Claude represents the whole of London and talked about the difficulty of keeping in touch with voters in 74 different parliamentary constituencies.
Claude expressed concerned about the rise of ultra-right and racist politics in Europe, and described some of the issues surrounding Turkey's bid to join the EU. He spoke about the problems of fairer trade with countries outside the EU, the Common Agricultural Policy, and climate change; he also highlighted some recent successes in improving the rights of temporary workers.
Answering a question from former council leader Derek Sawyer, Claude agreed that there was a real danger of discrimination facing the Russian minorities in former Soviet states such as Estonia; after raising this issue in the European Parliament, Claude had received "hate mail" including death threats.
