Wreckers or builders? A history of Labour MEPs 1979 – 1999

From the Foreword by Neil Kinnock, ex-European Commissioner and Leader of the (UK) Labour Party:

'At last we have a history of Labour Members of the European Parliament in the first twenty years of the directly elected Parliament... a well-researched record – warts and all – of the period when Labour in the European Parliament grew from 17 to 62 Members and Labour’s policy on the EU changed from withdrawal to committed support for membership and reforms...

From the leadership of Barbara Castle to the Labour Government of Tony Blair, fascinating stories emerge of a Labour group which mixed members who were hell-bent on fundamentalist anti-Europeanism with mainstream European social democrats; of a long Labour march from the devastating defeat of 1979, through the advances of the 80s and early 90s, to the landslide victory of 1997; and of a growing Labour contribution to the joint efforts of the Socialist group to promote progressive policies..."

The author, Anita Pollack, was witness to and participant in the events she describes - she was political assistant to Barbara Castle, the leader of the Labour Group, from 1980 and then was an elected MEP herself from 1989-99. She has the unusual distinction of being the only Australian national ever to have been an MEP.

The book comprises four main parts providing a chronological account of each of the parliaments in this twenty-year period. Other features include a 'where are they now?' section, a selection of photographs including every Labour MEP who sat in this period, a bibliography and a comprehensive index.

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