>BrownHairedGirl at 17:29, 29 May 2021

2021-05-29T17:29:58Z

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{{short description|British Labour politician and campaigner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Claude Moraes
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}
| image = Claude Moraes MEP.jpg
| office = [[Member of the European Parliament]] <br /> for [[London (European Parliament constituency)|London]]
| term_start = [[1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|15 July 1999]]
| term_end = 31 January 2020
| majority =
| predecessor = ''Constituency established''
| successor = ''Constituency abolished''
| nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| ethnicity =
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| residence =
| alma_mater = [[University of Dundee]]<br />[[Birkbeck, University of London]] LSE
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|10|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Aden]], [[Federation of South Arabia|South Arabia]]<br />(now [[Aden]], Yemen)
| death_date =
| death_place =
| profession =
| spouse =
| religion =
| website = {{url|www.claudemoraes.com}}
}}

'''Claude Ajit Moraes''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (born 22 October 1965) is a [[British people|British]] [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[politician]] and campaigner,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-knighthood-sir-new-years-honours-universal-credit-benefits-a9261581.html|title=Iain Duncan Smith knighted in New Year's Honours despite fury at Tory welfare policies|date=27 December 2019|website=The Independent}}</ref> who was a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for [[London (European Parliament constituency)|London]] between 1999 and the [[Brexit|United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU]] on 31 January 2020.<ref name="euro_Clau">{{Cite web
| title = Claude MORAES | work = European Parliament | url = http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4519/CLAUDE_MORAES_home.html}}>s</ref> He was Chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, [[European Parliamentary Labour Party|Deputy Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party]] and Vice-President of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4519/CLAUDE_MORAES/history/8|title=8th parliamentary term | Claude MORAES | MEPs | European Parliament|website=www.europarl.europa.eu}}</ref>

==Background==
Claude Moraes is of [[India]]n descent. He was born in [[Aden]] ([[State of Aden]]), and grew up in [[Scotland]], having moved to [[Dundee]] with his parents at the age of four from India. His parents are [[Indian Catholics]] from [[Karnataka]] ([[Mangalore]]) and [[Mumbai]] respectively. He attended the state St Modan's High School, and studied law at the [[University of Dundee]], government at [[Birkbeck, University of London]] and international law at the [[London School of Economics and Political Science]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbk.ac.uk/|title=Home — Birkbeck, University of London|website=www.bbk.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Previous work==
After leaving Scotland, Moraes settled in East London, living and volunteering at [[Toynbee Hall]], an anti-poverty charity, where he was later a Council Member.<ref>Toynbee Hall Annual Report 1998 https://explore.toynbeehall.org.uk/collection/toynbee-hall-annual-report-1998/</ref>

He was appointed House of Commons researcher to MPs [[John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan|John Reid]] and [[Paul Boateng]] following the 1987 General Election<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/profile-selector?pid=claude-moraes|title=Our students — Birkbeck, University of London|website=www.bbk.ac.uk}}</ref> and became a national officer at the [[Trades Union Congress]] in 1989. During this period, he was also a representative to the [[European Trade Union Confederation]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Prior to becoming an MEP, Moraes received recognition<ref>{{cite report|last=Düvell|first=Franck|date=2005|title=Active Civic Participation of Immigrants in the United Kingdom|url=http://www.politis-europe.uni-oldenburg.de/download/UK.pdf|publisher=Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg|pages=46–47}}</ref> as director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, a UK-based independent legal protection NGO founded in 1967 specialising in refugee and migration issues.<ref>A Historical Guide to NGOs in Britain (M Hilton et al 2012), pages 83-83, Palgrave, "Key figures in JCWI, Claude Moraes director" https://books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1137029021</ref> At JCWI he helped organise legal challenges in the UK and European Courts<ref>Lydia Morris (2010) Asylum, Welfare & the Cosmopolitan Ideal, Routledge "As in the (1996) Court of Appeal judgement of JCWI"</ref> succeeding [[Anne Owers|Dame Anne Owers]] as director in 1992. At this time he was also executive secretary to the Immigrants' Aid Trust. Moraes was appointed a Commissioner at the [[Commission for Racial Equality]] 1997-2002<ref>Report of the CRE https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uCkUmlWUXAcC</ref> and was an elected Council member of [[Liberty (advocacy group)|Liberty]] 1994–2002.<ref>Liberty Annual Review 2002 pg13 https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/about/pdf-docs/2002-annual-review.pdf</ref>

He has campaigned<ref name="auto"/> and written regularly on migration, refugee, human rights, digital human rights and counter terrorism/security policy.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1467-923X.2003.00585.x|title=The Politics of European Union Migration Policy|journal=The Political Quarterly|volume=74|pages=116–131|year=2003|last1=Moraes|first1=Claude}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139084338.007|chapter=The law and politics of migration and asylum: The Lisbon Treaty and the EU|title=The European Union after the Treaty of Lisbon|pages=156|year=2012|last1=Espinoza|first1=Sabina Anne|last2=Moraes|first2=Claude|isbn=9781139084338}} Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Moraes C. (2018) The European Parliament & Transatlantic Relations. In Fahey E (eds) Institutionalisation Beyond the Nation State, Studies in European Economic Law & Regulation Vol 10, Springer, Cham https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-50221-2</ref>

He contested the parliamentary constituency of [[Harrow West (UK Parliament constituency)|Harrow West]] in the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 General Election]], placing second with 22.5% of the vote.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==Member of the European Parliament, 1999–2020==
He was elected to the European Parliament in the [[1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1999 European elections]], that year becoming the first South Asian (Indian) origin MEP elected to the European Parliament and London's first Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) MEP.<ref>MEPs|OBV https://www.obv.org.uk></ref><ref>3 PIO MEPs elected to EU Parliament from UK, Naomi Canton, May 2019 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com</ref> He was re-elected to the European Parliament at the number one position on the Labour Party list in the [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2004]] and again in the first-place position in the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009]], and [[2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2014 European Elections]].

Initially a member of the Employment and Social Affairs and Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committees he was involved in the campaign for and identifying barriers to the EU wide implementation of the Race Equality Directive (2000).<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/30/eu.politics</ref> His legislative reports include the Protection of Minorities in an Enlarged Europe (2005), Protection of Seasonal Workers in the EU (2014) and Blue Card Migration Directive (Revision) (2017).<ref>MEPs European Parliament, History of parliamentary service http://www.europarl.europa.eu</ref> From 2009 to 2014 he was the elected Spokesperson for the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) on the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee.<ref>S&D Group Elects Coordinators for EP Committees, 3 Sept, 2009, https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu</ref>

In 2013 Moraes was appointed Rapporteur for the Parliament Inquiry into Mass Surveillance following the leaks from [[Edward Snowden]].<ref name="tech_Digi">{{Cite web
| title = Digital Privacy Is "The New Frontier Of Human Rights" | author = Natasha Lomas | work = TechCrunch | date = 23 November 2014 | url = https://techcrunch.com/2014/11/23/privacy-human-rights-frontier/}}</ref> The Inquiry and his Report "US NSA surveillance programmes, surveillance bodies in various Member States and their impact on EU citizens' fundamental rights and on transatlantic cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs" ,voted in March 2014, is sometimes referred to as the Parliament's "European Digital Bill of Rights" as it looks at human rights and commercial priorities for the EU in the areas of data protection, privacy, surveillance, governance of the internet, the problem of extreme content and take-down policy, encryption, and cybercrime.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1093/ips/olw031|title=The Snowden Files Made Public: A Material Politics of Contesting Surveillance|journal=International Political Sociology|volume=11|pages=73–89|year=2017|last1=Gros|first1=Valentin|last2=De Goede|first2=Marieke|last3=Işleyen|first3=Beste|url=https://dare.uva.nl/personal/pure/en/publications/the-snowden-files-made-public-a-material-politics-of-contesting-surveillance(f3c18967-0847-4a88-8705-3855687ed8ad).html|hdl=11245.1/f3c18967-0847-4a88-8705-3855687ed8ad|hdl-access=free}}</ref> He was Chair of the European Parliament Inquiry into Facebook in 2018 opening with a special evidence session questioning Mark Zuckerberg and looked at wider issues of electoral interference, misuse of personal data, and the implications of Cambridge Analytica.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/technology/zuckerberg-europe-data-cambridge-analytica.html</ref>

In July 2014 Moraes was elected Chairman of the [[European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs]] (LIBE Committee).

Following the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]], he became a member of the European Parliament's Brexit Steering Committee until the 2019 European Elections. He contributed to the Parliament's position on the Withdrawal Agreement primarily in the areas of EU citizens rights, the rights of British citizens in the EU, security union and law enforcement, data protection, data adequacy, migration and asylum law and free movement.<ref>Brexit citizens living in Europe could have rights curtailed warns leading MEP, Independent, 4 July 2017, "Claude Moraes...member of the European Parliament Brexit Steering Committee"</ref>

In 2018 as part of his Committee's increasing role in the external & humanitarian aspects of the refugee crisis, he led delegations to Libya, Niger, Lebanon and the Greek "hotspots" to improve the European Parliament's response. In 2019 he continued his long standing refugee work as Rapporteur for the European Asylum Support Agency.<ref>MEPs Visit Libya, 23 May 2018, https://www.europeaninterest.eu>article{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Also in 2018 he was Standing Rapporteur for the European Parliament consent procedure on the European Commission's decision to directly invoke Article 7 of the EU Treaties for the first time into alleged [[rule of law]] breaches by the Polish government. He led all-party European Parliament rule of law delegations that year to Poland and also Slovakia following the murder there of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.<ref>Euractive Press Releases, pr.euractiv.com Justice & Home Affairs, 24 Sept 2018, "Polish Govt must stop dismantling Polish Supreme Court"</ref><ref>Rule of Law in Poland: MEPs to check situation on the ground, Sept 18, 2018 https://www.europeaninterest.eu "Poland</ref>

In 2019 he oversaw, with the Committee on Budget Control, the European Parliament mandate to create and appoint the first European Chief Public Prosecutor and operational office tackling corruption, calling on EPPO's remit to be extended to fight serious organised crime, including people traffickers.<ref>https://www.europeaninterest.eu/article/european-public-prosecutor-fight-terrorism-say-meps/
</ref>

In May 2019, Claude Moraes stood for the Labour Party at the number one position in the London constituency and was reelected in the 2019 European Elections.<ref>The UK's European Elections www.bbc.co.uk</ref> Following those elections he was elected Vice President of the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) in the European Parliament.<ref>https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/home</ref>

==Honours and recognition==

In 2011 Moraes was ''[[Dod's Parliamentary Companion|Dod's]]'' and the ''European Parliament Magazine'''s 'MEP of the Year'<ref>The Parliament Magazine, Publisher Dod's 2011, www.the parliament magazine.eu, MEP Awards, December 1, 2011</ref> for his work on Justice and Civil Liberties. In 2016 he was named as one of Politico Magazine's "40 MEPs Who Actually Matter".<ref name="poli_The4">{{Cite web | title = The 40 MEPs who actually matter: The Ranking | work = Politico | date = 19 May 2016 | author = Ryan Heath | url = https://www.politico.eu/list/the-40-meps-who-actually-matter-european-parliament-mep/}}</ref> In 2017 the organisation Vote Watch Europe listed him as "the most influential" British MEP and sixth most influential MEP in the European Parliament.<ref name="vote_UPDA">{{Cite web | title = Who holds the power in the European Parliament? Assessing the influence of individual MEPs | work = Vote Watch Europe | date = 11 September 2017 | url = http://www.votewatch.eu/blog/updated-who-holds-the-power-in-the-european-parliament-assessing-the-influence-of-individual-meps/}}</ref> In November 2019 along with MPs Alberto Costa and Stuart McDonald he was given the Ambassador award for his work on EU citizens rights by the organisation [[the3million]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/the3million/status/1182757669549072384|title=One of the3million awards went to 3 worthy politicians who have been of great support to us over the last three years (left to right): Labour MEP @Claude_Moraes Tory MP @AlbertoCostaMP SNP MP @Stuart_McDonaldpic.twitter.com/5KpGYjz0d0|date=11 October 2019}}</ref> Claude Moraes was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2020 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=62866|supp=y|page=N14|date=28 December 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraes, Claude}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Dundee]]
[[Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MEPs]]
[[Category:Commissioners for Racial Equality]]
[[Category:Scottish people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:British politicians of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Scottish people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:Aden emigrants to Scotland]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 1999–2004]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 2004–2009]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 2009–2014]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 2014–2019]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 2019–2020]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]

Claude Moraes - Revision history

>BrownHairedGirl at 17:29, 29 May 2021