HILLARY Clinton has attacked the Tory party for the failure of Tory MEPs to censure Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban.
Delivering the keynote speech at a conference at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the former presidential candidate said the Tories had “come a long way from the party of Churchill or Thatcher”.
Last month, the Conservative group at the European parliament voted against measures to censure Hungary over its policies to reduce judicial independence and extend control over the media, as well as concerns about corruption.
The group, which was almost alone among centre-right parties in opposing the motion, argued the plan was counterproductive and would strengthen the authoritarian Orban domestically, but attracted criticism, including from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Muslim Council of Britain.
The censure motion was passed at the European parliament by 448 votes to 197.
In her address yesterday, Clinton raised concerns about attacks on global human rights, and said countries such as Hungary and Turkey were not real democracies, “just illiberal ones”.
“I hope the EU and the people of Europe will resist the backsliding we are seeing in the east. It’s disheartening to watch conservatives in Brussels vote to shield Viktor Orban from censure, including British Tories,” she said.
In a wide-ranging speech, Clinton also criticised Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and leaders in Poland, Egypt, the Philippines and her own country.
She also warned about the dangers of technology, saying it was a double-edged sword, with data now the world’s most dangerous commodity. During her speech, she referenced calls by the MPs Damian Collins and Tom Watson for a full, independent investigation into Russia’s role in the Brexit vote, and said: “I don’t understand why the press, the political establishment and the public are so reluctant to call out what the Russians have been doing – what they did in Brexit, what they did in the United States.”
Clinton also had strong words on European and US immigration policies, calling for an end to the latter’s “cruel abuses at the border”.
“Here in Europe, I add my voice to those warning about the risk of giving up on Schengen and the great benefits freedom of movement can deliver,” she said.
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