crime or to promote effective rehabilitation. What is the Labour Party for, if not to deal with issues like these, and why should anyone continue to support it when it fails so spectacularly?"

Hear, hear!

Foreign doctors' English language skills

I wrote a letter to the Daily Telegraph this week in response to an opinion piece in the paper published that essentially blamed EU legislation for the fact that doctors from other EU member states working in the UK are not subject to adequate English tests (this debate is a consequence of the Ubani-Gray case). In fact, the European legislation does allow UK authorities to test doctors' language skills when this is deemed necessary in individual cases. The problem is that the UK has poorly implemented this directive and prohibited the General Medical Council from carrying out language tests, but placed the onus on Primary Care Trusts and contractors who are not doing them. I am pleased the Daily Telegraph printed my letter, though not so delighted that they chose to omit the last paragraph about how we should not always blame Brussels for everything and sometimes need to look closer to home for the source of the problem...

Catholic clergy sex abuse cover-up scandal: blaming gays and Jews

Last week, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, not just a maverick priest but the Vatican's foreign minister, claimed that the Catholic sex abuse scandal is to be blamed on "homosexuality" rather than "celibacy" amongst priests. This followed claims made by Monsignor Giacomo Babini, the Bishop of Grosseto, that the recent accusations that Pope Benedict has been involved in covering up sex abuse and paedophilia within the Catholic church were fuelled by "the Zionists" and "Jews".

The European Liberal Democrat group in the European Parliament (ALDE) has decided that it cannot remain silent over these examples of gross prejudice and our ALDE group leader Guy Verhofstadt, has issued a statement and sent a letter to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council demanding that they react with condemnation to these outrageous comments. We are following this up with a bid for a parliamentary debate. Barosso has a regular dialogue with religious leaders, with one coming up in May, and he must not brush this under the carpet.

Best regards,

Sarah Ludford

New this week

Fri 16th Apr 2010:

Nick Clegg Storms First Ever Party Leaders Debate.

Thu 15th Apr 2010:

First Party Leaders' TV debate: Domestic Affairs.

Wed 14th Apr 2010:

Letter to the Daily Telegraph: Doctors with poor English.

Fairness - The Liberal Democrat Manifesto Launch.

Mon 12th Apr 2010:

Apply for a Postal Vote Now: Deadline 20th April.

London MEP offers condolences for Polish plane crash tragedy.

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