No sects please, we’re MEPs

Date: 22/05/1997

UK Labour Euro MP David Hallam has leapt to the defence of a religious group called the 'Christian Fellowship', whose activities have been condemned in a Belgian government report.

Apparently, this underground organisation has been under surveillance by the

Belgian authorities. And what secret dark doings did the monitoring unit uncover?

It found half a dozen European Parliament researchers who meet privately in Hallam's office because their leader is the MEP's own assistant.

Hallam is furious that the Belgians have cast doubt over the group's bona fides and that the CF has not been given a chance to answer accusations of, amongst other things, recruiting within the European Parliament.

Hallam wants to know what the Belgians were doing conducting surveillance on parliamentary premises, which have extra-territorial status.

He is also citing Article 9 of the Human Rights Convention, which safeguards freedom of religion. The CF meetings in his office are not secret, he says - just private. In other words, the Belgians would be better off doing some real surveillance on the streets and catching criminals.