International

SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen wants to see an independent enquiry into the reliability of the information sent to MPs about the Joint Strike Fighter, a US-constructed military aircraft which the government is planning to purchase. It became clear last Monday that information originating from the American JSF Project Office (JPO) has turned out to be inaccurate. “Parliament has repeatedly based its judgements on this dubious information," says Van Velzen. "I am determined to get to the bottom of this.”

National parliaments will be working to bring about improved answerability in the spending of EU moneys. This was the outcome of the interparliamentary conference on the issue which closed today. SP Member of Parliament Farshad Bashir, co-organiser of the conference, is on balance positive in his assessment of the event. “Fifteen times has the European Court of Auditors refused to give its approval to the EU's spending. This is undermining trust in the Union."