Burning bright

Indian-born Neena Gill still has strong roots with her native country, and finds the role of an MEP well-suited to maintaining good links there, as Martin Banks explains

When it comes to promoting all things Indian, they do notcome much better than UK Socialist MEP Neena Gill. Whether it is trying to savethe tiger in India fromextinction or protecting the interests of her West Midlands constituents from the impact of Indian-led carmanufacturing takeovers, she is right there on the frontline. The fact that shewas born in Indiaand speaks Hindi and Punjabi, and can get by in Urdu, certainly helps. But herabilities often inspire pride among her Indian contacts, who see her as one oftheir own who has become a success. Gill lived in Indiauntil the age of ten when her father, a businessman, decided to move his familyto the UK.“I think the business was struggling a bit so he decided to up sticks and moveabroad,” she says.

She was educated in the UKand went on to attend LiverpoolUniversity where herinterest in social exclusion issues and housing was first awakened. Aftergraduating, she gained experience in the sector, working for housingassociations in Liverpool and London.“I was working with some of the most socially deprived people in the country atthe time and it was this experience that directly led me to decide to stand inthe European elections,” she recalls. Successfully elected in 1999 in thesprawling West Midlands region, she wasre-elected in 2004 and is second (behind Michael Cashman) on the Labour partylist for the elections next year. As an MEP and leader of parliament’sdelegation for relations with India,she has travelled to her former homeland several times.

Most recently she was in the headlines for holding a TigerDay in parliament where she called for greater EU-coordinated action to preventtigers from becoming extinct. Some might say it is an obscure subject, but Gillstill managed to engage the interest of, among others, the BBC and UK nationalnewspapers. “Recent figures show there may be only 1300 tigers left in India and by2025 the tiger may be extinct. Indiaalone cannot tackle this looming extinction. It is time for the EU to take astronger role in the international drive to save the tiger,” she said. She hasalso been at the forefront of a campaign to help parents of missing children,and spoke in support of Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missingfour-year-old Madeleine, when they addressed MEPs recently as part of theirefforts to bring in a dedicated alert system for abducted children. Gill saidthe proposed phone number - 116 000 - will work from phones across thecontinent and would mirror the ‘amber alert’ system in the US, whichallows police to use radio and television channels in different states if theybelieve a child has been abducted.

Her talents stretch far and wide – as far, in fact, as thehome of Real Madrid where she recently appeared as part of the European filmfestival on intercultural dialogue. Gill was asked to present her choice of aBritish film, which demonstrates how the dialogue between two cultures can beenhanced through the medium of film. Neena chose Bend it Like Beckham andappeared on the pitch of the famous Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, where David Beckham once played, todemonstrate her undoubted footballing skills.

Gill says the thing she most likes about being an MEP is thechance to meet, socialise and network with people from sometimes very differentpolitical and historical backgrounds. “I suppose it is the thing that sets usapart from, say, backbench MPs in the UK and that is what I love aboutit,” she said. On the downside, the 51-year-old says find the lack of publicawareness of the parliament and its members particularly frustrating. “We workhard but it is hard sometimes to sell the message to the public back home. I amnot blaming the press or anyone but it can be very, very frustrating.”

Gill is separated but has a 22-year-old son who, she says,harbours hopes of becoming a journalist. While reluctant to discuss herpersonal situation, she admits that the stresses and strains of being an MEP,not least the constant travelling it involves, may go some way to explain thehigh divorce rate. Even so, she enjoys her work, not least the fact that it hasenabled her to “reconnect” with her Indian homeland. “I firmly believe thatthere is huge potential for greater cooperation between the EU and India and thatis where is where I, as a possible go between, can possibly play a role.”