Daniel Hannan
February 5, 2010

Speech Topic:  "What's so great about America?:  A British perspective.”

Daniel Hannan, born 1971 in Lima, Peru, is a British politician and Member of the European Parliament for the South East England region for the Conservative Party.  He was first elected as the youngest member of the European Parliament in 1999, and was re-elected in top position in 2004.  He serves on the Internal Market Committee.

Hannan made national news headlines in August 2009 by criticizing the National Health Service on the FOX News Channel.  Amongst other comments, Hannan stated that he “wouldn’t wish” the NHS “on anyone”.  The comments sparked criticism and controversy from some quarters in the UK.

On March 24, 2009, after Gordon Brown had given a short speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in advance of the G20 London summit, Hannan followed up by delivering a 3-minute speech criticizing in very strong terms the response by Gordon Brown to the global financial crisis.  He finished the speech:  “You cannot spend your way out of a recession or borrow your way out of debt.”

Hannan is also quoted as saying, “It’s common sense that when you are in debt you spend less.  Anybody except a politician can see that.”

Hannan is also a journalist, writing leaders and a blog for The Daily Telegraph since 1996.  He has also published several books arguing for radical democratic reform.

He is married and has two young daughters.