Blog – Summary of TTIP delay and commitment to continue to oppose ISDS and the TTIP proposals
I have received a huge amount of messages from my constituents about TTIP
and I just wanted to post a little update about what’s been going on this week
in Strasbourg, let you know what I’ve been doing and how I will continue to
tackle the TTIP issue in the future.
On Tuesday, the President of the Parliament postponed the vote on TTIP
(which was scheduled for Wednesday) but the debate was still going ahead. Then,
as we turned up for the debate at 8am in the morning, we were ambushed by a
proposal to postpone the debate as well. I spoke on behalf of the UKIP MEPs,
saying that the debate should continue because this is a matter of such public
importance. You can watch this speech here:
Sadly, we lost the vote by 183-181 (the British Conservative Party voted
to cancel the debate) and the debate was also postponed.
I’ve made two other interventions in the chamber this week before the
debate/vote was postponed, and you’ll be able to see the videos
below:
- I managed to persuade the European Parliament to extend the debate on TTIP so that it can be given greater scrutiny (before it was later cancelled):
http://www.jonathanarnott.co.uk/2015/06/amendment-the-public-are-concerned-about-ttip-and-the-proposals-require-more-scrutiny/
2. Because TTIP has been impacted by big business lobbying, you may also
be interested in the point which I made in one of the debates on intellectual
property rights, about the sheer number of corporate lobbyists in Brussels. The
1-minute speech can be found
at: http://www.jonathanarnott.co.uk/2015/06/parliamentary-speech-i-am-more-interested-in-hearing-from-my-constituents-than-30000-big-business-lobbyists/
Earlier this week I also spoke out during the meeting of UKIP MEPs, and
pushed the point very strongly to my colleagues that they should take the same
anti-ISDS, pro-NHS and anti-TTIP position that I am taking. I was slightly
surprised to learn that almost all of my colleagues feel as strongly as I do on
this. I have also discussed the matter with colleagues from other parties and
other countries, urging them to take a similar position.
I’m very disappointed that I will have to wait to represent my
constituents on this matter, I don’t yet know when the vote will now take place
but my best guess is that it’s most likely to happen at the July Strasbourg
session and whenever it comes before the European Parliament, I will continue to
oppose ISDS and these TTIP proposals.
I will continue to keep everyone updated about this important issue
through my Twitter feed @JonathanArnott and here on my website
at www.jonathanarnott.co.uk. I hope you will agree that I’m doing everything
that I can to make sure that your voice is not ignored!
Yours,
Jonathan Arnott MEP
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