David Martin's EU Tribune

Although the current UK Con-Dem Government claim to want to increase individual citizens power they seem hell bent on bringing our citizens out of the protection of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). One of my largest constituency inquires is from people who genuinely believe that their human rights have been abused. Unfortunately, due [...]

This is a great day for Scotch Whisky and tonight I will lift a glass of the finest malt and toast our future trading partnership with South Korea. The European Parliament has this week endorsed the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and South Korea. The deal is expected to more than double [...]

The European Parliament has approved new measures to crack down on the illegal market in counterfeit drugs, a trade that can lead to NHS patients being given simple sugar pills rather than life-saving medicines. In 2007 over 25,000 packs of fake medication made it to patients in the UK in three separate drugs scares that [...]

It is good, when your party is in opposition in your Member State, to be able to go to Strasbourg and put through progressive legislation which isn’t just to the benefit of the rich and big bankers. Today in Strasbourg we welcomed a new agreement that will make it easier for disabled people to use [...]

Lorries account for only around 8% of traffic on British roads but they are involved in over 30% of accidents. This week in The European Parliament in Strasbourg I will be calling for more to be done to protect cyclists, pedestrians and motorists from the “blinds spots” of Heavy Goods Vehicles on Scotland’s roads, and [...]

MEPs are landing huge mailbags since Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall launched his campaign to end the practice of discard – throwing away perfectly good fish because too many have been caught according to European Union (EU) common fisheries policy (CFP). Fisheries policy is managed at the EU level in order to achieve a thriving and sustainable European [...]

Trade Unions across the EU are becoming increasingly concerned about the approach and direction of recent European Commission in the area of the Economic and Financial crisis. Remember it is the role of the European Commission to be neutral and do what is best for all Europeans in the EU. It appears that a lot [...]

The US drug company’s decision to pull out of the UK is symptomatic of our governments lack of commitment to research and higher education. The closure of the facilities in Sandwich and the loss of 2,400 top end research and development jobs is a bad omen for the future unless we start investing in innovation. [...]

Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, retiring head of Community Service Volunteers (CSV), is being kind when she says that the reason UK Government cuts are undermining volunteering is because of ‘…one hand not appreciating what the other hand is doing.’ It’s more a case of the two hands of the British Government taking away from charities and [...]

What is the point of giving with one hand and taking back with the other? It’s not a trick question. We take back more than we give. That is wrong, especially when we are taking from the poor in the developing world. Although the European Union (EU) is collectively the largest donor of development aid [...]