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Timothy Kirkhope: Smears, disruption and a Tory tale of the colleagues who stand divided
When 300,000 people from Yorkshire and the Humber voted Conservative at the recent European Elections, one of the key pledges they endorsed was for our MEPs to create a new alliance in the European Parliament to fight against federalism and to advocate a freer, more open Europe.
With that manifesto pledge and others, we topped the poll and in June we formed our new group in the European Parliament – the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). Taking in MEPs from eight EU countries, it will be a formidable force for delivering our agenda for change in the Parliament.
I served as interim chairman of the group during the few weeks before the new Parliament officially convened on July 14. During that time, I saw first hand the incredible skill and expertise that our new Group enjoys.
Unfortunately, there has been an attempt to taint the success of our new group by Edward McMillan-Scott, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, who has had the Tory whip withdrawn. Readers of the Yorkshire Post may have read his article last week where he attempted to re-write history both regarding the events of the past few weeks and also regarding events of many years ago.
I am extremely grateful to the Yorkshire Post for allowing me to write in response.
Last month, Mr McMillan-Scott took it upon himself to stand against our group's official candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the European Parliament. Whether his decision was based on principles as he claims, or on his determination to keep the Vice-Presidency of the parliament which he has held from 2004-2009, is a matter for speculation.
Following this action, Mr McMillan-Scott then made a number of allegations about the man he stood against and who subsequently then became the chairman of our group – Michal Kaminski of the Polish Law and Justice Party.
Michal Kaminski has refuted all of the allegations made against him: that, for instance, he is anti-Semitic, homophobic and that he was a member of a far-right party as a teenager. Of course, none of these smears are justified as has been shown by recent remarks by a former British Ambassador to Poland and by the editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
Michal was a member of National Revival as a teenager when it was one of the underground movements against the authoritarian Communist regime and its only real ideology at the time was to defeat the Communists. After Poland was liberated, all parties took on new platforms, but Michal had long since moved on.
Michal is not a homophobe. He fully supports civil partnerships for homosexuals. As for the allegation that he is anti-Semitic, this is particularly offensive to a man who has spent his life defending Israel and supporting Jewish communities.
I personally am extremely proud to have been a friend of the Jewish community across our region and in Leeds in particular for many years, and as the current European Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel, the Jewish community should know that Michal Kaminski is a
friend too.
The man that I know is far different from that portrayed in much of the press so far.
While we enjoyed a free life under a democracy, Kaminski fought in the underground against Poland's authoritarian Communist regime. As a teenager, he risked his personal freedom for the freedom of his nation.
Michal learned English by listening to "illegal" broadcasts of the BBC. Among his heroes are Margaret Thatcher and the late President Ronald Reagan who, in their dogged determination to stand firm against tyranny and to fight for freedom, gave confidence to people like Michal and his friends in the days before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
re-institution of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.
We will need some of Michal Kaminski's dogged determination in our battles ahead at the European Parliament. Our common cause as a new group is to bring about change in the European Union. On doorsteps across Yorkshire and the Humber during the election campaign, people told me that they wanted to see the EU reformed.
They want it to be more democratic, less intrusive and more accountable to the people. They want it to stop seizing powers from national governments and to focus on co-ordinating our efforts towards tackling climate change, creating opportunities for jobs and businesses and assisting countries still in abject poverty.
I share the disappointment of the hundreds of people across Yorkshire and the Humber who worked incredibly hard to get both Edward McMillan-Scott and myself elected just two months ago.
I am sorry that he has sought to cause disruption in the delivery of the pledges on which we all campaigned. Our new group will be a great success despite his campaign against our new chairman.
Timothy Kirkhope, an MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, is Leader of the Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament and Deputy President of the ECR Group.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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