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A. Peter leads the way on Emissions Trading B. Peter calls for EU funding for flood relief C. Labour votes to protect young people from smoking D. Kashmir E. Solvency II F. Banning liquids on planes G. Labour MEPs launch petition to cut VAT on condoms H. Banning the death penalty worldwide I. Trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg

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A. Peter leads the way on Emissions Trading The European Parliament has this month adopted its first piece of climate change legislation. Led by Peter and other Labour MEPs, the Parliament has voted for a new directive to include aircraft emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The Emission Trading Scheme limits the amount of carbon dioxide a company can emit each year and allocates a number of permits to operators. The total number of permits set a limit on the overall emission from participants in the scheme. While some permits are allocated to operators free of charge, others are traded freely (auctioned) to allow emission reductions to be made where they are most cost-effective.

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B. Peter calls for EU funding for flood relief The British government submitted an application to the European Commission for assistance from the European Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help with recovery from the flooding in June and July. Peter Skinner MEP said “After unprecedented flood damage this summer the necessary resources must be made accessible immediately in order to mitigate the suffering and fulfil the needs of victims and their families through the EUSF or any other Community Instrument (e.g. Structural Funds or EARDF) the government is to ask for funds.

The European Solidarity Fund will assist EU member states which have endured serious damage linked to major disasters. The funds will be useful with measures such as supporting the costs of emergency services, clean up and putting basic infrastructure back into working order.

The provisional assessment of the damage caused by the recent flooding in the UK is well above the £3 billion threshold required for EU member states to apply for assistance.

The UK government and the Commission are now consulting on the final details of the application; the Commission should then make a recommendation to EU Ministers and MEP’s suggesting a grant which is appropriate to circumstances. If the application is successful, financial aid from the EU Solidarity Fund should reach the UK within 9 to 12 months.

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C. Labour votes to protect young people from smoking Labour MEPs have voted for a report which plans to introduce a new set of smoking restrictions, and whose main target is to dissuade young people in particular from smoking.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has therefore called all EU countries to put in place an unrestricted smoking ban within 2 years in order to reduce the number of young smokers by half by 2025.

Peter Skinner said “An aggressive anti-smoking campaign should follow these set of restrictions and hard-hitting picture warnings will be compulsory on all tobacco products sold within the EU.”

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D. Kashmir

South East Kashmiri communities are in uproar following a Liberal Democrat report on the disputed Kashmir region which criticises the major relief efforts which followed the 2005 Pakistan Earthquake. The aftermath saw local Kashmiri people sending cash and humanitarian aid to help the rescue and recovery efforts following the devastating quake.

Peter Skinner MEP has been flooded with understandably angry emails and letters from local Kashmiris complaining about the draft European Parliament report on Kashmir and stated today: “It is quite beyond belief that a British Lib Dem could write a report that criticises the brave relief efforts after the horrific Pakistani earthquake, which killed almost a hundred thousand people, many of whom had family and friends within the UK.

“Labour Euro MPs believe Europe should be doing more to encourage and promote confidence building measures between the Governments of India and Pakistan.

“Instead the report appears to be biased towards one side in this dispute and if passed unchanged will only inflame tensions and move us farther away from a just and peaceful solution to this fifty year dispute over Kashmir.

Peter Skinner: “I have been working with the South East England Kashmiri community to remove bias in the report and seek to ensure the final Parliament position is objective, balanced and accurate.”

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E. Solvency II

Peter continues to represent the Labour Party on the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. He has been appointed to draft the Solvency II Directive, one of the biggest pieces of Financial Services legislation to have come through the Committee.

This sets out to ensure that insurance companies keep enough money to meet all their obligations, and will lead to a more secure, more modern insurance system. This will ensure better protection for consumers. After events like Hurricane Katrina and September 11th, it is clear that the insurance system needs to be able to cope with huge numbers of claims following unexpected events, and companies must be encouraged to spread risk appropriately.

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F. Banning liquids on planes

Peter Skinner accused the Greens and Liberals of going soft on terrorism and failing to prioritise the lives of passengers and workers in airports in the South East such Gatwick.

The original legislation was introduced last year throughout the European Union when British Security Services foiled a plot to blow up aircraft by using explosive liquids.

Peter Skinner said:” The strong advice of the Security Services and the Department of Transport is to keep this legislation in place. I am afraid the votes of MEPs from the South East who voted for this repeal were crucial and those who voted against this advice did so are grossly irresponsible. Airports are the favourite place of attack for Al Qaeda Terrorists, in Germany this week we have seen that and of course Glasgow Airport is still reeling from the attack earlier this summer.” Peter Skinner MEP said: “There is genuine concern about the inconvenience for passengers and I understand the rising feeling of frustration and annoyance that many feel in the long queues before being allowed inside airports. But these rules are currently essential.

Of course there are other remedies which are being considered – repeal of this law would not be necessary for this. It is, however, a sad reflection on those who voted this way that they seemed to have put convenience of passengers before genuine security concerns and the lives of passengers and workers at airports alike.”

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G. Labour MEPs support petition to cut VAT on condoms Peter has given his support to a petition by the Socialist Group, calling for the VAT on condoms to be cut, in order to tackle the growth of AIDS in Europe. This will be presented to government ministers before World Aids Day, on the 1st December. World Health Organisation figures show that 26,894 new cases were reported in the EU in 2005, the last year for which statistics are available. People aged between 15 and 24 accounted for 12 per cent of the new cases. The campaign is both to make condoms cheaper and to remind young people in particular that the threat of AIDs and HIV are still prevalent in Europe. Currently each EU member state may fix its own rate of VAT, with the only EU law being that it is a minimum rate of five percent. The UK removed VAT from condoms in 2006, but this petition aims to bring the rest of the EU Member States into conformity. The petition reached over 1,000 signatures only five days after being launched, and has won high-level support within the European Commission. Sign the petition at http://www.socialistgroup.org/gpes/petition.do?lg=en

On 16 November, Labour MEPs renewed their call for a global ban on the death penalty, following a UN General Assembly vote for a global moratorium. A total of 99 countries were in favour of the ban, but 52 voted against it and 33 countries abstained. Peter Skinner MEP said: “Use of the death penalty cannot be justified. The guilty should be punished, but in accordance with human dignity. Our long-term goal is not just for the moratorium to be ratified in the General Assembly, but for a total ban on this barbaric form of punishment”. The call from MEPs follows the statement on the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), stating the opposition of the European Parliament to such punishments. The European Parliament had also, on several occasions, called for the freeing of the Bulgarian medics, who were held in custody in Libya for eight years.

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I. Trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg A trip from the region to the European Parliament in Strasbourg is in the early stages of being arranged for June 2008.

Please email, write or telephone to register your interest in the trip which is likely to take between three and five days:

Adam Price, Group Organiser for Peter Skinner MEP,

13 Clifton Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 1NA

E-mail: ranicharleyred@yahoo.co.uk This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Tel: 01634 571426

Mobile: 07976 969912

Further details will be available on the website at www.peterskinnermep.com over the coming weeks and an email will be sent out in due course with application details for those of you who are interested in coming on the visit.