Anybody who doubted the incoherence of Tory policy in the European Parliament should be convinced following the news that they split three ways on a resolution condemning the Israeli flotilla attack.
Anybody who doubted the incoherence of Tory policy in the European Parliament should be convinced now following the news that the Tories managed to split three ways on a resolution condemning the Israeli attack against a humanitarian aid flotilla heading to Gaza.
At the weekend, Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he welcomed Israel’s intention to ease its Gaza blockade, adding that he hoped that this would “revive Gaza’s economy, while continuing to meet Israel’s legitimate security concerns.”
However, Hague – who had previously condemned Israel’s military operation in international waters that resulted in the killing of 9 civilians, and PM David Cameron – who told the House of Commons during PMQs several weeks ago that the Israeli attack was “completely unacceptable”, were blithely ignored by the Tory MEP delegation.
The language used in the resolution was hardly radical: it called for an international inquiry into the attack and, while it condemned the attack and called on Israel to immediately end the blockade, stating that the blockade amounted to “collective punishment in contravention of international law”, it also demanded the immediate release of Israeli Army Sergeant Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006 and stressed that “attacks against Israel cease immediately” while stating that those responsible for perpetrating terrorist acts against Israel “must face their full responsibility”.
The resolution was adopted [160610 voting lists] by 470 votes, with 56 against and 56 abstentions, and supported by all the European Parliament’s political groups bar two – the majority of the Tories’ ECR group, and the majority of the extreme-right EFD group which is mainly comprised of UKIP and the Italian Northern League. However, this was clearly not enough for the Tory MEPs. Out of their delegation, only two (Robert Atkins and former Lib Dem Saj Karim) voted in favour, while nine voted against and five abstained. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems all voted in favour.
Elsewhere, they also managed to split on Estonia’s application to join the euro [170610 voting lists]. Their two members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee couldn’t even agree – Kay Swinburne voted in favour, as did Saj Karim, James Elles, Jim Nicholson and Struan Stevenson, while Vicky Ford followed the rest of the Tories and abstained. As with the Gaza resolution, the Lib Dems all supported it. Not great when Estonia has the second lowest budget deficit in the EU, the lowest government debt, and British exports and jobs are highly dependent on the Eurozone market being strong.
It’s no wonder that Cameron and Hague despair about their MEPs.
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5 Responses to “Tory MEPs break government line in opposing Gaza resolution”
House Of Twits
RT @leftfootfwd Tory MEPs break government line in opposing Gaza resolution: http://bit.ly/bwaJsa
Luv Life More
RT @HouseofTwits: RT @leftfootfwd Tory MEPs break government line in opposing Gaza resolution: http://bit.ly/bwaJsa
LockPickerNet
Tory MEPs break government line in opposing Gaza resolution: http://bit.ly/bwaJsa via @leftfootfwd
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Niknam Hussain
RT @HouseofTwits: RT @leftfootfwd Tory MEPs break government line in opposing Gaza resolution: http://bit.ly/bwaJsa Quelle surprise