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Lord George FOULKES (United Kingdom, SOC)

Mandates

In the political groups

  • Member: Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group since 01/08/2017
  • Member: Socialist Group from 27/11/2015 to 31/07/2017

In the Assembly

  • since 29/11/2024 Substitute - United Kingdom
  • from 26/06/2020 to 28/11/2024 Representative - United Kingdom
  • from 27/11/2015 to 25/06/2020 Substitute - United Kingdom
  • from 23/06/2003 to 23/08/2005 Substitute - United Kingdom
  • from 21/04/1980 to 01/05/1981 Substitute - United Kingdom

In the committee(s) and sub-committee(s)

  • Full Member: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 15/04/2024 to 28/11/2024)
  • Full Member: Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (since 26/06/2020)
  • First Vice-Chairperson: Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 11/10/2018 to 26/01/2020)
  • General Rapporteur on media freedom and safety of journalists: Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 23/01/2018 to 27/01/2020)
  • Full Member: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 24/11/2017 to 25/06/2020)
  • Full Member: Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 26/06/2017 to 23/11/2017)
  • Full Member: Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development (from 27/11/2015 to 22/01/2017)
  • Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society (from 21/03/2024 to 27/01/2025)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Youth and the Society of the Future (from 23/01/2024 to 28/01/2025)
  • Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society (from 25/01/2023 to 22/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on relations with the OECD and the EBRD (from 29/06/2017 to 13/12/2017)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Education, Youth and Sport (from 28/06/2017 to 21/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Media and Information Society (since 28/06/2017)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on the European Social Charter (from 27/01/2016 to 25/06/2017)
  • Alternate of Mr Richard BAKER (Full Member): Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 27/01/2025 to 25/01/2026)
  • Alternate of Mr Stephen GETHINS (Full Member): Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 29/11/2024 to 26/01/2025)
  • Alternate of Lord Andrew ADONIS (Full Member): Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 24/01/2022 to 14/04/2024)
  • Alternate of Ms Kerry MCCARTHY (Full Member): Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 27/01/2020 to 02/06/2020)
  • Alternate of Mr Ian MURRAY (Full Member): Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 25/06/2018 to 26/01/2020)
  • Alternate of Mr Liam BYRNE (Full Member): Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media (from 24/11/2017 to 20/06/2018)
  • Alternate of Lord David BLENCATHRA (Full Member): Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 25/01/2017 to 23/11/2017)
  • Alternate of Lord David BLENCATHRA (Full Member): Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (from 26/06/2020 to 23/01/2022)
  • Alternate of Mr Geraint DAVIES (Full Member): Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development (from 23/01/2017 to 25/06/2017)
  • Alternate of Lord David BLENCATHRA (Full Member): Sub-Committee on External Relations (from 28/01/2025 to 25/01/2026)
  • Alternate of Dame Cheryl GILLAN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on relations with the OECD and the EBRD (from 14/12/2017 to 21/01/2019)
  • Alternate of Mr Geraint DAVIES (Full Member): Sub-Committee on Public Health (from 27/01/2016 to 20/04/2016)
  • Alternate of Mr Geraint DAVIES (Full Member): Sub-Committee on Environment and Energy (from 21/04/2016 to 25/01/2017)
  • Alternate of Mr John PRESCOTT (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize (from 27/01/2016 to 25/06/2017)

Interventions

Last speeches

21/04/2026 | 10:38:03 Mister President, I welcome this report and this debate, if only because it allows me to agree completely with Baroness Thérèse COFFEY, who I usually disagree with quite a lot. In fact, the report of our Electoral Commission in Britain and the John Smith Centre shows that violence has moved from the periphery of politics to the centre. 70% of candidates at the last election in the United Kingdom said they had experienced violence. 70%! That is appalling that that should have happened, because... 01/10/2025 | 11:41:43 Mr President, as Sir Edward LEIGH said earlier, this is one of the most important debates of our whole week, and Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK has produced an excellent report and an excellent introduction outlining the problems that we face. But condemning those is not enough. What we also need to ensure is a transparent register of all detained journalists, full access by independent monitors and accountability for all those responsible, as Ms Valentina GRIPPO so rightly said earlier. But we must... 08/04/2025 | 10:38:06 Madam President, I ask you to support the report and reject completely Mr Clement SHOPOV's Trump-like propaganda, and also Mr George LOUCAIDES's false comparisons that he made in his speech. Russian interference is not just fake news, not just disinformation. They are buying up assets in the West, including human assets. Indeed, why did they support Trump in 2018? Why did they support him in 2024? Because he's a useful idiot! We understand that he has a name: Krasnov is his Russian code name... 29/01/2025 | 10:29:43 Thank you, Mister President. Can I too congratulate Ms Luz MARTINEZ SEIJO on an excellent report on this important issue? History is an incredibly powerful tool, and in the right hands, it can be used to foster democratic citizenship and build mutual understanding. But in the wrong hands, it can be misused to undermine diversity, erode democracy and increase polarisation. But interpretation is the key. And as the old saying goes, there are two sides to every story. Hiding the wide range of... 01/10/2024 | 11:47:52 Thank you, my technical advisor, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, as well as doing this excellent report.  It was a great honour for me to stand in as Chair for this report, because I greatly welcome the report. It's really very appropriately timed with the advent of the internet, with modern democracies becoming increasingly vulnerable to disinformation and fake news. We saw it in the United Kingdom with the recent riots when fake news was spread about deaths. Thanks to the work of Western intelligence...

Activities