Keith Taylor MEP for the South East Weekly Update

4 May 2018

4th May

 

Green MEP on Customs Union: Amber signal for stay or go?

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, is calling on the Government to commit to Customs Union membership post- Brexit, after the Home Secretary Amber Rudd suggested the Government’s Customs Union position was up for discussion.

Responding to the debate and Ms. Rudd’s comment, Keith Taylor, whose South East European Parliamentary region overlaps with the Hastings and Rye MP’s constituency, said:

“It’s almost two years since the EU referendum. Yet, in the same week the European Commission expressed its deep concerns about the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox’s lack of preparations for carrying over Britain’s existing free trade deals after Brexit, the Home Secretary revealed the Government still hasn’t settled on a position on the Customs Union.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/04/27/green-mep-on-customs-union-amber-signal-for-stay-or-go/

 

Greens disappointed but not ‘shocked’ by Gove backtracking on electric collar ban

The Green Party’s Animal Spokesperson, Keith Taylor MEP, has slammed Michael Gove as reports suggest the Government has ditched plans to support a “long-overdue” ban on “barbaric” electric shock collars for cats and dogs.

Responding to the U-turn, Keith Taylor, Vice President of the European Parliament’s Animal Welfare Intergroup, said: “It’s hugely disappointing that self-proclaimed animal welfare advocate Michael Gove appears to have dropped long-overdue plans to help protect pets from barbaric cruelty at the hands of electric shock devices.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/04/27/greens-disappointed-but-not-shocked-by-gove-backtracking-on-electric-collar-ban/

 

Stop the demolition of Kahn Al-Ahmar school, MEPs urge action against Israeli authorities

Green MEP, Keith Taylor, has joined a cross-party group of Parliamentarians to release a statement urging the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union to urgently request that the Israeli authorities lift the threat of demolition against the school in the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar.

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/04/30/stop-the-demolition-of-kahn-al-ahmar-school-meps-urge-action-against-israeli-authorities/

Green MEP: Latest Lords defeat means MPs must back People’s Vote

Green MEP, Keith Taylor, has called on MPs to back a People’s Vote on the terms of any Brexit deal after the Lords dealt the Government another crushing blow, voting to give the Parliament, not Ministers, the power to determine what to do if MPs reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Commenting on the vote, the senior Green politician said: “There is an uncomfortable irony, for the government and opposition, that it is the unelected House of Lords that continues to be the strongest force for protecting British democracy from a right-wing post-Brexit power grab.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/04/30/green-mep-latest-lords-defeat-means-mps-must-back-peoples-vote/

 

Plastics Strategy: EU is doing while UK keeps talking, says Green MEP

Commenting on the EU’s draft Plastics Strategy, Green MEP, Keith Taylor, a member of the European Parliament’s Environment and Public Health Committee said: “While the UK government is talking piecemeal promises, voluntary pledges and unacceptably unhurried timetables, the EU is about to take the kind of genuinely progressive action necessary if we’re ever to rid ourselves of the scourge of plastic pollution; an issue that doesn’t and can’t recognise boundaries.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/05/01/plastics-strategy-eu-is-doing-while-uk-keeps-talking-says-green-mep/

 

Fracking inquiry: MPs mustn’t rob local authorities of planning powers, urges Green MEP

Green MEP, Keith Taylor, has called on MPs to ensure the democratic power to make planning decisions about fracking applications is not “robbed” from local authorities.

During the evidence session on Monday, 30 April, Ken Cronin, Chief Executive of the oil and gas industry body UKOOG appeared to urge MPs to take local councils out of the planning process.

Responding to the session, Mr. Taylor, who has made a written submission to the inquiry, said:

“Obviously the oil, gas and fracking industry wants to cut out the pesky middleman of local democracy, as they see it, because it is more difficult and cumbersome to court and lobby local authorities representing the affected local communities than it is to woo a Conservative government already in its back pocket. The more disconnected the process is from the people it affects, the less the industry has to worry about the community, climate and environmentally damaging effects of its operations.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/05/01/fracking-inquiry-mps-mustnt-rob-local-authorities-of-planning-powers-urges-green-mep/

 

Greens welcome European Parliament’s vote for global cosmetics animal testing ban

Green Party Animals Spokesperson, Keith Taylor MEP, has welcomed the European Parliament’s support for the campaign for a global ban on cosmetics animals testing.

The senior Green Party politician said: “A global ban will ensure cosmetics companies stop animal testing, and although companies could do that now – and some have already stopped – we know from experience that laws are needed to push bigger companies to do the right thing. A global ban would mean there is no advantage for companies wanting to test on animals: they can all stop together.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/05/03/greens-welcome-european-parliaments-vote-for-global-cosmetics-animal-testing-ban/

 

Green MEP to deliver keynote address at Oxford teacher training event

Green MEP, Keith Taylor, will deliver the keynote address at the ‘Teaching the EU and Brexit with Confidence‘ teacher training event in Oxford on Friday, 4 May.

Ahead of the event at the Maison Francaise d’Oxford, the senior Green Party politician said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to speak to teachers and educators; the importance of practical political education is too often overlooked by policymakers. It is teachers on the frontline who are doing their utmost to redress that oversight. And I’m only too happy to help.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/05/03/green-mep-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-oxford-teacher-training-event/

 

Green MEP welcomes Mole Valley decisive oil and gas objections

Green MEP, Keith Taylor, has welcomed Mole Valley District council’s decisive move to deny key permissions to oil and gas firms in Brockham and Leith Hill.

The senior Green Party MEP said: “I’m pleased to see councillors have made the common sense decision to side with their communities and our environment. Neither Angus or Europa have a social licence to drill at Leith Hill or Brockham and the latest applications submitted were as unsound as they are unpopular.”

Read on: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2018/05/03/green-mep-welcomes-mole-valley-decisive-oil-and-gas-objections/

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