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1. Question Time

 The European Election  

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28/05/2009

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Today, 22:40 on BBC One

SYNOPSIS

Question Time is in London for a European Election special.

This week's panel David Dimbleby will be joined in London by Caroline Flint, Daniel Hannan, Jo Swinson, Caroline Lucas, Nigel Farage and Pierre-Yves Gerbeau. Join the debate

On the panel, the Europe Minister Caroline Flint; Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan; Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesman Jo Swinson; Green Party leader Caroline Lucas; UKIP Leader Nigel Farage; and the former chief executive of the Millennium Dome, PY Gerbeau.

David Dimbleby chairs.

This week's panel

Question Time, the BBC's premier political debate programme chaired by David Dimbleby, will be in London on Thursday 28 May for a special European elections edition. The panel will include Europe Minister Caroline Flint, Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Jo Swinson, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, and French businessman Pierre-Yves Gerbeau. CAROLINE FLINT MP Career: Caroline Flint is Minister for Europe at the Foreign Office and the MP for Don Valley. She has previously held the posts of housing minister and minister of state for employment and welfare reform. She was minister for public health from 2005 to 2007, and oversaw the introduction of the smoking ban in England and Wales. She joined the Labour Party at 17, and became an MP in 1997. In 1999 she became parliamentary private secretary to Peter Hain, before moving in 2002 to be parliamentary private secretary to Dr John Reid, in his capacity as leader of the House of Commons. Last week she defended embattled Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, after the prime minister said her behaviour was "completely unacceptable" when she failed to pay capital gains tax on the sale of a flat. Caroline Flint said: "Hazel hasn't done anything wrong but she has said herself that maybe she should have paid it and she put her hand up and paid it." Responding to rumours of an impending reshuffle, she went on: "I think [Hazel Blears] is doing a good job and she should continue to do that. She's one of the last people who would ever come into politics for financial benefit." Return to top DANIEL HANNAN MEP Career: Daniel Hannan is the Conservative Member of the European Parliament for South East England. He entered politics at university, becoming president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, and went on to work as a speechwriter for William Hague and Michael Howard, before joining the Daily Telegraph as a journalist. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999, the youngest British MEP at 37, and is an outspoken Eurosceptic and fierce critic of the Lisbon Treaty. He drew wider attention in March 2009 when a clip of one of his speeches became a hit on YouTube, attracting more than 630,000 views in 24 hours, and becoming the most viewed clip on the site two days running. Responding to a keynote speech by Gordon Brown to the European Parliament, he told the prime minister: "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." Return to top JO SWINSON MP Career: Jo Swinson is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for foreign affairs. She has been the MP for East Dunbartonshire since 2005 and, at 28, is the youngest MP in the House of Commons. After being active in the youth wing of the Liberal Democrats, her first foray into Westminster politics was at the 2001 election when she unsuccessfully stood against deputy Labour Party leader John Prescott in his Hull constituency. She went on to win the seat of East Dunbartonshire (where she grew up) four years later. She has held a number of front bench positions, including spokesperson for Scotland and spokesperson for women and equalities. Nick Clegg appointed her spokesperson for foreign affairs when he became the party leader in January 2008. In January, she tabled a Commons motion against the government's decision to exempt MPs' expenses from Freedom of Information requests, saying it would have a "detrimental impact on Parliament in the eyes of the public". She went on: "Ministers should not be cooking up plans to keep MPs' expenses hidden from public view. This move just gives the impression that MPs have something to hide." Return to top CAROLINE LUCAS MEP Career: Dr Caroline Lucas is the leader of the Green Party and has been a Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England region since 1999. She began her career in the anti-nuclear movement, and joined the Green Party in 1986, going on to win the party's second UK county council seat in Oxfordshire in 1993. Outside of Parliament, she holds a number of posts, including vice president of the RSPCA and Stop the War Coalition. She was named in the Top 10 of the New Statesman Magazine Person of the Year Award 2006, and was voted Politician of the Year in the Observer Ethical Awards 2007. Earlier this year, she was named as one of the Guardian's "Top 50 eco heroes". Earlier this month, she said the Green Party is "more than a pressure group. We do put pressure on the other parties, but one of the best ways to put pressure on them is to stand against them at the ballot box. So in a sense when you vote Green not only are you casting a positive vote for what you want, even when you don't get what you want you are still putting a serious pressure on the parties to move in a stronger green direction. It's a double dividend." Return to top NIGEL FARAGE MEP Career: Nigel Farage is the leader of the UK Independence Party. Having joined the Conservative Party as a schoolboy, he left in 1992 in protest over John Major's signing of the Maastricht Treaty and went on to found UKIP in 1993. In 1999, and again in 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament and currently leads UKIP's 10 MEPs, as well as being co-leader of the multi-national Eurosceptic group Independence and Democracy. He said of his party's chances at the upcoming European elections: "I think our potential in this election isn't just that we could beat the Liberal Democrats again. I think our potential in this particular election is that we could beat Gordon Brown's Labour Party. I am sure that the humiliation of being beaten into fourth place by UKIP would bring down the prime minister and, given that he turned his back on us, having made a solemn pledge to give us a referendum, that is something I personally would not lose any sleep over." Return to top PIERRE-YVES GERBEAU Career: Pierre-Yves Gerbeau is a French businessman who was the CEO of the Millennium Dome. He was a professional hockey player and played for the French national team, before an injury led him to take up a career in business. He was vice president of park operations at Disneyland Paris, and was widely credited with turning around the park's fortunes after a difficult start. In February 2000, he became chief executive of the New Millennium Experience Company, the operator of the Millennium Dome, which had been vilified in the press after major financial problems and poor attendance. He became a well-known business figure in the UK, famous for his enthusiasm and dedication, taking only three days holiday in nine months. Following the closure of the Millennium Exhibition at the end of 2000, he became chief executive of X-Leisure, the country's biggest leisure property company. He also lectures on the MBA programme of the London Business School.