Worldlog week 39 – 2015

This week, Budget Day and the Parliamentary Debate on the Speech from the Throne were held, where the government presented its plans for the next parliamentary year. It struck me that our government wants to continue governing in the same destructive manner. The Prime Minister still thinks that ‘more, more, more’ is good for us. ‘More economic growth and everything will turn out fine’. But until now this approach only led to a financial crisis, the bank crisis, the climate crisis, etc.

All party chairmen were given the opportunity to respond to the government’s plans. During my contribution I thus asked the government to let go of the fossil thinking and to opt for more humanity, cleaner air, more nature, more biodiversity, more care, more animal welfare, more education and more health.

As with every year, this year Budget Day was again a perfect opportunity to make a statement. I have been cautioning against the plan for a free trade agreement between the EU and the US, the so-called TTIP, for a long time. My outfit for this year’s Budget Day was a protest against TTIP and a call to the government to stop the TTIP negotiations.

My orange dress with the black cross was in line with the hazard labels according to the Dutch Chemical Substance Act. My hat symbolised the black cloud that is hanging over our heads because of the free trade agreement between the EU and the US. To complete my outfit I wore a clutch on which the European and American flags merge into each other through a grey area. With my outfit I wanted to warn against the dangers that TTIP brings for democracy, the environment, animal welfare, food security and biodiversity.

But last Tuesday, the 15th of September, was not just a special day because of Budget Day. The ban on the use of wild animals in circuses was also effected on that day. It is great to experience that something that we, and many other organisations, fought so hard and so long for has now become reality.

Our European Group travelled to Madrid to protest against the barbaric slaughtering of bull Rompe-Suelas during the Spanish horrific event Toro de la Vega. My colleague Anja Hazekamp, Euro MP of the Party for the Animals, demonstrated in the streets of Madrid together with the Spanish party for the animals ‘PACMA’, followed by a hundred thousand people who also want the Toro de la Vega to end. Every year at the Toro de la Vega, a bull is released in the Spanish town of Tordesillas and chased by hundreds of horsemen and runners and eventually lanced to death. This cruel public entertainment cannot be justified in any way and definitely has to be stopped!

Finally, I would like to share an interesting article with you. In this article it is explained by experts why less meat can play a big role in fighting against hunger all over the world. Read it here.

Kind regards,

Marianne