Public Meeting in Oakham with Bill Newton Dunn

7.11.00pm GMT Fri 3rd Nov 2006

Bill Newton Dunn, MEP for the East Midlands, was the main speaker at the Oakham Public Meeting on Thurs Nov 2nd. There was a lively discussion on the challenges ahead for Europe such as climate change and cross-border crime. Bill had had a great success last week in encouraging the European Parliament to vote for a formal study on the need for a federal police force for Europe.

According to Bill the situation with regard to organised crime in Europe is far worse than most of us realise, involving people trafficking, drugs, VAT scams and counterfeit goods including medicines. An EU wide police force could help deal with the daunting task of preventing this.

Other speakers included Professor John Twidell, an expert in renewables, who talked about what the EU is doing to encourage clean energy, and Carol Weaver who discussed "10 Things you might not know about the EU". Grahame Hudson, Rutland & Melton's 2005 PPC, chaired the event and Peter Beanland, chair of Rutland & Melton Lib Dems, was the host.