Politicians and specifically MEPs often face derision from the mainstream press, especially the right wing press. So it was hardly surprising to read in the Daily Express that MEPs are the least trusted profession, overtaking that of the more traditionally disliked professions.
The survey was hardly ground breaking and actually doesn’t reflect the experiences I’ve had in 10 years as an MEP – and that’s not because I’ve surrounded myself in Brussels Bureaucracy.
Last weekend was a good example. I was invited to take part in the Sunday Times web chat. It followed the week of the story where four MEPs had been caught taking cash for their services. It was of course disgraceful and I was fully prepared to answer questions relating to this terrible episode.
But to my surprise the chat which ensued couldn’t have been more different in terms of the questions people asked. There was genuine interest in Brussels, in the work we do; in how legislation is made and in what the Brussels machine does. Most people just wanted to know more, they were intrigued.
There is more interest in European politics than the media gives the general public credit for. Indeed one of the Europe correspondents, who I know well, told me recently how difficult it is for him to get anything past his editors about Brussels. ‘The news editors back home just don’t get it’ he said somewhat dejected.
What I find most curious is the disdain the media seems to perpetuate in this country. Other parts of Europe enjoy fruitful debate. Their media closely follows the work of the Parliament, it understands it and as a result is able to more closely investigate and scrutinise it. I would welcome the same level of scrutiny in this country.
The truth is the British media seems to be dominated by the likes of Nigel Farage, who comes across as media friendly and provides good TV. The Boris Johnson of Europe I Suppose. How many times has the Labour leader in Europe, or the Conservative for that matter, appeared on Question Time? They haven’t. But Farage who isn’t a member of a mainstream political party in this country receives disproportionate coverage precisely because he’s considered to be so entertaining.
There is one saving grace; BBC Parliament, specifically the Record Europe, covers European politics more seriously than any other outlet in this country and therefore gives a better reflection of what we are really about. I hope this spreads across to other media agencies and the public can get a better reflection of what we are really about. They deserve it after all.
Comments
David Page / March 31 2011 1:30pm
This article really does proved you are deluded. If you think for one moment that one web chat with those interested in Europe proves that the media has got it wrong then you are mistaken. Let's be clear about this, the EU is truly despised in the UK, not Europe. At a time when we are cutting every area of public expenditure EU contributions will double this year to £9bn of net contribution. This is an absolute disgrace. The first item on our budget to be cut should have been our EU contribution. You want to know why you don't get the recognition or air time you think you deserve as a pro-European MEP? It's because you're typical of most MEPs for going native, scoffing their way through the troughs of EU perks and not standing up for Britain's interests. You represent the many eurocrats from Britain who have taken another master and your interests are serving the self gratifying bureaucracy of Brussels that you have sold your soul to.
Your view is naive in the extreme and you deserve to lose your job for doubting the sincerity with which British people, like me, are opposed to the EU and its subordination of British sovereignty. We will fight to get that referendum, so long denied the British people, for as long as it takes, and when it comes, you'd better close your eyes, and think about the good times you had, all those long lunches and joyous freebies you have enjoyed in Brussels at the British tax payers expense, for the party will be over.
Your commentary is so incredibly insulting, but also so revealing - you are so far removed and remote from the groundswell of feeling, bitterness and anger to those institutions you hold so dear, that you might as well be sitting on Mars. Honestly, where do people like you come from? Even worse, how do you get elected?
Paul Coombes / March 31 2011 4:06pm
What he said.
SME / March 31 2011 5:42pm
Dear Mary,
Please get a proper job and run a small / medium size business and face the overwhelming EU related red tape - then come back and say you love the EU. But you won't. So stop patronizing us; we hate the EU because we have to live with its countless stupid rules and regulations without having the chance to change it via the ballot box (nowt to do with what the press say). Emily Davidson would be ashamed of you.
Regards
SME
tomfiglio / March 31 2011 6:07pm
David Page has said it all. Couldn't agree more.
Kevin R lohse / March 31 2011 9:50pm
Dear Ms Honeyball. Let me be very clear. The EU is a wholly corrupt institution whose members openly tout the, "Post-democratic society". It's wealth-destroying policies, it's openly stated aim of destroying liberal democracy and above all it's insatiable desire for ever-more power over the free peoples of Europe place it in the same bracket as Napoleonic France, Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Free Europe's greatest hope is the probable collapse of the Eurozone due to global market forces, and it is a result I devoutly wish for. Your sentiments, possibly genuine and having nothing to do with a very comfortable life-style, are little short of traitorous, and I totally reject your point of view.
Steven Morson / April 30 2011 8:50am
My instincts kicked in at the start of reading this piece that it was nonsense, but unfortunately were not confirmed until I reached almost the end.
"But Farage who isn’t a member of a mainstream political party in this country receives disproportionate coverage precisely because he’s considered to be so entertaining."
Nigel Farage is the Leader of the 4th largest political party in the UK, which received 920,000 votes in May 2010. Disproportionate coverage? I withhold payment of my TV licence due to outrageous anti-UKIP, pro-EU bias by the Brussels Broadcasting Corporation (so do many others). I have reams of correspondence on the matter. Entertaining? Maybe. Authoritative? Definitely!
The disdain of the media? Perhaps that's because they see so much belt-tightening and cutting of public expenditure here in the UK, while we are still the 2nd largest bankroller of the EU project. There are only 4 net contributors for all the 27 nations, and the cost per taxpayer is calculated at £1,939 per year.
I’ve heard this morning that the EU rules in force today have banned most herbal remedies. Proud of that, are you? Never mind the catastrophic loss of sovereignty; the case for leaving the EU is fundamentally economic. And this piece of Panglossian nonsense is utterly devoid of even cursory research or readily-available facts.