Anne Begg

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Anne Begg MP
Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South
Incumbent
Assumed office  1 May 1997
Preceded by	Raymond Robertson
Majority	1,348 (3.2%)
Born	6 December 1955 (1955-12-06) (age 53)
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen
Website	http://www.annebegg.info

Anne Begg (b. 6 December 1955 in Brechin, Angus) is a British politician and is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South. Begg is notable for being a wheelchair user. ^[1]

Contents 1 Education and career 2 Votes and political views 3 National Campaigns 4 Local Campaigns 5 References 6 External links

[edit] 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]

Begg was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlist ^[5]. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws,^[6] Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. 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.^[7] 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.^[8] She made her maiden speech on 21 May 1997.^[9] She is currently Secretary of the All-Party BBC Group and Chair of the All Party Group on Equalities, the All Party Oil and Gas Industry Group, the All Party Group on Chronic Pain, and the All Party Commercial Radio group^[10]. She is also currently a member of the House of Commons Chairmen’s Panel, the Work and Pensions Select Committee, ^[3] and has recently been appointed to be Vice Chair of the recently instituted Speaker's Conference which is tasked with looking at the under representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons ^[11].

[edit] Votes and political views

Anne Begg voted in favour of a bill that banned smoking in restaurants in April 2003.^[12] In December 2004 and October 2005, she voted in favour of a bill enabling the British national identity card.^[13][14] She voted in favour of allowing unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples to adopt,^[15] and in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill.^[16] In March 2002, she voted to ban the hunting of wild mammals with dogs.^[17] She voted in favour of the NHS Foundation Trust proposal^[18] and against the replacement of the Trident system.^[19]

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.^[20] 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. ^[21]

In March 2003, she voted against the declaration of war against Iraq.^[22] 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.^[23] In June 2007, she voted against a motion calling for an independent inquiry by a committee of Privy Counsellors into the Iraq War.^[24]

In November 2008, Begg was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.

During the 2009 MP's expenses scandal, Begg was one of the first Scottish MPs to take the step of publishing all of her claims under the Additional Costs Allowance on her website before they were released by the House of Commons authorities saying that it was "important people can see how MPs spend taxpayers’ money."^[25]

[edit] National Campaigns

Begg is a vocal campaigner for allowing embryonic stem cells to be used in the research for treatments of diseases, including currently incurable conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease^[26]. She has also been heavily involved in lobbying the Department of Health against an all-out ban on the pain-relief drug co-proxamol, used by many people who suffer from chronic pain conditions^[27].

She has also taken the lead in lobbying the government on issues such as the Seafarer's Earnings Deduction^[28]and compensation for trawlermen who lost their livelihoods during the Cod Wars^[29]. In the 2009 Budget, Begg also won a concessison from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling MP,that "those caring responsibilities of grandparents of working age will count towards their entitlement to the basic state pension."^[30] Begg had campaigned for grandparents of working age to receive National Insurance Credits in recognition of the fact that their caring role may impact on their contributions to their state pension entitlement. ^{[31] [32]}

On the floor of the House of Commons, Begg has also vehemently criticised fraudsters who take advantage of vulnerable people in her constituency through the use of mail scams^[33] and pyramid schemes^[34].

[edit] Local Campaigns

Begg was one of the most vociferous critics of Aberdeen City Council during the budget crisis of 2008, which lead to many of her constituents having their services cut^[35]. In 2009 Begg also criticised as "draconian" a move by Aberdeen City Council to set a debt collection agency on an 80 year old partially sighted woman for the sum of £17.50 ^[36].

Begg also wrote to the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond requesting a change to the house buying system in Scotland.^[37] She also criticized plans to close an Aberdeen school 18 months after it had been saved, saying that they were "closing the school by stealth."^[38]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Anne Begg MP on TheyWorkForYou.com
• Website on Labouronline
• Guardian Unlimited Politics profile
• BBC Politics

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Raymond Robertson	Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South 1997 – present	Incumbent