Nieuws van de afdeling

11 April 2011

Massive trade union demonstration against EU proposals

This weekend, according to European trade unions, who organised the event, 50.000 people marched through Budapest to protest against the forming of a European economic government.

8 April 2011

Dennis de Jong appointed to working group to tackle corruption in Euro-MPs

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong will be joining the new working group in the European Parliament which will be proposing a new code of conduct. The SP Member is the only Dutch representative in the group of eight. He has a long-standing interest in developing a tighter and more effective set of rules for MEPs. ‘I think it’s a shame that corruption scandals had to erupt before the Parliament decided to take action, but I’m pleased that there now appears to be a breakthrough,’ De Jong said.

7 April 2011

End use of depleted uranium in munitions

The air-raids on Libya against Gaddafi’s units must not be conducted with depleted uranium (DU) weapons, according to a series of parliamentary questions put by the SP and the Labour Party in response to international media reports. ‘Various aircraft have been deployed over Libya which are equipped with in-flight weapons which can be used to fire depleted uranium,’ SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel explains. Van Bommel put his questions along with fellow SP Member Jasper van Dijk and two Labour MPs.

6 April 2011

Limit use of business class flights by Euro-MPs

Voting on the European Parliament’s budget for 2012 saw the rejection of a proposal to oblige MEPs to use economy rather than business class for short flights. ‘It’s hard to explain why MEPs should be allowed to cling on to this unnecessary luxury, while austerity is being imposed throughout Europe,’ says SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong.

6 April 2011

Less defence spending should mean fewer wars

Enormous cuts in defence spending must lead to a new perspective on the armed forces. Defence must be downsized and its ambitions more modest, as well as directed more towards peacekeeping than warfare, says SP Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk in reaction to the plan to cut a billion euros from the defence budget.

1 April 2011

Jan Marijnissen: On war, progress and justice

The owner of the kebab shop where I sometimes go is an Egyptian. I have often spoken with him about the situation in the Arab world. ‘Jan,’ he says, ‘they’re all dictatorships, and a fat lot the dictators care about the people’s concerns. It’s incomprehensible that the West helps these dictators. It can only be because of the oil.’ I invariably reply by asking ‘why doesn’t anyone rise up against these dictators?’ ‘Because it isn’t easy, and it’s risky.’

International