Stan Newens

Arthur Stanley Newens, known as Stan Newens, (born 4 February 1930) is a former British Labour Co-operative politician. He is a former Member of Parliament (MP) and Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

Newens received a history degree at University College, London and became a schoolteacher. At UCL, he met Anil Moonesinghe, a Sri Lankan Trotskyist (who was later to become a Cabinet Minister in Sri Lanka) and joined the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) faction led by Tony Cliff, which was later to become the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). He held several posts in the National Union of Teachers and was chairman of the Movement for Colonial Freedom and president of the London Co-operative Society.

Newens represented Epping 1964-70 and Harlow 1974-83 in Parliament. He became an MEP for London in 1984, serving until 1999. He held several senior positions including Vice Chair of the PLP Foreign Affairs Group and Deputy Leader of the Labour Group of MEPs. He was generally seen as a prominent left-winger, campaigning against the Vietnam War and for other international causes.

Newens has been an active trade unionist and co-operator and has written several books and pamphlets, including "Ceausescu" (1972).

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*Rayment