Ex-EastEnder wins justice award
Former soap star turned MEP, Michael Cashman, has come top of the poll in a vote by his parliamentary colleagues in the Justice and Human Rights category.
The Parliament Magazine hosted the awards ceremony in Brussels where the award for Justice and Human Rights was sponsored by Wilberforce 2007.
Cashman, the MEP for West Midlands, was nominated in the MEP 2007 awards in recognition of a lifetime campaigning across a wide range of issues, from pensions to gay rights. He lists his principal political interests as fighting to defend human rights, civil liberties and to eradicate poverty.
For seven years Cashman has also been a senior member of the Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice & Home Affairs Committee. He is the 1st Vice Chair on the Petitions Committee, and a substitute member of the Regional Development Committee and the Sub-committee on Human Rights.
Although widely known for playing the Colin Russell character on BBC’s EastEnders, Michael was also a prominent campaigner for equal rights and was a founder member of Stonewall, the campaign group which fights for equality for lesbians, gay men and bi-sexuals. It was through his campaigning that he eventually became a Labour Member of the European Parliament.
A spokesman for The Parliament Magazine, which organised the awards, said:
“Too often the work of MEPs goes unnoticed and unrecognised. We hope that by recognising the achievements of a few that this will translate to a wider appreciation of the contribution MEPs make.”
Published: 10/10/07
