Denis MacShane
Encyclopedia
Denis MacShane is a British
politician, who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Rotherham
since the 1994 by-election
and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005
, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel
.
On 14 October 2010, it was announced that the Parliamentary Labour Party
had suspended the whip from MacShane while he is under criminal investigation in respect of his expenses claims.
as Denis Matyjaszek, to an Irish mother, Isobel MacShane, and her Polish husband, Jan Matyjaszek, who had fought in the Second World War and remained in exile
after it, taking British nationality in 1950. MacShane was educated at the independent St Benedict's School
in Ealing
and read history at Merton College, Oxford
where he wrote for the Cherwell
student newspaper. However, in retaliation for an article attacking the rival publication Isis
, MacShane was stripped naked, covered with pink paint and left in a remote location.
. Their daughter Clare Barnes died in March 2004 after her parachute failed to open on her 200th skydiving jump in Australia. MacShane married Polish
-born Liliana Kłaptoć in 1983, with the relationship lasting only a few years. In 1987, he then married Nathalie Pham, an interpreter of French
-Vietnamese
origin; they have a son and three daughters. They divorced in 2003. His relationship with writer Joan Smith ended in 2010 after seven years.
In his spare time, MacShane enjoys skiing
and running
.
from 1969 to 1977, including as a newsreader and reporter on Wolverhampton Wanderers for BBC Radio Birmingham. He changed his surname to his mother's maiden name at the request of his employers. He was fired by the BBC after using a fake name to call the radio phone-in programme he worked on at the time. During the call, MacShane accused leading Conservative
politician Reginald Maudling
of being a crook, with the MP threatening to sue as a result.
MacShane supported the Solidarity trade union in Poland, where he was arrested in 1982 for attending a demonstration and deported. He became an activist for the National Union of Journalists
and later its president. He was policy director of the International Metal Workers' Federation from 1980 to 1992, and he completed a PhD
in international economics
at the University of London
in 1990. MacShane founded the European Policy Institute of which he was the director from 1992 to 1994.
, where he failed to win Solihull
. In 1984, he was on the shortlist for Labour Party Communications Director, though he failed to get the job. For the 1992 general election
, he attempted to secure a nomination for the Coventry South East
constituency, then Neath
, and finally Rotherham
, though all the attempts were unsuccessful. He was elected to the House of Commons
in the 1994 Rotherham by-election
, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
to a succession of ministers in the 1997-2001 Parliament.
After the 2001 general election
, he was made a junior minister at the Foreign Office
with responsibility for the Balkans
and Latin America
. He caused some embarrassment to the government in 2002 by describing President Hugo Chávez
of Venezuela
as a 'ranting, populist demagogue' and compared him to Benito Mussolini
during a failed military coup attempt
to depose the democratically elected president. Afterwards, he had to make clear that, as minister with responsibility for Latin America, the government deplored the coup attempt.
.
After the 2005 general election
, he was dropped from the government. MacShane's failure to remain in government is believed by some to have been because he was neither overtly a Blairite
nor a Brownite, and thus, in his own words, having "no hand to push [him] up the greasy pole". However, his position was considered to be untenable after comments he made to a meeting of Durham
Labour Students in which he described Gordon Brown
's five economic tests as, "a bit of a giant red herring
." When contacted by The Scotsman
newspaper about whether or not he made the comments he responded: "Jesus Christ, no. I mean, ‘red herring’ is not one of my favourite metaphors. If you think any Labour MP saying the Prime Minister’s most important policy is a red herring, then they would not survive long in the job." However, he had been recorded on a dictaphone, and the tape was played on both the Today Programme and BBC News 24
. MacShane himself wrote in Tribune
, "I have no idea why I was removed as a minister, and it does not worry me in the slightest."
in 2005. He has continued to write columns for The Guardian
since leaving government, as well as appearing on television programmes relating to European affairs both in Britain and in other European countries.
In 2005, he signed on to the Henry Jackson Society
principles, advocating a proactive approach to the spread of liberal democracy
across the world, including by military intervention. The society also supports "European military modernisation and integration under British leadership". In 2003, he criticised the Muslim community, saying they did not do enough to condemn acts of Islamic terrorism. He was a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
and strongly supported Tony Blair
's foreign policy in relation to the Middle East and elsewhere.
He was chair of the inquiry panel of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism
, which reported in September 2006. Other members included Iain Duncan-Smith and Chris Huhne
. In March 2009, he became chairman of a think-tank on anti-Semitism, the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism
. He is an advisory board member of Just Journalism
, an independent organisation that aims to promote accurate and responsible reporting about Israel
in the UK media.
MacShane was employed as an advisor by United Utilities
during 2006 and 2007.
MacShane has been called "one of the few British politicians with a deep knowledge of France."
On 17 December 2008, he initiated a debate about Britain's libel laws in Parliament. Specifically, he described how the United Kingdom has become a destination for libel tourists as well as how various jurisdictions in the United States (including the U.S. states of New York
and Illinois
and the federal government
) were ready to pass measures designed to halt, at the minimum, reciprocal enforcement of civil
judgments related to libel with the United Kingdom, and quite possibly, to allow countersuit, and the award of treble damages in the United States against any person bringing a libel action in a non-US court against US publications or websites.
's name supportive of the war in Afghanistan
headlined "The Five Myths Muslims Must Deny". A few days later however, it was revealed that The Observer article had not in fact been written by Mahmood, but by MacShane; Mahmood agreed to put his name to the article after Lord Ahmed of Rotherham refused. Mahmood's actions were condemned by Inayat Bunglawala
from the Muslim Council of Britain
, who said, "MacShane then found Mahmood–universally regarded as being not exactly the brightest spark in parliament–to be a more willing instrument for his scheme."
estimates, 25,000 sex slaves currently work in the massage parlours and brothels of Britain." He repeated the figure in a 2008 debate, attributing it to the Daily Mirror newspaper. It was later claimed that no such figure exists as an estimate, but MacShane's speeches made the figure be used regularly in media coverage of the issue.
's Asperger's Syndrome
was somehow a sham and for likening his case to that of Ernest Saunders
's apparent Alzheimer's disease
, even though one of the most notable characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome is that it is very often not diagnosed until late into adulthood, as in Mr McKinnon's case. According to the Daily Mail, "Mr McKinnon's mother accused MacShane of 'gutter' tactics. Janis Sharp said: 'It was an absolutely awful, cheap shot. It is a horrendous suggestion. It also shows his ignorance.'"
, was accused in The Daily Mail
of having been less than honest with his expense claims. It featured a story stating that MacShane had claimed £125,000 over a period of 7 years for his garage, which he used as a constituency office. One fellow Labour MP privately told the journalist that he was ‘very surprised’ at the scale of Mr MacShane’s claims given that he does not have to pay to rent an office.
In total, MacShane was ordered to repay £1,507.73 in wrongfully claimed expenses, with his appeals against the ruling being rejected. In addition, MacShane is alleged to have passed twelve invoices from the "European Policy Institute" for "research and translation" expenses to the parliamentary authorities, and claimed for eight laptop computers in three years. A number of newspapers stated that the EPI was "controlled" by MacShane's brother, Edmund Matyjaszek, a claim which MacShane denied: "The EPI was set up 20 years ago by a network of people on the Left working in Europe and the US...Ed is my Brother, but simply administrates it."
It was reported on 14 October 2010 that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
(on instruction from the Standards and Privileges Committee) had referred an expenses-related complaint about MacShane from the British National Party
to the Metropolitan Police. The matter referred was his claiming of expenses totalling £125,000 for his constituency office, the office being his garage. The Labour Party suspended MacShane from the parliamentary party
pending the outcome. On 9 December 2010, it was reported that the file had been passed from the Metropolitan Police to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of further action. In June 2011 The Daily Telegraph
highlighted further discrepancies in MacShane's expenses which had been uncovered by former independent candidate Peter Thirlwall. As a result he held an emergency meeting with House of Commons officials and agreed to repay a further £3,051.38.
MacShane had previously written an article for The Guardian
in which he played down the expenses scandal, writing, "There will come a moment when moats and manure, bath plugs and tampons will be seen as a wonderful moment of British fiddling, but more on a Dad's Army scale than the real corruption of politics." In 2008, MacShane supported Michael Martin as Speaker
, calling for Conservative Douglas Carswell
to be disciplined for calling for Martin to resign for failing to reform expenses.
: "On 11 May a volunteer had an encounter with an MP who was described as 'very difficult ... disruptive [and] angry' during an induction session. The official report said: 'At the 10 minute mark the volunteer burst into tears and a staff member [from Ipsa] attempted to intervene. When the staff member offered to help, the MP dismissed him as 'condescending', at which point another staff member pulled the volunteer (still in tears) out of the session.' The Daily Mail reported MacShane as saying, "A nice young intern was trying to explain it, but I could have learned Chinese
quicker". MacShane apologised for his conduct.
professor of political and gender theory Anne Phillips
of supporting prostitution and filling the minds of her students with "poisonous drivel". He cited a question from an LSE reading list about the ethical differences between legal waged labour and prostitution as evidence for her supposed support for the latter. MacShane later admitted that he taken the question 'out of context'. Labour MP Fiona Mactaggart
subsequently called Professor Phillips' views "frankly nauseating" on the basis of the same evidence.
|-
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
politician, who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Rotherham
Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency)
Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
since the 1994 by-election
Rotherham by-election, 1994
The Rotherham by-election was held on 5 May 1994, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Rotherham Jimmy Boyce.Boyce had won the seat only at the 1992 general election, but it had been continuously held by Labour since 1933, usually with a large majority...
and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel is a lobby group promoting support within the British Labour Party for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel. It also seeks to strengthen ties between the British and the Israeli Labour party...
.
On 14 October 2010, it was announced that the Parliamentary Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
had suspended the whip from MacShane while he is under criminal investigation in respect of his expenses claims.
Background
MacShane was born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
as Denis Matyjaszek, to an Irish mother, Isobel MacShane, and her Polish husband, Jan Matyjaszek, who had fought in the Second World War and remained in exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
after it, taking British nationality in 1950. MacShane was educated at the independent St Benedict's School
St Benedict's School
St Benedict's School is a co-educational independent Roman Catholic school situated in Ealing, West London. The school is part of Ealing Abbey and is governed by the Abbot and monks of Ealing. As the only day school of the English Houses of the English Benedictine Congregation, the school does not...
in Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
and read history at Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
where he wrote for the Cherwell
Cherwell (newspaper)
Cherwell is an independent newspaper, largely published for students of Oxford University. First published in 1920, it has had an online edition since 1996. Named after the local river, Cherwell is published by OSPL , who also publish the sister publication ISIS along with the Etcetera Supplement...
student newspaper. However, in retaliation for an article attacking the rival publication Isis
Isis magazine
The Isis Magazine was established at Oxford University in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell, it was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, OSPL, in the late 1990s...
, MacShane was stripped naked, covered with pink paint and left in a remote location.
Personal life
From 1975 to 1981 MacShane had a relationship with broadcaster Carol BarnesCarol Barnes
Carol Lesley Barnes was a British television newsreader and broadcaster. She worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004.-Early life:...
. Their daughter Clare Barnes died in March 2004 after her parachute failed to open on her 200th skydiving jump in Australia. MacShane married Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-born Liliana Kłaptoć in 1983, with the relationship lasting only a few years. In 1987, he then married Nathalie Pham, an interpreter of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
origin; they have a son and three daughters. They divorced in 2003. His relationship with writer Joan Smith ended in 2010 after seven years.
In his spare time, MacShane enjoys skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and running
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
.
Early career
After graduating from Oxford with a 3rd class degree, he worked for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
from 1969 to 1977, including as a newsreader and reporter on Wolverhampton Wanderers for BBC Radio Birmingham. He changed his surname to his mother's maiden name at the request of his employers. He was fired by the BBC after using a fake name to call the radio phone-in programme he worked on at the time. During the call, MacShane accused leading Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician Reginald Maudling
Reginald Maudling
Reginald Maudling was a British politician who held several Cabinet posts, including Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had been spoken of as a prospective Conservative leader since 1955, and was twice seriously considered for the post; he was Edward Heath's chief rival in 1965...
of being a crook, with the MP threatening to sue as a result.
MacShane supported the Solidarity trade union in Poland, where he was arrested in 1982 for attending a demonstration and deported. He became an activist for the National Union of Journalists
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...
and later its president. He was policy director of the International Metal Workers' Federation from 1980 to 1992, and he completed a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in international economics
International economics
International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity of international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the institutions that affect them...
at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in 1990. MacShane founded the European Policy Institute of which he was the director from 1992 to 1994.
Political career
MacShane first contested a parliamentary seat at the October 1974 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, where he failed to win Solihull
Solihull (UK Parliament constituency)
Solihull is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
. In 1984, he was on the shortlist for Labour Party Communications Director, though he failed to get the job. For the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, he attempted to secure a nomination for the Coventry South East
Coventry South East (UK Parliament constituency)
Coventry South East was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Coventry. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
constituency, then Neath
Neath (UK Parliament constituency)
Neath is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election and one Assembly Member by the first past the post system of election.- The Constituency of Neath :The constituency...
, and finally Rotherham
Rotherham (UK Parliament constituency)
Rotherham is a borough constituency covering the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
, though all the attempts were unsuccessful. He was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in the 1994 Rotherham by-election
Rotherham by-election, 1994
The Rotherham by-election was held on 5 May 1994, following the death of Labour Party Member of Parliament for Rotherham Jimmy Boyce.Boyce had won the seat only at the 1992 general election, but it had been continuously held by Labour since 1933, usually with a large majority...
, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to a succession of ministers in the 1997-2001 Parliament.
After the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
, he was made a junior minister at the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
with responsibility for the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. He caused some embarrassment to the government in 2002 by describing President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
as a 'ranting, populist demagogue' and compared him to Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
during a failed military coup attempt
Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002
The Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 was a failed coup d'état on 11 April 2002 that saw President Hugo Chávez ousted from office for 47 hours, being restored by a combination of military force and mass demonstration of popular support...
to depose the democratically elected president. Afterwards, he had to make clear that, as minister with responsibility for Latin America, the government deplored the coup attempt.
Minister for Europe
In 2002, he became Minister for Europe in the reshuffle caused by the resignation of Estelle MorrisEstelle Morris
Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, PC was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley from 1992 to 2005, and served briefly in the Cabinet as Education Secretary.-Early life:...
.
After the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, he was dropped from the government. MacShane's failure to remain in government is believed by some to have been because he was neither overtly a Blairite
Blairite
In British politics, the term Blairism refers to the political ideology of former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left both positions in 2007 to become Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East...
nor a Brownite, and thus, in his own words, having "no hand to push [him] up the greasy pole". However, his position was considered to be untenable after comments he made to a meeting of Durham
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
Labour Students in which he described Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's five economic tests as, "a bit of a giant red herring
Red herring
A red herring is a deliberate attempt to divert attention.Red herring may refer to:* Red herring , the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question....
." When contacted by The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper about whether or not he made the comments he responded: "Jesus Christ, no. I mean, ‘red herring’ is not one of my favourite metaphors. If you think any Labour MP saying the Prime Minister’s most important policy is a red herring, then they would not survive long in the job." However, he had been recorded on a dictaphone, and the tape was played on both the Today Programme and BBC News 24
BBC News 24
BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...
. MacShane himself wrote in Tribune
Tribune (magazine)
Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, founded in 1937 published in London. It is independent but supports the Labour Party from the left...
, "I have no idea why I was removed as a minister, and it does not worry me in the slightest."
Later career
MacShane was appointed a member of the Privy CouncilPrivy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 2005. He has continued to write columns for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
since leaving government, as well as appearing on television programmes relating to European affairs both in Britain and in other European countries.
In 2005, he signed on to the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
principles, advocating a proactive approach to the spread of liberal democracy
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
across the world, including by military intervention. The society also supports "European military modernisation and integration under British leadership". In 2003, he criticised the Muslim community, saying they did not do enough to condemn acts of Islamic terrorism. He was a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and strongly supported Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's foreign policy in relation to the Middle East and elsewhere.
He was chair of the inquiry panel of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism
All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism
The All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom chaired by John Mann MP.The Group commissioned the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism in 2005...
, which reported in September 2006. Other members included Iain Duncan-Smith and Chris Huhne
Chris Huhne
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire...
. In March 2009, he became chairman of a think-tank on anti-Semitism, the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism
European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism
The European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism was established in 2007 as a think-tank to examine the growth and development of antisemitism in the world today and to explore new strategies for countering this age-old hatred in all its forms.-2009 Report on Anti-Semitism:The...
. He is an advisory board member of Just Journalism
Just Journalism
Just Journalism is a UK-based research organisation and pressure group whose stated goals are to focus "on how Israel and Middle East issues are reported in the UK media." The organisation publishes online analyses in response to news stories, reports on "long-term trends", and opinion pieces for...
, an independent organisation that aims to promote accurate and responsible reporting about Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the UK media.
MacShane was employed as an advisor by United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
during 2006 and 2007.
MacShane has been called "one of the few British politicians with a deep knowledge of France."
On 17 December 2008, he initiated a debate about Britain's libel laws in Parliament. Specifically, he described how the United Kingdom has become a destination for libel tourists as well as how various jurisdictions in the United States (including the U.S. states of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and the federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
) were ready to pass measures designed to halt, at the minimum, reciprocal enforcement of civil
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
judgments related to libel with the United Kingdom, and quite possibly, to allow countersuit, and the award of treble damages in the United States against any person bringing a libel action in a non-US court against US publications or websites.
The Five Myths Muslims Must Deny
In November 2001, an article was published under Khalid MahmoodKhalid Mahmood
Khalid Mahmood is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr since 2001.-Political career:...
's name supportive of the war in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
headlined "The Five Myths Muslims Must Deny". A few days later however, it was revealed that The Observer article had not in fact been written by Mahmood, but by MacShane; Mahmood agreed to put his name to the article after Lord Ahmed of Rotherham refused. Mahmood's actions were condemned by Inayat Bunglawala
Inayat Bunglawala
Inayat Bunglawala is media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.He has written articles for The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Express, The Observer and The Sun focusing on Islam and current affairs. He is an activist for Islamist concerns and joined The Young Muslims UK in 1987...
from the Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...
, who said, "MacShane then found Mahmood–universally regarded as being not exactly the brightest spark in parliament–to be a more willing instrument for his scheme."
False trafficking statistics
MacShane has been accused of repeatedly using false statistics in order to inflate the number of female victims of sex trafficking. In January 2007, he stated, "According to Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
estimates, 25,000 sex slaves currently work in the massage parlours and brothels of Britain." He repeated the figure in a 2008 debate, attributing it to the Daily Mirror newspaper. It was later claimed that no such figure exists as an estimate, but MacShane's speeches made the figure be used regularly in media coverage of the issue.
McKinnon case
He was criticised in The Guardian for implying that the late diagnosis of Gary McKinnonGary McKinnon
Gary McKinnon is a Scottish systems administrator and hacker who has been accused of what one U.S. prosecutor claims is the "biggest military computer hack of all time," although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a cover-up of UFO...
's Asperger's Syndrome
Syndrome
In medicine and psychology, a syndrome is the association of several clinically recognizable features, signs , symptoms , phenomena or characteristics that often occur together, so that the presence of one or more features alerts the physician to the possible presence of the others...
was somehow a sham and for likening his case to that of Ernest Saunders
Ernest Saunders
Ernest Walter Saunders is a former British business manager, best known as one of the "Guinness Four", a group of businessmen who attempted to fraudulently manipulate the share price of the Guinness company. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, but released after 10 months as he was...
's apparent Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, even though one of the most notable characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome is that it is very often not diagnosed until late into adulthood, as in Mr McKinnon's case. According to the Daily Mail, "Mr McKinnon's mother accused MacShane of 'gutter' tactics. Janis Sharp said: 'It was an absolutely awful, cheap shot. It is a horrendous suggestion. It also shows his ignorance.'"
Expenses
MacShane, during the expenses scandal of 2009United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, was accused in The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
of having been less than honest with his expense claims. It featured a story stating that MacShane had claimed £125,000 over a period of 7 years for his garage, which he used as a constituency office. One fellow Labour MP privately told the journalist that he was ‘very surprised’ at the scale of Mr MacShane’s claims given that he does not have to pay to rent an office.
In total, MacShane was ordered to repay £1,507.73 in wrongfully claimed expenses, with his appeals against the ruling being rejected. In addition, MacShane is alleged to have passed twelve invoices from the "European Policy Institute" for "research and translation" expenses to the parliamentary authorities, and claimed for eight laptop computers in three years. A number of newspapers stated that the EPI was "controlled" by MacShane's brother, Edmund Matyjaszek, a claim which MacShane denied: "The EPI was set up 20 years ago by a network of people on the Left working in Europe and the US...Ed is my Brother, but simply administrates it."
It was reported on 14 October 2010 that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons.He or she is appointed by a Resolution of the House of Commons and works a four-day week.- Tasks :...
(on instruction from the Standards and Privileges Committee) had referred an expenses-related complaint about MacShane from the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
to the Metropolitan Police. The matter referred was his claiming of expenses totalling £125,000 for his constituency office, the office being his garage. The Labour Party suspended MacShane from the parliamentary party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
pending the outcome. On 9 December 2010, it was reported that the file had been passed from the Metropolitan Police to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of further action. In June 2011 The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
highlighted further discrepancies in MacShane's expenses which had been uncovered by former independent candidate Peter Thirlwall. As a result he held an emergency meeting with House of Commons officials and agreed to repay a further £3,051.38.
MacShane had previously written an article for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in which he played down the expenses scandal, writing, "There will come a moment when moats and manure, bath plugs and tampons will be seen as a wonderful moment of British fiddling, but more on a Dad's Army scale than the real corruption of politics." In 2008, MacShane supported Michael Martin as Speaker
Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the House of Commons can refer to:*Speaker of the House of Commons *Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada*Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons...
, calling for Conservative Douglas Carswell
Douglas Carswell
John Douglas Wilson Carswell is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Clacton, having been first elected as MP for Harwich in 2005....
to be disciplined for calling for Martin to resign for failing to reform expenses.
Reports of bullying House of Commons staff
On 25 August 2010, The Guardian reported that MacShane admitted he was the MP involved in an incident with a volunteer with the new Independent Parliamentary Standards AuthorityIndependent Parliamentary Standards Authority
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is an independent body created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, largely as a response to the parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009. It establishes and monitors the expenses scheme for Members of the House of Commons, and is responsible for...
: "On 11 May a volunteer had an encounter with an MP who was described as 'very difficult ... disruptive [and] angry' during an induction session. The official report said: 'At the 10 minute mark the volunteer burst into tears and a staff member [from Ipsa] attempted to intervene. When the staff member offered to help, the MP dismissed him as 'condescending', at which point another staff member pulled the volunteer (still in tears) out of the session.' The Daily Mail reported MacShane as saying, "A nice young intern was trying to explain it, but I could have learned Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
quicker". MacShane apologised for his conduct.
Anne Phillips Smear
MacShane was publicly criticised by the Association of Political Thought for wrongly accusing London School of EconomicsLondon School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
professor of political and gender theory Anne Phillips
Anne Phillips
Anne Phillips is Professor of Political and Gender Theory at the London School of Economics , where she is based at the Gender Institute and Government Department.-Profile:...
of supporting prostitution and filling the minds of her students with "poisonous drivel". He cited a question from an LSE reading list about the ethical differences between legal waged labour and prostitution as evidence for her supposed support for the latter. MacShane later admitted that he taken the question 'out of context'. Labour MP Fiona Mactaggart
Fiona Mactaggart
Fiona Margaret Mactaggart is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Slough since 1997.-Early life:...
subsequently called Professor Phillips' views "frankly nauseating" on the basis of the same evidence.
Publications
- Black and Front: journalists and race reporting
- Solidarity: Poland's independent trade union
- François Mitterrand, a political odyssey
- International labour and the origins of the Cold War
- Global business: global rights
- Heath
- Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism
External links
- Denis MacShane MP official constituency website
- Denis MacShane's blog, archiving his articles
- Column archive at The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Candidate: Denis MacShane, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 2001 - "The New Anti-Semitism", article by Denis MacShane, Washington Post 2007
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