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==Politics==
==Politics==
Daniel Hannan is the co-author with [[Douglas Carswell]] of ''The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain'' (2008) and argues in his writings and in the media (for example, during an appearance on [[Question Time (TV series)|Question Time]] on [[BBC]] [[television]] on 28 May 2009) for [[Initiative|ballot inititiative]]s (whereby electors can directly enact legislation as happens in [[California ballot proposition|California]]), a power of [[Recall election|recall]] (whereby a sitting Member of Parliament can be forced to submit to re-election if enough of his local electorate support this), fixed term parliaments, local and national [[referendums]], [[open primaries]] and the abolition of [[party lists]].
Daniel Hannan is the co-author with [[Douglas Carswell]] of ''The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain'' (2008) and argues in his writings and in the media (for example, during an appearance on [[Question Time (TV series)|Question Time]] on [[BBC]] [[television]] on 28 May 2009) for [[Initiative|ballot initiative]]s (whereby electors can directly enact legislation as happens in [[California ballot proposition|California]]), a power of [[Recall election|recall]] (whereby a sitting Member of Parliament can be forced to submit to re-election if enough of his local electorate support this), fixed term parliaments, local and national [[referendums]], [[open primaries]] and the abolition of [[party lists]].


===Member of the European Parliament===
===Member of the European Parliament===

Revision as of 09:38, 21 July 2009

Daniel Hannan
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 1999
Personal details
Born (1971-09-01) 1 September 1971 (age 53)
Lima, Peru
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materMarlborough College
Oriel College, Oxford
Websitewww.hannan.co.uk
(The picture above is courtesy of the Mises Youth Club)

Daniel John Hannan (born 1 September 1971)[1] is a British politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party.

In the Parliament, he previously sat as an independent, having been expelled from the European People's Party–European Democrats group in 2008. Recently the conservatives other anti-federalist parties formed a new eurosceptic group therefore he no longer sits as an independent. Hannan is a eurosceptic and is fiercely critical of European integration. He presently serves on the Committee on Fisheries and the Delegation for Relations with Afghanistan.[1]

Hannan is also a journalist, writing leaders and a blog for the The Daily Telegraph. He has also published several books arguing for radical democratic reform. He is best known for his speech attacking Gordon Brown in his presence at a sitting of the European Parliament in 2009, which became a YouTube hit.

Early life

Hannan was born into an Irish family in Lima, Peru. He was educated at Marlborough College and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied Modern History.[2] He was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association, and also became involved in the Bruges Group. He speaks French and Spanish.[3]

Afterwards, he became director of the European Research Group, a study group at the University of Oxford. He also worked as a speechwriter for Michael Howard and William Hague before moving to The Daily Telegraph.

Politics

Daniel Hannan is the co-author with Douglas Carswell of The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain (2008) and argues in his writings and in the media (for example, during an appearance on Question Time on BBC television on 28 May 2009) for ballot initiatives (whereby electors can directly enact legislation as happens in California), a power of recall (whereby a sitting Member of Parliament can be forced to submit to re-election if enough of his local electorate support this), fixed term parliaments, local and national referendums, open primaries and the abolition of party lists.

Member of the European Parliament

Daniel Hannan was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999, and was re-elected at the top of his party's list for the South East England constituency in 2004. In April 2008, Daniel Hannan was elected to the top position of the Conservative list for the 2009 European elections in the constituency of South East England, and in June 2009 he was re-elected to the European Parliament.[4]

Opposition to the ICTY

Hannan has campaigned in the European Parliament for an end to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,[5] describing it as "a disgusting travesty," and has praised the work of John Laughland, a supporter of Slobodan Milošević who "chronicles, in pitiless detail, how the judges crashed through a series of legal norms and conventions in their increasingly frantic attempts to secure a conviction", though Hannan has taken what he claims to be "the more conventional view that Milosevic was a calculating Commie who unleashed a series of calamities". Hannan claimed in 2007 a system where international law was used to regulate domestic matters would "create the opportunity for a dictatorship far worse than Milosevic's", because the courts could try democratic leaders, even though they themselves had no democratic mandate.[6]

Campaign against the Lisbon Treaty

He opposed ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the European Parliament, and was one of several MEPs who were prevented from speaking in support of a referendum. Aping Cato the Elder's call for genocide, Carthago delenda est, he ended every speech, whatever its subject, with a call for the Lisbon Treaty to be put to the vote: "Pactio Olisipiensis censenda est".[7][8]

Expulsion from the EPP-ED

This show of opposition to the treaty by several MEPs caused annoyance to some members of the European Parliament, which voted to give its president the discretion to override parliamentary procedures [9]. In the parliamentary session just before the new rules were to be presented by the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering,[citation needed] Hannan criticised this deviation from the rule of law. He continued by quoting Edmund Burke, but was interrupted mid-quote and had his microphone cut off by Luigi Cocilovo, one of the 14 Vice-Presidents.[10] He then responded by damning, without vocal amplification, the parliament’s deviations from its own rules;[11][12]

An absolute majority is not the same as the rule of law. I accept that there is a minority in this house in favor of a referendum. That there is a minority in this house against the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. But this house must nonetheless follow its own rulebooks. And by popular acclamation to discard the rules under which we operate is indeed an act of arbitrary and despotic rule. It is only my regard for you Mr. Chairman and my personal affection for you that prevents me from likening it to the Ermächtigungsgesetz of 1933 which was also voted through by a parliamentary majority.

Pöttering is a German national and a member of the same political group (EPP-ED) as Hannan. The head of EPP-ED, Joseph Daul, telling Hannan to ‘come outside’,’you can’t say that’, responded by initiating proceedings to expel Hannan immediately. Daniel Hannan left the EPP-ED on 19 February 2008. He now sits as a Conservative without pan-European affiliation (Non-Inscrit).[citation needed]

YouTube hit

On 24 March 2009, after Gordon Brown had given a short speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in advance of the G20 London summit, Hannan followed up by delivering a 3-minute speech criticising in very strong terms the response by Gordon Brown to the global financial crisis.[13] He finished the speech:

You cannot spend your way out of a recession or borrow your way out of debt. And when you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others', that we are well placed to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era apparatchik giving the party line. You know, and we know, and you know that we know that it's nonsense. Everyone knows that Britain is worse off than any other country as we go into these hard times. The IMF has said so. The European Commission has said so. The markets have said so, which is why our currency has devalued by thirty percent. And soon, the voters too will get their chance to say so. They can see what the markets have already seen: that you are the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government.[14]

The final phrase, "the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government", was a quote from a speech by Labour Party leader John Smith criticising then-Prime Minister John Major in 1992.[15]

A video clip of the speech went viral on YouTube that evening,[16][17] attracting more than 630,000 views in 24 hours.[13][18] It became the 'most viewed today' YouTube video worldwide two consecutive days.[18] Hannan was invited to appear on several shows on American cable news channels, including Fox News and MSNBC: he appeared on television program Hannity via video link at 9pm EST on the same day[19], and on the Glenn Beck Program the following day.[20][21] He also appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto, where he stated he would have voted for Ron Paul in the 2008 presidential election if he were an American citizen.[22] The main British television channels, particularly the BBC and ITV, gave the speech fairly limited coverage, for which they faced some criticism; Conservative MP Nigel Evans stated that their lack of coverage rendered YouTube the 'ultimate in public service broadcasting'.[23]

Praise for Iceland's economic miracle

Hannan has been a regular visitor to Iceland for 15 years. His best man organised his stag night there to celebrate its refusal to join the European Union, and has declared Icelanders to be the sturdiest and most self-reliant people he knows. Hannan's critics have pointed to his extravagant praise for Iceland's economic miracle prior to the 2008 crash, in which he advocated that other countries should emulate the Icelandic model of minimal national and international regulation as their model. In an October 2004 piece for the Spectator, entitled Blue-Eyed Shiekhs, Hannan wrote "For 70 years the Althing has been dominated by the splendidly named Independence Party, which has pursued the kind of Thatcherite agenda that is off limits to EU members ... Icelanders have no more desire to submit to international than to national regulation. That attitude has made them the happiest, freest and wealthiest people on earth. Long may they remain so". [24][25]

Hannan has responded to Iceland's crisis by writing that the country "would be mad to join the EU"; if they'd adopted the euro, their currency would have been unable to fall to cushion the blow. He continues to praise "the enterprise of your people. You understand that independence is the natural condition of a free-standing citizenry."[26] Iceland began negotiations to join the European Union in July 2009.

NHS criticism controversy

In April 2009 he criticised supporters of the National Health Service, saying that those who claimed it was the greatest British Invention were clearly forgetting about parliamentary democracy, penicillin, the discovery of DNA, the abolition of slavery, or common law.[27] He also argued that the NHS had been a "mistake for 60 years", leaving Britain with low survival rates for cancers, strokes, high chances of becoming more ill in hospital, and constant waiting lists. David Cameron, who had said that his priorities were "three letters: NHS", distanced himself from Hannan's remarks.[28]

Publications

Daniel Hannan has been a leader writer for the Daily Telegraph since 1996.[29] He has also written for various other newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, the German daily Die Welt, the Swiss weekly Weltwoche, The Sunday Telegraph, The Catholic Herald, Freedom Today, the Brussels Journal and The Spectator.

He is the author of Time for a Fresh Start in Europe (1993) A Guide to the Amsterdam Treaty (1997), The Euro: Bad for Business (1998), The Challenge of the East (1999), What if Britain Votes No? (2002) and The Case for EFTA (2004), and contributed to Treason at Maastricht (1994), by Rodney Atkinson and Norris McWhirter.[30]

He was the co-founder of Direct Democracy and co-author, along with 27 Conservative MPs elected in 2005, of Direct Democracy: An Agenda for a New Model Party, which proposes the wholesale devolution of power and the direct election of decision-makers. These ideas were developed further in a series of six pamphlets, The Localist Papers, serialised in The Daily Telegraph in 2007. In 2008, he published the book The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain together with Douglas Carswell.

References

Template:Reflist-2

Wikiquote has quotations related to Daniel Hannan.

Template:South East England MEPs

  1. ^ a b "Daniel Hannan". European Parliament. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  2. ^ http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Dan-Hannan/8442497905
  3. ^ http://www.ashfordconservatives.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=30
  4. ^ Partypolitical.com
  5. ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20090312+ITEM-008+DOC+XML+V0//EN
  6. ^ Hannan, Daniel (26 February 2007). "He went unsung to his grave". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-05-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Hannan, Daniel (17 January 2008). "EU treaty censored by Euro-federalists". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ European Parliament debates, 30 January 2008: Daniel Hannan
  9. ^ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/daniel_hannan/blog/2008/01/25/despotism_in_the_european_parliament
  10. ^ "Debates - [[31 January]] [[2008]]". European Parliament. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXflgt7ZmOU
  13. ^ a b DanHannanMEP (2009-03-24). "Daniel Hannan MEP: The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  14. ^ "Daniel Hannan MEP: Watch the tirade against Gordon Brown that's become a huge hit on YouTube". Daily Mail. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  15. ^ The Recall of Parliament: Smith savages 'devalued government': Labour MPs roar approval for new leader - Prime Minister defends Lamont - Benn to launch referendum petition, Nicholas Timmins, The Independent, September 25, 1992
  16. ^ Martin, Iian (2009-03-25). "Hurrah for Hannan: Brown hasn't been spoken to like that for decades". Daily Telegraph.
  17. ^ Bingham, John (2009-03-25). "MEP Dan Hannan's 'Brezhnev apparatchik' attack on Gordon Brown is a YouTube hit". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  18. ^ a b "An internet sensation, the Tory who told Brown to his face that he's a disaster". Daily Mail. 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  19. ^ "Outcry Against U.S. Budget Heard Around Globe". Fox News. 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  20. ^ "Daniel Hannan". Gather. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  21. ^ DanHannanMEP (2009-03-25). "Daniel Hannan MEP appears on Glenn Beck". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  22. ^ DanHannanMEP (2009-03-27). "Daniel Hannan MEP appears on Your World with Neil Cavuto: Part 1/2". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  23. ^ John, Bingham (27 March 2009). "Questions for BBC and ITV over Daniel Hannan speech coverage". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/cartoons/12658/blueeyed-sheikhs.thtml
  25. ^ http://www.nextleft.org/2008/10/dan-hannans-icelandic-utopia.html
  26. ^ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/daniel_hannan/blog/2008/10/08/iceland_would_be_mad_to_join_the_eu
  27. ^ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/Daniel_Hannan/blog/2009/04/06/americans_dont_copy_the_british_healthcare_system
  28. ^ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23672905-details/%27Nasty+Tories%27+beat+retreat+on+hunting+and+spending+cuts/article.do
  29. ^ Who's Who. London: A & C Black. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7136-7527-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  30. ^ Treason at Maastricht: Destruction of the Nation State. Compuprint Publishing. 1994. ISBN 0 9509353 9 5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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