Jim Murphy

Royal Assent

I spent this afternoon helping my old school, St Louise's Primary, in Glasgow, to celebrate its 50th anniversary.  Just beforehand I received the welcome news that the Bill for the UK to approve the Lisbon Treaty had received Royal Assent.  This marks the end of the Parliamentary process, during which the Bill has won support from majorities of both Houses of Parliament.   

Having spent much of my time since I became Minister for Europe reading the Treaty, discussing it with officials and explaining it to public, Parliament and press alike, it feels a little strange having it done and dusted (and now an Act of Parliament).  With the Irish people having voted 'no' to the Treaty in a referendum I'll still have plenty of work to do as we discuss with the Irish Government and our other European partners where we go from here. ( I discussed this with the Economist in an interview for their Certain Ideas of Europe podcast, yesterday. ) But I am also looking forward to having a bit more time to attend to the rest of my ministerial portfolio - there are a lot of pressing issues including relations with Russia, developments in the Balkans and what I hope will be significant progress in the Cyprus process.

The other recent welcome piece of news was that I won the "Minister of the Year" award last night at a ceremony organised by House magazine (the Parliamentary magazine).  The awards are voted on by all MPs and members of the House of Lords from all of the political parties in a secret ballot.  I was really pleased even to be nominated to the shortlist.  But to win is really lovely.  I also "wound up" (summarised) a debate on European Affairs yesterday in the House of Commons and it was a bit of a flashback to the many days spent debating the Treaty.  I think my award is also a testament to one of the fine qualities of Parliament - that even when we are debating issues that divide us and generate quite a bit of passion (like the EU) we can still  respect each others views.

Posted at 18:24 19 June 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[7]

The Lisbon Treaty (Again)

The House of Commons voted late on Wednesday night not to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The main reason being that we only ever have referenda on matters that are constitutional. The Lisbon Treaty is not a Constitution. 

It was right to have a referendum on devolution from Scotland and Wales. It would be right to have a referendum if there was a proposal to join the Euro. But Britian has never had a referendum on any European Treaty under any Prime Minister of either Labour or Conservative Governments.

Politicans now have to stop talking about European rules and Treaties and do more to deliver on climate change and jobs. That's exactly what I am doing today. As I write this I am on the Eurostar to Paris for discussions with the French government. Will keep you posted.

Posted at 09:10 07 March 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[4]

The next stage of the debate

This week in the House of Commons I opened the debate on a "Bill" which will give effect to the Treaty of Lisbon in UK law. MPs will spend weeks discussing and scrutinising it and, so far, as expected, the debates have been very lively.

The EU is a way to make the UK stronger, more prosperous and more secure, and the Lisbon Treaty is a way to ensure that the EU can take effective action, whilst protecting UK national interests. What I find so surprising is that there is a vocal group of MPs who want Britain out of the EU altogether. What do you think? You can follow the debates as they happen, and read the transcripts on the Parliament website.

Posted at 16:12 01 February 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[4]

Child protection in the EU

Next week we will start debating the Lisbon Treaty in Parliament. Previous EU Treaties recognised animal rights. This is the first to recognise children’s rights. I’m a vegetarian, and in favour of animal welfare but the rights of children are much more important. This Treaty puts that right.

Since the BBC broadcast "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children", in September and November last year, showing distressing images of conditions in the Mogilino Care Home, Bulgaria has pledged to reform its institutional care for children, with help from the EU and member states including the UK. This year, around 5 million euro will be made available from EU funds to help develop alternative care arrangements.

The UK, and the EU, will continue to support the efforts of the Bulgarian government and the NGO community to protect vulnerable children in Bulgaria. On Wednesday, the European Parliament backed an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child which will include tougher measures to combat paedophilia on the internet and child sex tourism, and enable the prosecution of suppliers of products manufactured with child labour.

Leading UK charities recognise the important role the EU can play on improving the lives of children. As Dame Mary Marsh, chief executive of NSPCC has said, the EU has an important role to play on the objective of ending cruelty to children. The NSPCC, like many other voluntary sector organisations, has recognised that the Lisbon Treaty will have a real impact. It will help improve EU co-operation on measures to tackle child exploitation, for example, through changes in the way decisions are taken at an EU level. It’s exactly those challenges, like child trafficking or online sexual exploitation, that cross borders and can't be effectively tackled by any one country individually.

Posted at 13:14 18 January 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[6]

New Year's resolutions for the European Union

Kicking off 2008 with good intentions, the EU, like many of us, is aiming to trim back some unwanted surplus. The Lisbon Treaty will help to do just that - streamlining institutions and processes to make the EU more effective, more fit for purpose.

But as well as resolving to tidy up its own affairs, the EU should determine to make the most of the opportunity it now has to play a truly global role. I outlined in my speech to the London School of Economics last night some of the ways in which I believe the EU can act as a force for global progress. A podcast of the speech is available on the LSE website.

2008 should mark a new chapter for the European Union.  This morning, I met representatives from leading British businesses and we discussed three key challenges for governments and businesses in Europe:

Renewed commitment to high levels of growth and employment
Commitment to free trade and openness
Tackling climate change and energy security

The message I took away was that many business leaders share our view of the EU as an opportunity for, not a threat to, the UK, and they too want to see more progress on the liberalisation of the energy, post and telecomms markets and better regulation. Over 3 million British jobs – tens of thousands of jobs in every region of the UK – are directly linked to our membership of the EU. You can see in this study by the Southbank University how many jobs are dependent on exports to the EU in your region. There’s no doubt that British jobs and Britain’s continued prosperity depend on our relationship with the EU.

Posted at 16:46 10 January 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[3]