One i dont know if. I. I think im. Going to. The poly diluent up in strasburg headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe an organization which is seventy years old but virtually unknown but one but just fundamentally changed the lives of tens of millions of european citizens and changed them for the better lets organization indeed the whole continent of europe doesnt have its problems to see just not so the council of europe at its best days behind it are the greatest achievements still to come out of the carnage of world war the council of europe was formed to pull the human rights and the rule of International Law it has forty seven Member States eight hundred twenty Million People and the operates on a budget of approximately half a billion euros senator i was merely hichens represents you the peon womens lobby in social Economic Issues in brussels she also happens to be the daughter of irish on the president michael d. Higgins some of the higgins were given the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe i mean many people point to some fairly obvious abuses of the convention by by members of the Parliamentary Assembly by countries which are membership do you think that these breaches a huge problem or do the breaches illustrate that least there is a code which people have to operate i do believe that it is under challenge and it is under erosion on a global level outside of simply the European Court of human rights for example some of the narrative we see in europe now we see discussion of Citizens Rights but of course human rights is a wider thing and human rights is something that is about principle and not simply about a privilege of membership so i do think we need to underscore and protect absolutely the European Court of human rights and that idea of. Common standards in human rights and how they might be enforced and i know that the European Court of human rights has played an often challenging role in. My own country and in pressing the laws in certain areas around reproductive rights around the rights and its been a very useful pressure for us nationally so i would be a strong defender of the importance of that but i would absolutely be under no illusion that its not. Under attack and under threat of erosion in terms of the wider sense of the convention and breaches of the convention i know that. We are seeing more and more breaches of the convention and there is a challenge for the entire council of europe structure now to discuss. What sanctions are appropriate or not appropriate how do we deal with breaches of the convention and those are a part of until theres an individual member of the Parliamentary Assembly of some frustration. The sentiments but youve expressed with many of the individual members are some and people being reflected in the institutions would this be a frustration to share the snow or do you think that could be could be amended and changed the year in which i have been part of the council of europe has of course been been rocked by very serious concerns about corruption about the question of vote rigging about the transparency of institutions about appropriate actions at high levels so naturally im concerned about the institutions but certainly in my year here i have miss very passionate parliamentarians. From a wide range of political backgrounds who are consistently and robustly pushing forward. For better practices last may the heavens thank you so much for your. Dutch politician cokes as chairman of the party of the european left in the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe has some very clear cut ideas about what the council should be trying to achieve what bournes of you before. Thats the most far reaching convention with regard to human rights and the rule of law and democracy that has ever been drafted and it has been adopted and adopted means that we also have a course on human rights here in strasbourg that if you feel that you are hurting your human rights you can finally apply to discourse and the verdict of this court are binding so its difficult to crystallize sixty five years of the interview phrases but how would you assess the progress been substantial. The support we have drafted. And except that finally if we i mean the Member States of the council of europe over two hundred conventions many of them are totally unknown but the most relevant and intervene and the daily life of a tons of thirty five million european citizens in a freeze because you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of this organization and what it can do for the future of europe by i am obliged to be an optimist because otherwise there are very good reasons to be a pessimist but i also think that in the end. Both i would governments and all parliaments will realize that their convention based system where you have a flexible position of government stool and off bottom is to join or not to join is of utmost value for a democratic and a rule of law based europe what happens when a Member States illegally. Breached these these conventions you know in this huge europe it is very difficult to find. The rules that can be applied immediately from friday to to to to greenland so that every every member state and every parliament and every government has the right to decide whether or when around when to join a convention its a far more flexible system than the European Union thats thats one rule for all and we now have seen that that also creates problems and even gave the majority of the. Voters. The conviction that they had to do to get out of the European Union the system of the Council Field is far more flexible but as you as you probably say. Implemented is not easy and verdicts of the European Court on human rights day are binding and indiana and most Member States do do indeed live up to their obligations it takes a lot of time and we have some some bad customs here turkey is a bad customer at this moment always has been a bad. Customer ukraine but also italy and sometimes the United Kingdom they do not do what they have promised to do to sanction the diverts of the most useless be the least situation in catalonia where quite clearly they will flee groups abuse of people fear of the Convention Human Rights of the freedom of expression of. This body that was talking about the spanish constitution the unity of spain which is the best most of the said gentlemen of the Convention Movement that is the business of this organization should be implementation of the convention right now i know that many members feel that. Is the frustration that even the within this body in this confusion of what it should be doing in terms of ensuring that i use an established foundation dont spray in my report i. Explain that spain is special with regard to the convention because after that and the fascism frankly is im in spain spain the new spain the first adopted the European Convention of human rights only a leader a year later it adopted a new democratic constitution so our conventional numerologists and strident in the constitutional system of spain we have democracy and all Member States and we have the rule of law we have a constitution and we have the will of the people these things do not always. Go along there are confrontations does nothing wrong with that thats the mako see the rule of law has to be applied but we also have to listen to the will of the people what do you believe in this report to point the way to making the organization more effective for its next six to five years our heads of state and government have to decide whether they think that we should maintain this system that has served so many people. So well in the past sixty five years and if you want to maintain it and to continue it our governments have to put their money where their mouth this year so lets hope so and im talking to you because a pleasure thank you very much. The bad customer. Could include key members such as russia tuckey the u. K. And spain. Russias Voting Rights were revoked and twenty fourteen after the illegal annexation of crimea the sector general of the was warned that moscow could crash out of the group of russia keeps being excluded from the election of key personnel tuckey could be expelled from the Council Europe preston applicant pursued his threat of reintroducing Capital Punishment following the coup attempt meanwhile the u. K. s under pressure to accept Strasbourg Court rulings on personal Voting Rights while the acting president of the Parliamentary Assembly launched that outspoken attack on state Police Violence against the people of catalonia last october. So now one meal was a member of the council you look for over eighteen years until the end of last year and thus the longest serving member of the u. K. Delegation what changes is he witnessed during these years. A member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe for eighteen years when that is a quarter of the entire lifetime of this Parliamentary Assembly what are the changes that youve seen over that substantial period of time but there are been major changes there is. The introduction of countries into the community which had never been there before. Should be largely internationally written known as individual nations and i think thats one of the biggest things that has caused the changes because they came for europe and in particular the Parliamentary Assembly as always we are prepared of course for joining the European Union and i think a great saying theres never been a new country in accession country into the European Union it hasnt been a member of the council of europe the people used to take the mans back to europe was like we were behind curtain throughout we had all these different individual countries would be run by the soviets and so on and so forth what you used the whole panoply of different organization. And of course countries get independence and act and its been the only route into year and of course the contribution not just about those small number of nations which are members of the European Union its about the forty seven member the come to your very in the great european area but what about all these breaches of the rules of the convention and human rights manifest the many of the Member States and a lot of concentration on russia but if you could look at task a we could lose recently spain fairly frequent violations of the of the European Convention and then you have a title task it was the council get up doing about this violation of its own findings that people should not consider that they all these violations take place only in new emerging countries i mean violations frequently because theres been one or two investigations in the u. K. In practices in there and of course there is on a continuous basis throughout the european area but you know its a balance what you do about that how you train our you help do you jim you say you are a member and therefore go on because there are different systems different values case and we hear the voices in the u. K. Saying look this convention the human rights the strasbourg caution of jurisdiction of the courts of of england of the courts of scotland even the something which is causing or above the some meddling in the affairs what you say people who would like in the u. K. To opt out of the convention well i dont think that issued a public order opt out of the convention various powers and then goes if they do do that it will be in the council of europe or the European Community at all theyll be ostracized i mean the reality is that much of our modern day law is based on those principles and the best example of that is on Capital Punishment you know if you were to stay in and adapt all the policies brought to change your mind and couple. Said you believed in europe if you and i had been speaking couple of years ago we had a fight in the both of would have found it unlikely almost incredible the United Kingdom would be in the process of brics it from the European Union as an inconceivable that the same forces will go the whole hog and on the back only the council of europe and the European Convention on human rights as well you know in democracy its the most difficult thing in the world you have tyranny dictatorship feudalism and you have democracies the last one is a hard one and if you look back to the city of the stark principle of democracy formed you know on the great the greek concept of the olive democrat where you know own not system of democracy they operated there was pluralism they believe that the more educated you were the more vote your gore which to be seems the most undemocratic being of ever however you know what weve got to do is trying to forge democracy on a whole series of principles that we can all live with and actually fight to a tree so and well spend great talking to. Us to learn. Some great insights from alex and his guests in strasburg heres some of my thoughts recently the new u. K. Section of defense called for the summary execution without trial in the judicial process of u. K. Citizens had been fighting for the dice terrorists as such a policy would ever to be adopted it would make the u. K. The legal prize of europe and would surely almost certainly end in the expulsion from the kinds of europe all of which of course could be dismissed as despite ings of a novice minister if it had not been for the fact that his much more expense predecessor calls for effectively the same thing before other events overtook Michael Fallon and ended his ministerial career. The Prime Minister herself has been thought to favor the ending of the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg Court or with a traditional systems of the United Kingdom indeed it is thought that her own preferred policy would have been to the mean in the European Union and exit the kinds of europe rather than exiting the good opinion and remaining in the council of europe ironically it is breadth that which has secured the u. K. Within the stroudsburg institutions as even some fervent director tears believe that staying within the council of europe emphasizes the point that the u. K. Is leaving the European Union and not europe but how do you kill really reached a level with an institution forced out of the fires and carnage of world war with the United Kingdom in the vanguard of its creation is seen at best as a tactical necessity for the time being perhaps the time is come for a new emphasis on the substantial role and purpose of the council of europe the one Political Institution which can be genuinely said to unite a troubled continent. So from alex no the team hit alex salmond so in our First Edition of the new york thank you for what we hope to see well see. A plate for many clubs over the years so i know the game and so i dived. Football isnt only about what happens on the pitch for the final school its about the passion from the fans its the age of the superman each of billionaire owners and spending two to twenty million alone playa. Its an experience like nothing else not to because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful game played great so well paul chimes for. The base this minute. Because gold is periodic album number seventy nine it has unique attributes that make it great for money these are big going to with not more in a vacuum it has got forty years of history to it and its evolved through all these technologies its a unique protocol and its like gold it is attracting a huge amount of Capital Force forth for this achievement and you cant say that you can simply go out there and create another one there are competitors of course just like there are competing species on planet earth for energy and survival but there is only one the apex predator or that is man at the moment before he dies from all the garbage. I had a great education a good job and a family that loved me. I never had to worry about how i would eat and where i would sleep. Im facing christmas alone out on the streets of london. Well you know to be honest. I thought the world of the bully like you going to school you know to simulate it to still give up food for the homeless to. Promote. Because you dont really feel like you could be you know. And then. Go use came over to be useful be a good judge of this book. Washington concert Security Assistance to its longstanding ally pakistan criticizing its role in the anti terror fight Foreign Ministry issues a blistering reply to. T