Winter is coming. You can always tell in Strasbourg because the lobbyists begin to get restless around the time the clocks go back. REACH, the fiendishly complicated legislation about registration of chemicals, is building towards fever pitch and meanwhile, I have been put in charge of a report to eliminate hazardous substances in rivers. The environment is an area where the European Parliament has real power to make sure that across Europe more is done to prevent harmful chemicals from being released into our rivers. It is the type of work that fascinates me but, as with anything of major significance, it attracts a great deal of interest from industries that will be affected by it. Obviously, we want to make sure that water doesn't have dangerous substances like mercury in it, and it makes sense for everyone in the EU to adhere to the same standards as rivers don't respect national borders. Being an island, this affects us less than the rest of the EU, but we all share the North Sea and the Channel. I am however, particularly concerned that new legislation shouldn't put too great a burden on small businesses, so I welcome the Conservative party's recognition of the importance of environmental issues, and that these challenges can't be overcome on our own.
I have also been greatly heartened by the increased public engagement in environmental legislation. Last week my constituency office received a box of 500 cards from constituents concerned about REACH that had been signed in LUSH shops across the region. I have also been receiving hundreds of emails from ordinary people who want to make sure that the people they elect are doing all they can to help the environment. In addition, I have met with the Women's Institute, representatives of WWF and a whole host of other NGO and business groups to discuss REACH and am glad that everyone seems to be waking up to the immense environmental challenges we face.
While this is most encouraging, I was very disappointed to read that a European survey had found Britain the least environmentally friendly country in the EU when it came to switching off appliances like mobile phone chargers, leaving TVs on stand by and recycling. I dislike it when politicians start lecturing people on how they should live their lives, and had to interrupt writing this sentence to get up and unplug my mobile phone charger, but now that we are increasingly recognising that we do need to do more to help the environment, it is important to do all that we can on a personal level as well as keeping it high on the political agenda.
What with hundreds of flag waving Basques, Hungarians commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising which was so cruelly crushed by the Soviet Union, and mishaps in voting procedure where the President of the Parliament took the same vote twice, it has been a busy week in Strasbourg. Before flying out from Stansted I visited the Newmarket horse sales to meet with those from the equine industry and discuss the current UK export ban of horses to India. In my capacity as Coordinator on the International Trade Committee, I have been putting pressure on the Indian Government to lift this unjust ban. I remain hopeful that if we all do what we can we should get what we want in the end, and that is as true of the environment as it is of exporting thoroughbred horses.
