Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker

Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker, PC ( born June 5, 1941) is a British politician who sat from 1974 to 2001 as a Labour MP for the constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr in the House. Later, he sat as a life peer in the House of Lords. He spent a year as Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs. He left Labour after his appointment as chairman of the Food Standards Agency and now sits as a cross Bencher in the House of Lords.

Early life

Rooker comes from the working class, his father was a factory worker. After school he went to the Handsworth Technical School and College (later City College Birmingham). He spent 14 years working as a production engineer in various companies in the Birmingham area and then Lecturer at the Lanchester Polytechnic. From Aston University him an honorary doctorate was awarded in 2001. He also has a degree at Warwick University. In 1966 he ran unsuccessfully for the city council of Birmingham.

Parliamentary career

Rooker was nominated in October 1971 as a candidate for the constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr and won the seat in 1974. 1977 he aroused, although backbenchers, public attention when he brought in the so-called Rooker - Wise amendment together with Audrey Wise. Result, the tax rates of the Einkaommenssteuer were adjusted for inflation to avoid cold progression .. The BBC praised this legislative initiative as one of the rare copies of the direct influence of Hinterbänkleren on tax policy.

Rooker made ​​one unsuccessful attempt, the German General Wilhelm Mohnke to bring in 1940 because of previous war crimes.

From 1997, he held various junior ministerial posts. These were mainly located in the area of ​​agriculture, social welfare, immigration and local politics, as well as Northern Ireland. In August 2005 he became the first Minister for Children and Youth for Northern Ireland. He was Minister of State in the Ministry for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Later he became deputy chairman of the House of Lords, but resigned in October 2008.

Lord Rooker is Vice President of the Birmingham Civic Society. From January 2008 he was head of Aston University. His appointment as Minister for Animal Welfare has been umstrizzen which he entered open for hunting. As a result, many emails and letters from animal rights activists with complaints to the Labour Party arrived.

In July 2009 he was appointed Chairman of the Food Standards Agency and resigned as Labour Party Whip back.

Views

Jeff Rooker speaks openly for genetically modified foods. At a Labour Party conference in September 2008, he accused the opponents ' Ignuranz ".

Personal

In 1972 he married Angela Edwards. In 2003, he widowed. In 2010 he married his second wife, Helen. He has two stepchildren.