THE MEP FOR PALESTINE

A hostile writer hiding behind a nom de plume attacks me in a local paper. Why am I not concentrating on my region? "Is Chris Davies the MEP for the North West or the MEP for the Middle East?"

I could respond by saying that it's not my fault. I never intended to get involved in an issue which commands such attention or which I find so emotionally draining.

Every MEP serves on one delegation that meets at least annually with legislators from a country or region outside the EU. In the last parliament I served on the Cyprus one, which was not without interest given the political divisions of the island. But then Cyprus, or at least the Greek Cypriot administration, joined the EU so the delegation was wound up.

Environmental legislation occupies so much of my time that I opted for an easy life at the beginning of this parliament, seeking a delegation that would involve only one overseas visit every two years. First choice was Australia, but it was fully booked. Second choice was Canada, but that was the same.

So I ended up with my third choice, Palestine, but intended to be involved only to the minimum extent. Then I paid my first visit to the place to be present at the launch of a movement called Combatants for Peace, bringing together former Palestinian fighters and Israeli Defence Force soldiers seeking a better way forward. I returned seething with anger at the injustice I saw, and the way in which Israel has changed the facts on the ground to make the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state almost impossible.

I shouldn't have to apologise for my interest. It was not for nothing that the Palestinian president was on Barack Obama's list of first calls to foreign leaders. Palestine arises passions that affect the security of us all.

That won't convince my letter-writing critic though. And I'm about to upset him even more.

CLIMATE CHANGE? WHAT CLIMATE CHANGE?

The first cold winter in Britain for a few years and the cry goes up that man-made climate change is just a myth. An MEP from the UK Independence Party was voicing the usual scepticism of his colleagues this week in the European Parliament. .

But while we have been throwing snowballs at each other in Britain the fires have been burning in Australia, with people dying in record temperatures of 47 degrees that have given rise to both flash floods and forest fires. Wild extremes of weather are expected to become more and more common with global warming.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s new energy secretary warns that unless climate change is curbed the agricultural production of California will collapse and the cities face extreme water shortages.

There is good news. Much of the technology to reduce global warming emissions already exists, and the costs of introducing it are affordable. According to consultants McKinsey the price could be just one half of one per cent of world GDP.

All credit to my Conservative opposite number in the European Parliament, John Bowis, who rebuked another Tory MEP last Wednesday by declaring in debate that even if there was some remaining uncertainty about climate change the possible consequences of doing nothing were so great that action was essential.

What action is required? We need to curb our wasteful practices, invest in means of producing energy that neither pollute nor use up the Earth's resources, and reduce our dependence on foreign sources in the process. Surely even UKIP's climate change deniers would want to sign up to that!

THE 'TOO NICE' PRESIDENT

It was a wasted opportunity. The Palestinian president addressed the European Parliament, reminded us of the military occupation of his land, of the humiliations of his people at the hands of Israelis, and of the suffering of people in Gaza. All true enough but, so low is the interest threshold of politicians, all too routine and familiar a mantra.

He thanked the EU for the payments it makes to the Palestinian authority but urged us to play a more political role - a good point. He called for support to be given to the Arab peace plan that will give Israel peace and recognition in return for a two state solution. But he could have said so much more.

Abbas could have confronted the EU with its double standards, its failure to take any action at all to support our criticism of Israel and its slavish following of American leadership - that would have shaken us up. He could have made a single mention of Hamas. He could have said what sacrifices he will make to bring Palestinians together.

In a brief meeting later I told him he had been too nice to us. Leila Shahid, the EU 'ambassador', came up to me later and said "you know his style. He is polite and nice to everyone." I do know, but I don't see evidence that it accomplishes very much. In private, amongst Palestinians, I suspect he also takes a very tribalist view in favour of Fatah that does nothing to enhance prospects of Palestinian unity.

Still, next week Netanyahu will likely emerge as the winner in the Israeli elections, backed by the outright racist Lieberman. Resolutely refusing to give up any of the land stolen from Palestinians they don't look like proving the best partnership to win friends in a world outraged by Israeli killings in Gaza. Maybe being 'nice' will prove an advantage with the likes of George Mitchell.

Off to Palestine myself on Tuesday evening.

STAND FOR THE ANTHEM

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas arrives to address MEPs in the vast debating chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Our own president, Hans Gert Poettering, stands besides him. The European anthem from Beethoven's ninth is played. MEPs stand - well, most of them, some UKIP members and fellow travellers stay seated at the back of the classroom (sorry, chamber), giggling and chatting.

The notion of a European anthem was included in the Constitutional Treaty (not adopted), dropped by the Lisbon Treaty (not yet adopted), but adopted by the European Parliament. This is the first time I have heard it used.

Standing for an anthem is an unusual experience for a Brit these days. I have no objection, and will do so happily in the UK as well as here, but I do feel a touch embarrassed.

The ceremony might be more solemn if the music coming over the PA system didn't have the tinny sound of someone holding a microphone to a transistor radio. It comes over fine on TV I am told.

EUROPEAN JOBS FOR EUROPEAN WORKERS

“British workers need protecting from foreign labour, and British industry needs protecting from foreign imports....The country has been plunged into a full scale depression precisely because of globalisation and the government’s refusal to protect British interests. We say that protectionism is the only solution."

These are the words of Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party. Translated into deeds they would spell calamity.

Hundreds of thousands of British citizens are working elsewhere within the European Union. They benefit from one of the EU's core principles, the freedom we all have to live and work in any one of the 27 member states.

Bringing down the barriers, opening up opportunities to trade, and allowing the movement of people has brought huge benefits to Britain, not least through broadening experience and boosting economic prosperity in ways not simply fed by house price speculation and artificial banking booms.

Think of the miserable alternative. Shut the doors. Raise the barriers. Close down trade. Try and protect our own interests in a world where the majority of major private sector employers are not British companies. Watch us shoot ourselves in the foot.

My sentiments are reinforced by my party leader, Nick Clegg, who has refused to play a populist card: "pulling out of the labour rules in Europe would be a huge, self-defeating step too far," he has declared.

There are said to be up to 1.5 million people from the UK working in other EU countries. Maybe the same number of other EU citizens working here. Many more Brits, often retired, live in other member states. Maybe there is a tendency for people from Britain to work abroad in higher paying jobs, while a higher percentage of others working here will be in low paid agricultural or hotel jobs that have not been in demand.

Given that a total of 29 million people are employed in the UK the row about jobs at the Lindsey oil refinery might not be regarded as very significant. Here is a plant owned by a French company that let a contract won by a South African company that has subcontracted to an Italian business - all at a site where many employees are working for contractors of different kinds. This is the world in which we now live. But despite the corporate and Mandelsonian reassurances I doubt if the Italian workers living on a barge in Grimsby dock are being paid just as indigenous workers would expect.

European law was never intended to prevent there being a level playing field. It expects jobs to be advertised and be available for local people with the necessary skills. It is weaker on ensuring that local agreements about pay and conditions negotiated through collective bargaining should be respected. The pendulum has swung too far and needs to be corrected.

The publicity of recent days may have sent a warning shot over the bows of international companies that seek to circumvent local terms. If this ensures that in future they avoid giving reason for dispute that will be good. In the longer term UK employment law may need to be strengthened to ensure that greater respect is paid to collective agreements, and the EU Posted Workers Directive needs to be reviewed and clarified to strengthen the level playing field requirements.

But don't expect anything too soon. The wheels of EU law-making turn very slowly. There is no certainty that 26 other Member States feel the same about the need for some change (although it is certain that a good many will do so), and a very high probability that others will point the finger at the UK and say "but it was you who wanted to keep employment rules weak in the first place!"

ELECTION PREPARATIONS

I will give a prize to anyone who can give me a good reason why anyone who cares not a jot for notions of civic responsibility should vote in the June european elections.

It is a fact that MEPs can have more influence over the shaping of laws than MPs possess. It's a consequence of the separation Of powers and of the personally non-combative nature of the institution. But the Parliament is not an executive body and has no say over taxes or foreign policy. At best it is worthy not exciting.

We need to give people some positive reasons for voting in the European elections, and we need to attract their interest. So I am glad that Nick Clegg is keen to take the fight to the EU's opponents.

I've met with Dunfermline MP Willie Rennie who is in charge of messages. He wants clear differentiation between our policies and those of our opponents.

Let's give them a fight, and if we can't do that let's give them a show. Lot of work to do to agree the messages but the campaign might be more interesting than I had grown to expect.

UPPING THE STAKES

My press and communications officer warns me that my last blog may lead to my being targeted by 'pro-life' groups. Time to circle the wagons. Mossad attacking on one side and SPUC on the other.

To deter the pigeons we had some spikes put on the window ledges of my office in Castle Street, Stockport, a while ago. I suppose the pointed wooden stakes now erected around the doorway are a touch more ostentatious.