In this issue:
General Election thanks | Strong Results | Commiserations | Thanks too to County Candidates | Campaign Stories | Richard votes to end U.K. Working Time opt out | Nose Relief | EU Constitutional Treaty latest | Foreign Affairs and Human Rights | Constituency news in brief | European Parliament news in brief

Thanks to all candidates, agents and activists for everything you did in the General Election. Richard concentrated his efforts in the ten key seats identified by Labour East, but over the four weeks travelled 5,481 miles around the region, undertaking 94 campaign visits.

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Strong results for the party included holding on to Watford despite Lib Dem activists from throughout the region flooding in, where Richard joined up with former European Commissioner Neil Kinnock to campaign for sitting MP Claire Ward

The Party also polled well to hold on to marginal seats in Norwich North and Great Yarmouth, where Richard teamed up with special canvassing teams drawn from national trade unions and with Labour students.

Richard sends his commiserations to six of our seven MPs who sadly lost their seats. It is difficult to shed a tear for the Peterborough MP who subsequently announced her intention to join the Conservatives, but Richard is committed to working with local Party members and all the CLPs who suffered losses, to help you rebuild for the future.

On election night, Richard attended the Cambridge count with outgoing MP Anne Campbell, who he described as a “model MP”, for her commitment and hard work for the constituency. The seat demonstrated the need for the Party nationally to expose the Liberal Democrats earlier and harder.

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Richard also sends congratulations and commiserations to all our County candidates on the day, particularly to county councillors who lost their seats, as Labour suffered setbacks in each of our six counties. He pays particular tribute to the former Labour-led administration for Suffolk County Council for their achievements, attending joint canvassing with both MPs and local candidates in Ipswich and Waveney during the campaign.

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Labour East organized an open top bus tour of the key Essex marginals of Harwich, Braintree , Harlow and Basildon on the Saturday before Polling Day. Richard was employed to act as D.J. for the day, and broadcast with such passion that one of the amplifiers burst into flames!

He also invited Labour MEP Leader Gary Titley to campaign with him in the region, visiting St. Albans, Bedford and Hemel Hempstead.

Richard joined both Luton MPs for a joint “March for Labour”. Speaking at Barbara Follett’s adoption in Stevenage , the gathering suffered an invasion of pro-hunting protesters. But hunting – like the issue of Europe itself – was the dog in this election campaign which didn’t bark.

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Despite direct criticism of Labour Euro MPs by the C.B.I., Richard joined all his Labour colleagues in voting to end Britain’s opt-out from EU working time rules. Producing figures showing that East of England workers suffer the longest hours in Britain and Europe, with one-in-ten of transport staff working more than sixty hours per week, Richard commented:

“Just as it was right to bring in the minimum wage to tackle the problem of poverty pay, it is right to combat excessive working hours which damage health and safety and inhibit familylife.” Richard received support for his vote from regional trade unions: UNISON, AMICUS, TGWU, GMB, USDAW and UCATT.

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Richard took ‘Comic Relief’ from election preparations by donning his red nose to help groups throughout the region raise funds for the BBC event. He had his fringe dyed red at hairdressers in Colchester and St Albans, joined a cycle marathon in Harlow, and went skipping with students at Comberton Village College near Cambridge.

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All eyes are on the referenda due to be held during the next month in both France and the Netherlands, where the final results are predicted to be close. The Prime Minister has made clear that “as long as there is a constitution on the table, the British referendum will go ahead.” Douglas Alexander has been appointed as the new Europe Minister and will lead the campaign.

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Richard took part in the five-strong European Parliament delegation to the annual U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, and welcomed High Commissioner Louise Arbour on a visit to Brussels. He spoke in the European Parliament representing the Socialist Euro MPs in the annual Human Rights report, in a second debate calling for control of the trade in small arms and light weapons, and in a third debate to support action against war criminals in former Yugoslavia (following his recent visit to Bosnia).

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Richard was led in by a bagpiper when acting as keynote speaker to the regional conference of the Institute of Business Advisers held at the University of Luton. He backed local Labour councillors in King’s Lynn seeking European funding for a local £15 million marina project. Richard undertook a question-and-answer session with the Stevenage Youth Council (see picture). He pulled on his boots to celebrate “wellies at work” day to raise funds for the Audley End organic garden at Saffron Walden.

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The European Parliament also voted to: -

• Set up better coordination between EU countries in the fields of health and long-term care.
• Give assent to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in two years’ time.
• Allow visas from researchers from outside the EU to help our scientific industries.
• Establish a European Police College to be set up in the U.K.
• Improve the energy efficiency of electrical products
• Commemorate the 60 th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
• Allocate EU money to support legal action by the family of murdered Robert McCartney in Northern Ireland
• Reform EU bathing water standards
• Strengthen mutual recognition of professional qualifications between EU countries.

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In this issue:
General Election thanks | Strong Results | Commiserations | Thanks too to County Candidates | Campaign Stories | Richard votes to end U.K. Working Time opt out | Nose Relief | EU Constitutional Treaty latest | Foreign Affairs and Human Rights | Constituency news in brief | European Parliament news in brief