Hugh Kerr

Hugh Kerr speaking at the 2013 SNP Conference

Hugh Kerr (born 9 July 1944 in Hurlford, East Ayrshire) is a Scottish politician and a former lecturer in social policy at the University of East London.

Hugh Kerr was elected a Labour Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in June 1994 to represent the euro-constituency of Essex West & Hertfordshire East until 1999. Kerr was in charge of cultural policy for the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999. He is now a freelance journalist writing on cultural and political affairs, and has been attending the Edinburgh Festival for 45 years.

In November 2011, Hugh Kerr joined the governing Scottish National Party claiming he wants to fight for an "independent Socialist Scotland" within Alex Salmond’s SNP.

Surprising win

At the 1994 European Parliamentary Election Hugh Kerr defeated the Conservative incumbent Patricia Rawlings, and was elected as the MEP for Essex West & Hertfordshire East (then comprising the Westminster constituencies of Brentwood and Ongar, Broxbourne, Epping Forest, Harlow, Hertford and Stortford, North East Hertfordshire and Stevenage). In his speech on election night in June 1994, Hugh Kerr chided the defeated Patricia Rawlings (now Baroness Rawlings of Burnham Westgate) for not attending any of the series of pre-election hustings throughout the euro-constituency where local issues had been debated by the other candidates in her absence. Kerr's Press Officer during his successful European Parliamentary Election campaign was former British diplomat Patrick Haseldine.

New Lockerbie evidence

Patrick Haseldine at No 10 in July 1994

Hugh Kerr's reply to Patrick Haseldine

On 5 December 1995, Patrick Haseldine faxed a letter headed "Lockerbie bombing: new evidence to confirm South Africa's involvement" to Hugh Kerr MEP:

Dear Hugh,

It was remiss of me not to have thanked you sooner for your letter of 31st July about my bid to get reinstated in the FCO.

You may be interested in seeing Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Hanley's "final" word on the matter which arrived under cover of Eric Pickles' letter of 19th October (two pages follow).

On Lockerbie, Mr Hanley suggested in his letter that the Crown Office in Edinburgh would evaluate any new evidence. Yesterday, I delivered a dossier of new evidence to Eric Pickles at the House of Commons with the request that he should transmit it without delay to the Crown Office. I then mailed a copy of the dossier to you.

When you have had an opportunity to read this new evidence, I hope you will consult your near neighbour in the European Parliament as to how best to carry the matter forward. As you know, Glenys Kinnock is Chair of One World Action which was set up in memory of Bernt Carlsson who, according to this new evidence, was the target of the Lockerbie bombing.

It would be a poignant reminder of Mr Carlsson's last official engagement (in addressing a Committee of the European Parliament on 20th December 1988) if MEPs were to take the lead in resolving the current impasse over the Lockerbie investigation and in finally bringing the murderers to justice.

Yours sincerely,

Patrick Haseldine

On 15 December 1995, Hugh Kerr replied as follows:

Dear Patrick

Thank you for your letter of 5th December and for the dossier about the Lockerbie bombing. It certainly makes interesting reading!

I have given a resumé of your finding's to Glenys Kinnock's office and asked her to contact you direct if she wishes to become involved. I have also spoken to John Corrie, the MEP in whose constituency Jim Swire lives. He has done a lot of research into the Lockerbie disaster and might also be interested in contacting you.

It will be interesting to see what the Crown Office makes of your evidence!

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Hugh Kerr MEP

In his letter dated 13 February 1996, J A Dunn, Senior Legal Assistant in the Crown Office, told Patrick Haseldine:

"Although everything you say has been considered in relation to the Lockerbie criminal investigation, I have to advise you the the four items which you have described as new pieces of evidence do not provide the evidential basis which would be required for bringing charges against anyone."

Old and New Labour

Hugh Kerr based his euro-constituency office - run by Mike Hobday - in the marginal constituency of Harlow providing support for the local Labour party and its nominee Bill Rammell. Kerr fell out with the New Labour government not long after the 1 May 1997 General Election - when Rammell was elected as Harlow's MP - accusing the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, of "stalinist tendencies" for planning to abolish all current euro-constituencies and for introducing a party list regional system for future European elections, and to stifle any criticism by Labour MEPs.

In a House of Commons debate on 27 November 1997, Hugh Kerr was quoted as saying that the gagging "shows that New Labour is increasingly authoritarian and centralised".

The dissident

Hugh Kerr was suspended by Labour's National Executive Committee and later expelled from the Labour Party along with fellow dissident Ken Coates MEP, with whom he then formed the Independent Labour Network. He left the Party of European Socialists and joined forces with The Green Group in the European Parliament, becoming the first Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) MEP. At the June 1999 European Parliament election, with voting on the basis of proportional representation throughout the United Kingdom, Kerr was at the top of the SSP's party list for Scotland's seven European seats but the party's share of the vote was too low to secure his re-election as an MEP.

Back to Scotland

After a period living in Australia, Hugh Kerr returned to Scotland and worked as press officer to Tommy Sheridan MSP. In the May 2003 Scottish Parliamentary Elections, Kerr stood as an SSP candidate for the East Lothian constituency but gained only 1,380 votes (4.42%).

Hugh Kerr was the SSP's #3 candidate at the June 2004 European Parliamentary Election, but it didn't do much better for the SSP than five years earlier. His share of the vote at the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in the 2005 General Election slumped to 1.9% (833 votes). Hugh Kerr resigned from the SSP in September 2006 to become the Press Officer of Solidarity, a new party led by Tommy Sheridan.

He was a defence witness in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan.

Scottish National Party

In November 2011, Hugh Kerr joined the Scottish National Party.

Mr Kerr, who was expelled from Labour in the late-1990s under Tony Blair’s leadership, said that he had opted to join the SNP because the nationalists had "moved to the left" and that he now wanted to work with other "socialists inside" Scotland’s governing party at Holyrood.

Tommy Sheridan’s former press officer also said he would be "delighted" to stand for the SNP as a Holyrood candidate or in the 2012 council’s elections, after contesting a South of Scotland seat in the Scottish Parliament on the Solidarity banner this May. Mr Kerr, who has already been out leafleting for the SNP and is now a member of the party’s Edinburgh Western branch, said that he "wouldn’t be surprised if other comrades" from Solidarity joined the nationalists.

He said: "There are socialists inside the SNP and I hope to contribute to that by doing my bit to create an independent Socialist Scotland."

Darwin to Melbourne

On 11 August 2013, Hugh Kerr announced on his Facebook page:

"I am riding a motorbike across Australia in September (1st to 21st) from Darwin to Melbourne: 6,400 km including some off road trail riding. I am in my old patch in Adelaide for a few days catching up with old friends and the election! Then up to Darwin and then I motorcycle from Darwin down to Melbourne with a group of Aussie bikers: 21 days 6,400 km! Then a couple of days in Melbourne and a week in Sydney.

"So I don't feel bad about missing a month of campaigning for 'Yes', I will accept sponsorship which will go to the 'Yes' campaign. Anything gratefully accepted: make your contributions directly to the 'Yes' campaign or send it to me and I will pass it on and match the funding!

"Thanks, Hugh (and I will of course be campaigning among the Scots diaspora in OZ!)"

Don't mention the referendum

On 13 August 2013, Hugh Kerr issued the following press release:

Extraordinary scenes happened at an Edinburgh Festival event last night in the Hub.

BBC Newsnight journalist Paul Mason was giving a talk on struggles around the world. In a contribution from the floor, journalist and former MEP Hugh Kerr mentioned that the Festival director Jonathan Mills had banned any mention of the referendum during next year's Festival, which of course would only be weeks away from the vote. Paul Mason replied agreeing that Scotland's decision would be very important to the future of the British State.

However minutes later a Festival official rushed onto the stage and insisted that the chairman Bill Heaney of the Musicians' Union read out a statement from Festival director Jonathan Mills. In it Mills insisted he was not banning the referendum but choosing to focus on the First World War and the Empire and the Commonwealth!

Hugh Kerr asked for the right to reply but this was refused by the chair!

Hugh Kerr said: "This is an extraordinary happening, clearly either Jonathan Mills was listening in his office nearby as the event was in the Hub, or a press officer alerted him to my contribution and he decided to issue what he thought was a rebuttal but actually confirmed what I had said. Interventions like this suggest that Mr Mills is afraid of real debate over the issue of the referendum which is no doubt why he has banned any shows dealing with it at the Festival. I note the National Theatre of Scotland is producing a major theatre show covering both sides of the referendum. This should be part of the official Festival next year. Visitors to Edinburgh will think it very odd that, weeks before the most important decision in Scotland for 300 years, the Festival is ignoring it. However I note again that Sir Jonathan is going to focus on the First World War and the Empire no doubt to remind us how 'British' we are. It is clear that Mr Mills has got his knighthood for his loyalty to the British state!

"This attitude by Mills does not surprise me as throughout his tenure he has shown little interest in Scottish affairs or Scottish culture, for example he refused to have any events around Robert Burns in the year of the Bicentenary. When I challenged him about this he claimed that the Festival was international. I reminded him then that part of the Festival Mission statement is 'to showcase Scottish culture to the world' - something Mills has singularly failed to do. However I am not leaving this matter here, I will be mounting a major campaign to make sure the Festival covers all sides of the referendum debate next year and will be asking the Edinburgh Trades Council and Edinburgh City Council members on the Festival board to raise this issue at board meetings. I will also be launching a campaign in the press and social media on the theme of 'Make the Edinburgh Festival part of Scotland'! Of course the Festival should be international but its mission statement is also to represent Scottish culture to the world. Next year Scotland will be taking its biggest decision for 300 years: it would be a travesty if this was not reflected in the Festival. Art is political and Sir Jonathan's decision to ignore the referendum and focus on the First World war is a political decision! Scotland expects the most important arts festival in the world held in Scotland to reflect what is going on in Scotland!"

See also

• The how, why and who of Pan Am Flight 103

References

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