26/01/2021 | 18:07:34 Thank you very much, dear colleagues. By introducing some modifications of a technical nature into the rules of procedure, my report concludes the work the Assembly started three years ago. In the report prepared by our colleague Mr KOX on behalf of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, we went through the numerous stages of drafting and the consultation process, given the importance of the procedure and the number of actors involved in the preparatory stage. Through this three... 29/01/2020 | 10:27:19 On behalf of the European Conservatives Group, I would like to say that we support this report and we believe in the concept of reasonable accommodation. In reply to the Socialist spokesman, reasonable accommodation does not mean that you take away the rights of other people. Let me just give you one example in a hospital, for instance. If you wish to require or have an abortion in a hospital, under the law of most countries in the world, you are entitled to receive that service. What we... 28/01/2020 | 11:41:47 Respect for democracy and the rule of law are of course fundamental to the Council of Europe. I believe that this report actually undermines the Council's ideals. I believe it fails to protect the pluralism that makes our continent so rich in its diversity. In both tone and content it seeks to replace pluralism by enforcing conformism with social liberal ideas. Now with the limited time I want to highlight just one example from this report. Paragraph 22 notes the results of the election for... 01/10/2019 | 10:56:53 Madame President. Of course, we all agree and applaud paragraph 3 of this report, which tells us that disclosing serious failings in the public interest must not remain the preserve of those citizens who are prepared to sacrifice their personal lives and those of their relatives, as too often happened in the past. And indeed, there are still instances in Europe and in this family of nations, where whistle-blowers who expose corruption and wrong dealing in the highest places are protected, but... 26/06/2019 | 18:30:48 The British Conservatives have warm feelings towards Malta. Many British people visit Malta. Malta is a member of the Commonwealth. Malta played a crucial role in the Second World War, and we hesitate to criticise Malta in any respect, where we have many friends. So this is a difficult report for us, but we must speak out where journalists are openly murdered and nothing happens. In the early second century AD, the Roman poet, Juvenal, asks a question:"quiz custodiet ipsos custodes?" - "who... 25/06/2019 | 11:41:39 We all agree that the Council of Europe has a budget crisis but it should not solve this budget crisis by compromising its principles, by letting in a state which does not abide by its core principles. The Council of Europe should return to the principles on which it was founded 70 years ago and should concentrate on fighting the evils of fascism and communism and totalitarianism and violence and the denial of human rights. The truth is, Madam President, there are huge opportunities for... 24/06/2019 | 19:27:49 Madam President. Normally, when somebody stands up, you just have to look at what country they come from and their political grouping, and you can probably work out before they open their mouth what they're going to say. So you would expect me as a British conservative to follow some of my colleagues. I'll say something a bit different. I suppose I got to declare an interest because of my wife's Russian blood. I was married in the Russian Orthodox Church. I have not... I've always sought to... 24/06/2019 | 12:16:24 My point of order is that we have a very important debate this afternoon to strengthen the decision-making process of the Parliamentary Assembly, and I know that there is a huge number of people who put their name in to speak. If we end the debate at 8 o'clock, there's a very large chance that numerous people will not get into the debate. What is your proposal? Can we extend the debate to 10 o'clock? And, if necessary, can we go on debating tomorrow, so that everybody has their say on this... 11/04/2019 | 10:55:40 This is a good opportunity to consider a report on the role and mission of the Council of Europe, because we are entering a new phase with the new budgetary constraints. Personally, I think this is not so much a threat as an opportunity to go back to our core principles in the Council of Europe, which are to defend human rights, freedom and democracy. I am opposed to changing rules just to accommodate a situation. For instance, if you are short of money you should not change the rules to make... 23/01/2019 | 10:52:31 The same congratulations to you, Sir Roger. I am afraid that this report attempts to respond to the developing challenge of disinformation while totally failing to understand the situation at hand. The reality about fake news is that the old giants – public service media is perhaps the greatest old giant of all – are running scared. They no longer set the parameters or control the frames of the debate. What is more, it is now easier to catch them out when they go astray themselves. The draft...