I was asked today to do an Online Question and answer session for The Sunday Times. From 1015 to 1130, readers were invited to pose any question of their choosing, which I then had to respond to via a live internet chat. I had no knowledge of the questions in advance, so it was pretty spontaneous. The questions are below, or you can view them behind The Sunday Times Paywall HERE:
ST Newsroom
Coming on at 10.15 we have Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow, taking your questions on anything politics related.
Robert has been the MP for Harlow since 2010. He is known for his support for Israel, and is also an advocate of an internet bill of rights.
10:17
Rian
Hi Robert, another coalition pr gaffe this week with Nick Clegg forgetting he was in charge. This after the controversy the week before over the selling of internships. Is it harder to manage PR for a coalition government? Or are they just not very good at it?
Robert Halfon
Well, we can focus on flippery like 'PR' issues, or focus on what is really happening in the Middle East. What is happening is both profound and unpredictable. In terms of managing PR, we have moved away from spin of Blair years, so it's inevitable that Government has a rocky road.
10:20
Mark
Hi Robert, seems like Britain and the world is finally starting to react to the situation in Libya. Why did we appease a dictator there for so long? We have become cowards in the West since Iraq
Robert Halfon
I agree with your sentiments. We appeased Gaddaffi for far too long. My Grandfather was one of the Jews in Libya who was forced to flee because Gadaffi took all the Jews' homes and businesses. He came to England eventually, after a short spell in Italy. Some of our Universities, like the LSE,have been prostituting themselves to Middle eastern despots for blood money.
Anthony Giddens praise for Gadaffi was a disgrace. Similarly, for far too long, our Foreign office and businesses like BP, have been appeasing Gadaffi in the name of realpolitik. We need a radical reappraisal of our foreign policy
10:23
Richard
Hi Robert - I've noted that you've mentioned extremism on campus a few times. Is this REALLY an issue or is it just scaremongering?
Robert Halfon
It is a huge issue. Go on to google and look at the organisation Student Rights, and you will see what has been going on. Islamist extremists are monopolising some of our Universities and University authorities have been too weak to get a grip with it. I suspect in some cases like the LSE, they have also been keen to appease Middle East Dictators, so as to receive funds.
10:25
Jim Telfer
Hello there. As a supporter of Israel, has the situation in the Middle East made you nervous or does it make you hopeful for a better future?
Robert Halfon
It has made me incredibly anxious. I welcome the fact that despots are falling across the Middle East. But what will be in their place? Democracy is not just about the mechanics of elections - important though that is. It is about religious tolerance, equality towards women, property rights, rejection of terrorism and rule of law. Will the new regimes that emerge have these qualifications? If so, then there is chance for peace in the Middle East. If not, then Israel's situation will be very precarious indeed.
10:28
Anne
Hi Robert, where do you stand on the AV debate? I think the whole thing is a big waste of the public's time and money. I think we should just get on with governing the country, not appeasing pie in the sky Lib Dems
Robert Halfon
I actually support electoral reform but not AV. I support the Second Ballot system as operates in France, Austria and some Eastern European countries. This retains FPTP but in constituencies where you don't get over 50% of the vote, there is a second ballot a week later for the top two parties. It is only 50p per head more expensive than the current system. Unlike AV, it doesn’t require you to make second and third choices before you know the result. I have written about this on the Conservative Home website.
Robert Halfon
So for the time being I will vote to keep FPTP as it is the best on offer.
10:31
Alan Hawkes
Hi Robert, Do you feel that we should be willing to offer financial support to countries in the Middle East that have overthrown dictators to try and boost the chances that life will become better for their population and reduce the chance of extremists taking over?
Robert Halfon
Absolutely. But not just financial. Our Foreign Policy should be geared towards supporting reform movements. Our aid policy should be focused on know how and expertise: training reform minded political parties, advice on stopping corruption, direct aid to local communities, rather than via the EU/UN etc through to Governments.
10:33
Idro
What's the best case scenario in the Middle East? A whole bunch of new Turkeys?
Robert Halfon
Well the best case scenario is for the Middle East to become genuinely democratic: with property rights, a rule of law, religious tolerance, equality towards women and free and fair elections
10:38
Milly P
So do you think that it is accurate when people suggest that Arab society isn't necessarily 'suited' to democracy?
Robert Halfon
RealPolitik.
10:41
ST Newsroom
We have one more question on the Middle East, and then we are going to look closer to home for a bit
TandemStar
Libya looks like it en route to civil war....should the West intervene militarily if that becomes the case?
Robert Halfon
Yes, if it is to stop mass murder and more bloodshed. Nato should be on standby.
10:42
Ted, Manchester
Hello Robert, so what is an internet bill of rights when it is at home? Surely the one thing we really know about the web is just how difficult it is to manage
Robert Halfon
That is exactly why we need an Internet Bill of Rights. I have argued that we are living in a kind of advanced privatised surveillance society, in that companies like Google et al are accessing our personal information like emails and wi-fi codes, and we have no way of stopping them. A Bill of Rights for the Internet would provide protection for the individual and stop advanced internet companies scraping our private details - without our permission - and using that data for commercial purposes.
10:45
Sarah
Did you see this story about 48% of people saying they would support a new party tougher on immigration. What are your thoughts on this. Should we be taking a tougher line on immigration? Last year was a record year I believe
Robert Halfon
It is a very interesting poll. My big worry is not when bad people are racist, because there will always be bad people -but when good people- well intentioned - express such views as stated in the poll. The reason for this is that for the past 15 years or so, people have thought immigration policy was too one sided in favour of immigrants.
The Government is getting to grips on this by limiting immigration to the tens of thousands, restricting those who can come here and tightening up abuse such as student visas etc. But we also need to get a grip on extremist Islamists in the UK. When people see these extremists - and see what some get up to - it greatly damages community cohesion.
10:49
jay
Do you think prisoners should have the right to vote? Also, although we might all vote against it, as far as I can tell we are signed up to the ECHR and will have to go along with it either way
Robert Halfon
Absolutely not. I voted against prisoners having the vote. I said during the debate in the Commons the following: Those who founded the ECHR- did so from the noblest of intentions- to stop Nazi Germany from ever happening again. It was never their intention to give Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer the vote. I think we should withdraw from the ECHR and renegotiate to go back in on different terms. Sweden did this in 2002 successfully.
10:52
Jonnpo86
How are the Tories coping without Andy Coulson? Seems like Steve Hilton is running everything from Downing Street nowadays
Robert Halfon
Well, I liked Andy Coulson. As an Essex MP, I appreciated his understanding of what the man or woman in the street thought. Steve Hilton is very talented and has a different role as a strategic adviser. I think the recent reorganisation of Downing Street - on balance - has been a good thing.
10:54
ST Newsroom
We have a response from Sarah to Robert's answer about the immigration poll...
Sarah
But the views in the poll - that we need to do more on immigration - seem to be something you agree with. You say yourself that the new government will do more to prevent Islamic extremism and limit immigration.
ST Newsroom
You can see the article on immigration here http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Society/article565461.ece.
Robert Halfon
Yes absolutely. But I think that the Government is at last getting to grips with the immigration problem. In his speech in Munich, the PM set out clearly how the Government would deal with Islamist extremism. I believe it to be one of his most important speeches.
10:57
ST Newsroom
And from Ricardo on the ECHR and prisoner voting...
Ricardo
But Albert Speer and Rudolf Hess were part of a murderous regime. What about someone who has committed a non-violent crime, and is on the road to rehabilitation?
Robert Halfon
Yes, that is true, but the ECHR is saying that we should give all prisoners the right to vote including murderers. I believe in rehabilitation, but I also believe that in prison you should lose the right to vote - as part of the punishment for your crimes.
11:00
David M
Robert. There was a recent Sunday Times article about rising anti-Semitism in the UK. One hears this quite a lot, do you believe it is true? And what do you think is the cause of it?
ST Newsroom
Here is the link to that News Review piece by Amy Turner http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/newsreview/features/article534879.ece.
Robert Halfon
Yes, I made a speech on this in the Commons. It is very bad. the most pernicious is extreme Islamist anti-Semitism. In extremist Mosques, on some of our campuses and from extremist organisations. The stats are there for all to see. I went to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq recently as part of a Parliamentary delegation.
The Kurdish Prime Minister - who is a Muslim - said he had visited a Mosque in the North of England - that was so extreme, that if it had existed in Kurdistan, he would have had it closed down the very next day.
11:03
Leah
The Munich speech was spot on. It is so refreshing to have a prime minister with the cojones to actually get up and say that, despite the fact the some in the left-wing press will attack him for it
Robert Halfon
Yes, exactly. I genuinely believe this speech to be one of the most important that David Cameron has ever made. it took on the left consensus of the past twenty years, of appeasing extremism and said enough is enough. No longer. It identified that in Britain we face a serious problem with extremists and that we have to confront it - rather than sweep it under the carpet.
11:05
Martina
Isn't a lot of that Islamist anti-Semitism based on hatred of Israel? And dare I say it a response to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Muslims haven't historically been that anti-Semitic
Robert Halfon
Well, I think a lot anti-Semitism hides itself under the veil of criticism of Israel. Israel is not a perfect society, but a genuinely democratic one- with the rule of law. Attacks on Israel's wrong-doings, are out of all proportion to criticism of other countries. It is funny how there have been no demonstrations in Hyde Park, or celebrities on TV condemning Libya or Tunisia etc. Yet they are quick to jump on the anti-Israel bandwagon at the first opportunity.
11:09
Alice
What do you think about introducing quotas in the boardroom? I hate quotas of any type, but it does seem things are improving very slowly with regards to equality
Robert Halfon
Absolutely not. I don't like positive discrimination of any type. Would someone who got into the boardroom because of a quota, really be happy? He or she would know they were only there because of a quota. I believe in meritocracy.
11:10
Simon
Surely in the globalised world we live in, immigration is here to stay and we had better just get used to it. Is national identity even that important? Has been the source of a lot of wars, more so than religion in the modern era
Robert Halfon
Good question. Of course some immigration is welcome. But we are a small crowded Island with 65 million people. We don't have the room. It is a simple as that. Also, national identity is a good thing. Look at the USA. A country with millions of immigrants, yet with one identity. I wish we displayed our flag in the way the Americans display theirs in their homes and schools etc. Our problem has been that we have accepted immigrants without encouraging a sense of national identity at the same time.
11:13
Chris Linthwaite
Should the United Kingdom withdraw support to Israel if it opens up markets in the Middle east for trade?
Robert Halfon
I think that is a strange question. If Israel opened up markets to trade with other Middle Eastern countries, it would be a good thing. Free markets always help democratic development. The problem is the other way round. Middle eastern dictators won't open their markets to Israel.
11:16
ST Newsroom
Ok. we have time for one final question, about the coalition and the future...
Eddy
Will the coalition last until the next election? And are the Lib Dems at risk of being obliterated as a party? I think the likes of Clegg and Laws could easily become Tories in 5 years time
Robert Halfon
I think on balance the coalition is a good thing. It is a reflection of what the country wants - and voted for at the last election. I think it will last because the country faces an economic crisis, because of the actions of the last Labour Government, in nearly bankrupting the economy.
We are paying £120 million a day in debt interest alone - money which could otherwise be spent on public services or cutting taxes or both. The Coalition will last because of all the political capital invested in reforming the economy, and the tough decisions that have to be taken.
I don't know what will happen to the Liberal Party or some of its members. But, I would be delighted if there was a centre -right realignment in politics, with a coalition of the willing: those who support free markets, lower taxes, the big society, devolved public services, genuine people power and are sceptical of Big Government, whether it is in Whitehall or Brussels.
11:23
Robert Halfon
I think that is my last question. But thank you for all those who have asked me questions. I enjoyed answering them. Enjoy your Sunday.
ST Newsroom
Right, that's all we have time for today. Many thanks to Robert for coming on today, his answers were both extensive and eloquent. And thanks to all of you who came in to read and ask questions
Next week's Sunday politics debate will be (subject to any schedule shifts) a double-header with Tory backbench MP Richard Ottaway and Lib Dem veteran Norman Baker. Sure to be a lively affair
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
