mr president i stand before you as a democrat
i stand before you as one who has a democratic mandate a mandate similar to that held by everyone else that has been elected to this parliament
i also stand before you as one who comes from a country or region of the united kingdom that has known much distress because of those who would seek to destroy democratic politics
therefore i come with high expectations of how democracy will be handled in this parliament
and yet in my first mandate as a democratically elected member of the european parliament i find that i have been excluded from coordinators meetings that i do not have a voice on the conference of presidents
these issues are certainly the subject of talks and i am certainly very glad to hear that you are trying to resolve these issues
but i would urge you mr president to bring these issues to a conclusion very quickly because it is important that the democratic mandate of this parliament is respected
i would also urge you mr president to meet those non-attached members who are democrats and who wish to take this issue forward
