1 June 2018
1st June
Green MEP calls for EU sanctions against Israeli state over Gaza killings
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East and a member of the European Parliament’s Palestine Delegation, has called for the EU to impose economic sanctions against the Israeli state.
The call comes in the wake of the Israeli forces’ ‘massacre’ of more than 100 Palestinians since the ‘March of Return’ protests began earlier this year.
During a debate in Strasbourg, the senior Green politician called for the European Union to ‘flex its economic muscles’ and for an ‘urgent review’ of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Mr Taylor said: “This Parliament, of course, bears no ill will to the state of Israel, but we are supposed to be upholders of international law. I would like to see our High Representative for EU Foreign Affairs and Security flex our economic muscles, and call for an urgent review of the EU Israel Association agreement, which facilitates trade between the EU and Israel.”
“It is not unreasonable for us to expect that governments we trade with act responsibly, proportionately and within the law.”
“I want to see the government of Israel start to seriously work for peace, and, in turn, the cessation of any illegal, extremist attacks on Israel.”
‘War on Wildlife’: Green spokesperson condemns cruel badger cull expansion
Responding to the Government’s re-confirmation of its plans to expand the ‘‘scientifically illiterate, ineffective and downright cruel’ badger cull to ‘low-risk areas’, despite huge public opposition, Green Party Animals Spokesperson, Keith Taylor MEP, said: “Just when you hoped the Tories might have finally understood just how much the British people care for animals, Michael Gove reconfirms the Government’s intention to massively expand its war on wildlife across the country. The badger cull is justified by such a poor understanding of the available evidence. It makes a mockery of any claims the Tories make about a new found love for animals.”
Green MEP slams Greg Clark in letter over plans to weaken fracking regulations and local democracy
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, has today condemned the Government’s plans to further fast-track fracking in the South East and across England.
Responding to Greg Clark Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s announcement that the UK Government plans to relax planning laws and overriding local democracy, just seven days after a consultation on the proposals closed, the senior Green Party politician and member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, sent the following letter.
Mr Taylor has previously condemned Greg Clark’s announcement and consultation process. He said:
“This process has been a sham; the Government can’t claim with any credibility that it has assessed even a handful of the responses to the hefty consultation on these anti-democratic plans that it closed only last week.”
MEPs vote to end EU bullfighting subsidies as Greens Animal Spokesperson handed animal welfare award
Keith Taylor, the Green Party’s Animals Spokesperson, joined a majority of MEPs in voting to end EU subsidies being used to raise bulls for bullfighting.
In Strasbourg, on Wednesday 30 May, the European Parliament voted on the future of food and farming in EU. During the votes, MEPs supported, 358 to 291, an amendment demanding the end of the controversial Common Agricultural Policy bullfighting subsidy.
Mr Taylor, a member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee and Animal Welfare Intergroup, said: “The vote is just the latest example of what the Greens have said all along: the EU isn’t perfect but we are fighting and winning on reform. It is by working together across borders that we can do the most good for the most animals in Europe. Bull-fighting is an outdated and barbaric industry; this vote to remove EU funding should, hopefully, see it collapse entirely.”