Struan gave the following speech at a meeting of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq on Thursday 7 November in the European Parliament in Brussels.

This month, as the European Parliament presented Aung San Suu Kyi with her Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Struan argues that parliamentarians should always make sure their actions match their rhetoric when it comes to supporting champions of liberty no matter where they're from.  Also this month, Struan asks whether European green orthodoxy is really the best way to safeguard biodiversity, highlights the real cost of green energy and welcomes the parliament's passage of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

MEPs from all political groups in the European Parliament have urged the leadership of the EU and the member states to force the Iraqi government to release the 7 hostages, including 6 women, who were abducted by Iraqi government forces on 1 September during the massacre in camp Ashraf. On that day 52 defenceless members of the Iranian opposition PMOI-MEK were executed by Iraqi special forces.

Whether you believe in man-made climate change or not, the general consensus is that a move towards low-carbon energy generation is crucial. Pumping out excessive CO2 is bad for the environment from any perspective. That is why I welcome the proposed plans for new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point.

Predictably, the mere mention of 'nuclear' sparked fervent green scaremongering about rises in energy bills and claims that the money would be better spent on renewables, even though Government estimates show that energy bills will be £77 lower by 2030 with new nuclear plants.

It is a sad fact that scientists reckon we are currently suffering the worst biodiversity loss that the world has ever known. They believe that between 150 and 200 species are being lost every 24 hours. Many of those losses can be attributed to climate change. We need to teach the public that biodiversity is valuable; it has an economic, social, aesthetic and practical value from which every one of us individually benefits. Biodiversity services purify the air we breathe, act as a global air conditioning system, provide us with rainfall and oxygen and fertilise plants.

As more and more EU Member States begin to realise that the race for renewables is one that they cannot win, national governments are scrambling for ways to get off the green energy juggernaut without losing face.

With Germany opening new coal-burning plants, while the UK bristles with stationary wind turbines, policymakers lament that their once laudable, voter-friendly plans for clean, 'free' energy have not only failed to achieve energy security, but continue to force more and more citizens into crippling fuel poverty.

Struan gave the following speech in Strasbourg on Wednesday 9 October.

The Syrian conflict raging on the borders of Iraq has poured petrol on the flames of the growing insurgency that has claimed the lives of 5,000 people so far this year. In Iraqi Kurdistan, one of the few former havens of peace in the country, Al Qaeda terrorists have infiltrated genuine groups of refugees fleeing to safety, setting off a series of bombs in the Kurdish capital Erbil some days ago that killed 6 people and injured dozens, the first terrorist attack in the city in 6 years.

Struan gave the following speech in Strasbourg during a debate on e-cigarette regulation.