Natascha Engel

Natascha Engel MP
Member of Parliament for North East Derbyshire
Incumbent
Assumed office  5 May 2005
Preceded by	Harry Barnes
Majority	10,065 (23.2%)
Born	9 April 1967 (1967-04-09) (age 42) Berlin, Germany
Nationality	United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	David Salisbury-Jones
Children	three
Residence	United Kingdom
Alma mater	King's College London, University of Westminster
Profession	Translator; trade union official
Website	http://www.nataschaengelmp.org.uk/

Natascha Engel (born 9 April 1967) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for North East Derbyshire since 2005. She has extensive involvement in the trade union movement and has close connections to Gordon Brown.

Personal life and education

Early life

Natascha Engel was born in Berlin, Germany to a German father and an English mother. She was educated at the independent Kent College in Canterbury, and at The King's School, Canterbury, she trained as a linguist in German and Portuguese at King's College London and at the University of Westminster where she obtained a Masters degree in Technical and Specialised Translation. In addition to her political career, Engel has done postgraduate work in translation: she speaks German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Politics

While living in Madrid, Spain, Engel worked as a volunteer for two years in the local office of Amnesty International while earning a living as a teacher of English. After returning to Britain to work as a Teletext subtitler, Engel joined the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union. She was among the first join the Organising Academy of the Trade Union Congress, serving with the Graphical, Paper and Media Union; she worked on political fund ballots in persuading trade union members to retain their financial backing for the Labour Party.

Engel joined the Labour Party staff as a Trade Union Liaison Officer organising marginal seats campaigning at the 2001 general election. She later became policy co-ordinator for the Trade Union Liaison Office, before leaving to work as programme director of the Smith Institute. Her work there included researching on skills and the needs of working women. In October 2002 through the Smith Institute she co-authored the book Age of Regions: Meeting the Productivity Challenge.^[1]

She was an assistant to John Healey in February 2003, and the two have co-written a pamphlet,^[2] published by the TUC, and an article,^[3] published by the New Statesman, arguing that unions should offer learning opportunities in order to recruit more members.

Despite the lack of local connections, she was selected as the Labour candidate for North East Derbyshire following the decision of the sitting Labour MP Harry Barnes not to stand in the 2005 general election. Her connections with allies of Gordon Brown were remarked upon.^[4] Engel took the seat, easily, with a majority of 10,065. She bought a house at Barrow Hill in her constituency in July 2006.

Parliament

When Select Committees were established in the new Parliament, Engel was named to the Work and Pensions Select Committee. She made her maiden speech on 20 October 2005, the last of the incoming Labour MPs to do so, paying tribute to her predecessor Harry Barnes for his work. In the speech Engel concentrated on constituency affairs, supporting devolution of power and resources to local communities and highlighting examples in Staveley and Grassmoor. She referred to socialism as "the simple idea that if someone helps their neighbour, their neighbour will help them".^[5]

In 2006, Engel's name was included on a list of 15 up and coming Labour MPs compiled for News Corporation.^[6] Engel became Secretary of the All-Party Media Literacy Group in 2006.^[7] She backed Peter Hain for the Labour Party deputy leadership in the 2007 election,^[8] and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hain from July 2007 until Hain resigned from the Government in January 2008. Engel left the Work and Pensions Committee in November 2007.^[9] She performed the same role for Liam Byrne from October 2008, transferring to work for John Denham from January 2009. Engel was appointed to the Select Committee on Reform of the House of Commons when it was set up in July 2009.^[10]

National issues

In February 2007 Engel introduced a 'ten minute rule' Bill which proposed to require doctors to supply free condoms at their surgeries, noting that the Bill had the support of the Family Planning Association, Terrence Higgins Trust, Royal College of General Practitioners, and the Royal College of Nursing.^[11] She took a period of maternity leave from December 2007.^[12] In December 2008 she signed the joint letter organised by Richard Burden which condemned the escalated conflict in the Gaza Strip and calling for an immediate ceasefire on all sides.^[13] Engel was one of the fifteen MPs to formally nominate John Bercow as the new Speaker of the House of Commons in the election in June 2009.^[14] She became chair of the All Party Insolvency Group in 2009.^[15]

Engel has not broken the Labour whip in her time in Parliament.^[16] Asked in an interview in 2005 "If you were an MP at the time, how did you vote on military action in Iraq?", Engel answered, "Against".^[17] After entering Parliament Engel opposed motions proposed by opposition parties calling for an independent inquiry on the Iraq war,^[18] supporting the Government's proposal for an inquiry after British troops left.^[19] Engel collaborated on a chapter in the Institute for Public Policy Research book "Politics for a New Generation" in 2007 which was titled "Moving on up: Progression in the Labour Market".^[20]In October 2008 Engel called for Labour MPs to be given a free vote on the issue of banning smacking of children, complaining that she was put in an "impossible position of choosing between party loyalty and a reform that we believe in passionately".^[21]

Youth issues

Engel represents the Labour Party on the Board of Trustees of the UK Youth Parliament and has worked to encourage young people to participate in democracy. With her local council she set up a 'Question Time' event for local pupils to question a panel including then-cabinet member Geoff Hoon and the leader of the council.^[22] In December 2007 she was a sponsor of a Private member's bill introduced by Julie Morgan which would have reduced the voting age to 16.^[23] Engel became chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs in 2008,^[24][25] In a Fabian Society survey of some Labour MPs in Autumn 2007, her suggestion for the Labour manifesto for the next general election was that sex and relationship education should be compulsory in all schools and taught by a professional.^[26]

At the ePolitix Charity Champion awards in November 2007, Engel was named "Children and Youth Champion" for her work.^[27][28] At the 2007-08 annual general meeting of the British Youth Council, she was chosen as an Honorary President of the council.^[29]

Local issues

Engel was a leading member of a campaign to build what would have been the world's largest sundial in her constituency, putting forward an 'early day motion' in its support.^[30] In February 2009 Engel asked Prime Minister Gordon Brown about "unscrupulous bus companies" who she claimed issued pensioners with tickets for far longer journeys than requested, in order to overcharge the local authorities which paid for their travel.^[31] Stagecoach Yorkshire, which operated buses in her constituency, pointed out that the company had agreed a fixed charge with Derbyshire County Council, so that such a practice would not benefit them.^[32]

Expenses

As the expenses scandal broke, in May 2009 Engel commented that her feelings were that all MP's needed to "publish everything as soon as possible".^[33] She revealed her claims shortly after, including a sofa which cost £2,900, a television costing £1,800, a bed for £1,950, and items of kitchenware including 12 wine glasses and six champagne flutes for £30 each. The House of Commons authorities had deemed some of these purchases extravagant and Engel had only been reimbursed £2,000 for the sofa and £750 each for the television and the bed.^[34] Simultaneously Engel wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph, noting her relief that her claims were now open, and stating that she was setting up meetings around her constituency "to give people the chance to tell me what they think of me".^[35] She admitted to the Derbyshire Times that some claims were "not the spirit of the law" but she said that she would not be repaying the money.^[36]

Engel used money from the incidental expenses provision to buy ten copies of a DVD showing her maiden speech in Parliament, office posters, May Day greetings cards, another set of cards on the theme of the 'Solidarity of Labour' by Walter Crane and a book by Thomas Mann; she later agreed they were inappropriate and repaid the cost.^[37] She also claimed £3,750 in office 'petty cash' which was paid directly into a bank account.^[38] The Sunday Telegraph found Engel suffered when the total expenses claimed by MPs were compared with their Parliamentary activity, coming low on the list of 'value for money';^[37] Guardian journalist Madeleine Bunting pointed out that Engel had two periods of maternity leave.^[39] Engel herself wrote an article linking the expenses and hours of Parliament to the difficulties of raising a young family.^[40] Engel was asked to repay £1,900 by Sir Thomas Legg after his review of claims; she told the press that £1,300 of that total arose from a mistaken payment to her by the Fees Office which she had already repaid. The remainder was a deposit on a house rental which she had received back from the landlord after leaving; she claimed that she had tried to refund the money at the time but the Fees Office had no mechanism for receiving it.^[41][42]

Meetings with constituents

After receiving angry phone calls and emails over the revelations of her expenses claims, Engel decided to organise a series of "kangaroo courts" at which she would meet constituents to explain them and her work.^[43] After holding meetings in Clay Cross and Dronfield she reported poor turnout and that some turned out just to heckle, and decided to rethink her strategy.^[44] One member of the public who attended claimed there had been 'careful stage management' in which people had been sat at tables of four and spoken to individually, rather than as a 'town hall' style meeting.^[45] Engel has made public her submission to the Kelly Inquiry into the system of expenses repayment in Parliament.^[46]

References

External links

• Official site
• Profile (Parliament of the United Kingdom)
• BBC Politics
• Constituency Report 2008 (pdf)
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle
• Profile (TheyWorkForYou)
• journalisted (Automated listing of Engel's journal articles)