Claude Moraes
Encyclopedia
Claude Moraes is a Member of the European Parliament
for the Labour Party
. Claude Moraes is the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Europe (the European Parliamentary Labour Party, or EPLP) one of eight MEPs representing London
.
, having moved to the United Kingdom with his parents at the age of six from India
. He studied Scots law
and English Law, Administrative Law and International Law at the University of Dundee
, London University (Birkbeck College
) and the London School of Economics
.
and became a regular media commentator and campaigner on migration issues.
He also helped organise legal challenges in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and in Europe. He was also House of Commons adviser to John Reid MP and Paul Boateng MP, and was a national officer at the TUC and a representative to the European TUC. He has written widely on migration and human rights issues and is a co-author of the Politics of Migration (Blackwells).
In the European Parliament, Moraes is the Labour spokesperson on Justice and Home Affairs, Substitute Member of the Internal Market Committee, Vice-President of the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Vice President of Anti-Racism & Diversity Intergroup and Co-President of the Intergroup on Ageing.
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. Claude Moraes is the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Europe (the European Parliamentary Labour Party, or EPLP) one of eight MEPs representing London
London (European Parliament constituency)
London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....
.
Background
Moraes grew up in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, having moved to the United Kingdom with his parents at the age of six from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He studied Scots law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
and English Law, Administrative Law and International Law at the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
, London University (Birkbeck College
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
) and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Previous Work
Prior to holding elected office, he attained a national profile as the director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants - a UK based independent legal NGO specialising in refugee and migration issues. Moraes was also a Commissioner for Racial EqualityCommission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...
and became a regular media commentator and campaigner on migration issues.
He also helped organise legal challenges in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and in Europe. He was also House of Commons adviser to John Reid MP and Paul Boateng MP, and was a national officer at the TUC and a representative to the European TUC. He has written widely on migration and human rights issues and is a co-author of the Politics of Migration (Blackwells).
European Parliament
He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999, one of the first Asian MEPs elected to the European Parliament and London's first ethnic minority MEP. He was re-elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004. In 2009, he was number one on the London list of Labour candidates in the European Parliamentary elections, being re-elected to the European Parliament for the third time. Shortly after this, Moraes was elected a Spokesperson for the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.In the European Parliament, Moraes is the Labour spokesperson on Justice and Home Affairs, Substitute Member of the Internal Market Committee, Vice-President of the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Vice President of Anti-Racism & Diversity Intergroup and Co-President of the Intergroup on Ageing.