Anne Begg (b. 6 December 1955 in Brechin, Angus) is a British politician and is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South.[1]
Education and career
Begg was educated at the Damacre Primary School in Brechin; Brechin High School on Duke Street (both also attended by Sir Robert Watson-Watt), and the University of Aberdeen where she earned an MA in History and Politics.[2][3] From Aberdeen College of Education (merged with the Dundee College of Education in 1987 to become the Northern College of Education then became the Faculty of Education of the University of Aberdeen in December 2001), she gained a Secondary Teaching Certificate in 1978.
From 1978 she taught history and English at the Webster's High School in Kirriemuir.[3] She joined the Labour Party in 1983.[4] In 1988 she became the principal teacher of English at the Arbroath Academy.[3] In the same year she won the Disabled Scot of the Year Award.[2] Aberdeen South like many seats fell to Labour in their landslide victory at the 1997 general election. She defeated the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scottish Office Raymond Robertson.[5] In 2001, she became the first Labour MP to retain the Aberdeen South seat.
Begg has been in a wheelchair for many years as she lives with the degenerative Gaucher's disease.[3] She was the first full-time user of a wheelchair elected to the House of Commons.[6] She made her maiden speech on 21 May 1997.[7] She currently Chair of the All Party Endometriosis Group and the Secretary of the All-Party BBC Group. She is also a member of the House of Commons Chairmen’s Panel, the Work and Pensions Select Committee, and the Oil and Gas Industry Group.[3]
Votes and political views
Anne Begg voted in favour of a bill that banned smoking in restaurants in April 2003.[8] In December 2004 and October 2005, she voted in favour of a bill enabling the British national identity card.[9][10] She voted in favour of allowing unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples to adopt,[11] and in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill.[12] In March 2002, she voted to ban the hunting of wild mammals with dogs.[13] She voted in favour of the NHS Foundation Trust proposal[14] and against the replacement of the Trident system.[15]
She voted in favour of adding clauses to a bill that allow the Secretary of State to detain indefinitely, pending deportation, anyone he suspects is a terrorist, even if the law forbids that person's deportation from ever taking place.[16] She voted against only allowing people detained at a police station to be fingerprinted and searched for an identifying birthmark if it is in connection with a terrorism investigation. [17]
In March 2003, she voted against the declaration of war against Iraq.[18] In June 2003, she voted against a motion that would have recalled the Prime Minister's assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be used at 45 minutes' notice, and launching an independent inquiry into the intelligence received and the decisions that were based on it.[19] In June 2007, she voted against a motion calling for an independent inquiry by a committee of Privy Counsellors into the Iraq War.[20]
Scotland
Anne Begg has written to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond requesting a change to the house buying system in Scotland.[21] She criticized plans to close an Aberdeen school 18 months after it had been saved, saying they were "closing the school by stealth."[22]
References
- ^ ""BBC NEWS". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ a b ""BBC NEWS". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e ""Anne Begg MP: Biography"". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ ""ePolitix.com - Anne Begg"". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ ""BBC NEWS". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ ""Interview with Anne Begg, Member of Parliament, U.K."". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 May 1997 (pt 27)"". Retrieved on September 18, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Apr 2003 (pt 15)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 20 Dec 2004 (pt 42)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Oct 2005 (pt 35)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 Nov 2002 (pt 28)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 Oct 2004 (pt 34)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Mar 2002 (pt 40)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 8 Jul 2003 (pt 27)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Mar 2007 (pt 0022)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 Nov 2001 (pt 28)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 Nov 2001 (pt 30)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Mar 2003 (pt 48)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 Jun 2003 (pt 25)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Jun 2007 (pt 0015)"". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""A Labour MP has been backed in her call for a change to the house buying system in Scotland.Anne Begg, who represents Aberdeen South, wants to change the blind bidding..."". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
- ^ ""BBC NEWS". Retrieved on September 17, 2007.
External links
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