Amédée Turner: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|British politician (1929–2021)}} |
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⚫ | '''Amédée Edward Turner''' |
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2021}} |
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⚫ | '''Amédée Edward Turner''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|QC}} (26 March 1929 – 13 September 2021) was a British [[barrister]] and politician, who served for fifteen years as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Member of the European Parliament]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/obituaries/suffolk-mep-amedee-turner-dies-at-westleton-home-8330702|title='Hard-working, eccentric and very good company' – Suffolk's first MEP remembered|work=[[East Anglian Daily Times]]|date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210918112526/https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/obituaries/suffolk-mep-amedee-turner-dies-at-westleton-home-8330702|archive-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> As an English patent lawyer he worked both in New York City and in London. A strong supporter of British membership of the [[European Union]], he resisted proposals to impose worker participation on British business, and eventually became Chief Whip of the European Democratic Group. After losing his seat he returned to business as a senior counsel in [[Brussels]]. |
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==Family and education== |
==Family and education== |
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Turner's mother, Ruth Hempson, came from a [[Huguenot]] |
Turner's mother, Ruth Hempson, came from a [[Huguenot]] Swiss family,<ref name="Debrett">"TURNER, Amédée Edward" in "Debrett's People of Today".</ref> and his parents moved in 1946 to a converted Jacobean barn<ref name="Garden">Kate Worsley, "Express your individuality in your own home", ''Sunday Times'', 3 June 2001.</ref> in [[Westleton]], Suffolk.<ref name="Engagement">"Forthcoming Marriages", ''The Times'', 2 August 1960, p. 10.</ref> His family were wealthy and he had a fee-paying education at Temple Grove [[Preparatory school (UK)|preparatory school]] in [[Heron's Ghyll]], Sussex, and [[Dauntsey's School]] in Wiltshire.<ref name="Who's Who">"TURNER, Amédée Edward" in "[[Who's Who]]".</ref> At [[Christ Church, Oxford]] he read law and in 1954 he was [[Call to the Bar|called to the bar]] by the [[Inner Temple]]. He immediately went into practice at the Patent Bar.<ref name="Debrett" /> |
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==Patent law== |
==Patent law== |
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In 1957, Turner was made an associate of Kenyon & Kenyon, patent attorneys, in |
In 1957, Turner was made an associate of Kenyon & Kenyon, patent attorneys, in New York City; he was an adviser on English patent law to American clients.<ref name="Times Guide 1964">"The Times House of Commons 1964", p. 139.</ref> He returned to London in 1960, to continue as a specialist in patent law,<ref name="Who's Who" /> and in the same year he married Deborah Dudley Owen, who was from an American family.<ref name="Engagement" /> In 1962 he wrote "The Law of Trade Secrets".<ref name="Who's Who" /> Turner acted for [[Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly and Co. Ltd.]] against the Chelsea Drug Chemical Co. Ltd for infringing the patent on [[penicillin]];<ref name="Penicillin case">"Penicillin: Judgment Reserved", ''The Times'', 9 September 1965, p. 19.</ref> he succeeded in persuading the Judge to grant the [[injunction]].<ref name="Penicillin injunction">"Penicillin: Company Restrained", ''The Times'', 14 September 1965, p. 13.</ref> |
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==Political candidate== |
==Political candidate== |
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Turner began writing study papers for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in 1950,<ref name="Who's Who" /> and was selected as candidate for [[Norwich North (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich North]] for the [[United Kingdom general election |
Turner began writing study papers for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in 1950,<ref name="Who's Who" /> and was selected as candidate for [[Norwich North (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich North]] for the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]]. Norwich North was a Labour-held seat and Turner was defeated by 6,491 votes, but the [[Swing (politics)|swing]] in the constituency was below 1% to Labour in contrast to a national trend of 3.2%.<ref name="Times Guide 1964" /> Reselected in March 1965,<ref name="Selected again">"Tory choice again for Norwich North", ''The Times'', 16 March 1965, p. 7.</ref> he fought the seat again in the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966 general election]] but suffered a 4.7% swing and lost by 8,926 votes.<ref name="Times Guide 1966">"The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1966", p. 161.</ref> |
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In the aftermath of [[Enoch Powell]]'s |
In the aftermath of [[Enoch Powell]]'s [[Rivers of Blood speech]] and during the passage of the [[Race Relations Act 1968]], Turner wrote to ''[[The Times]]'' to endorse the principle of a legal remedy for racial discrimination, but said that people were genuinely concerned at being "swamped by coloured people where they live". He argued that residents should be able to complain to a race relations board about overcrowding in a particular house, or an undue number of homes being taken over by coloured families.<ref name="Race relations">"Removing a fear" (letter), ''The Times'', 24 April 1968, p. 11.</ref> On his third attempt in Norwich North, Turner was again defeated at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]].<ref name="Times Guide 1970">"The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1970", p. 172-173.</ref> |
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==Europe== |
==Europe== |
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After twenty years' legal practice, Turner "took silk" in 1976 to become a [[Queen's Counsel]]. In 1978 he argued that there should be no prohibition on the Monarch taking communion from a Roman Catholic priest, nor on the Head of the [[Church of England]] marrying a Catholic, provided that the Monarch and heir to the throne remain Protestant Anglican.<ref name="Ecumenicism">"The Prince and the Pope", ''The Times'', 11 July 1978, p. 15.</ref> Having chambers in [[Munich]] as well as London gave Turner experience of business practice on the continent.<ref name="Munich chambers">David Wood, "Worker participation:the fifth directive goes into the shredder", ''The Times'', 21 February 1980, p. 21.</ref> When the [[European Parliament]] was opened to direct elections, Turner was chosen as Conservative candidate for Suffolk, and at the [[European Parliament election |
After twenty years' legal practice, Turner "took silk" in 1976 to become a [[Queen's Counsel]]. In 1978 he argued that there should be no prohibition on the Monarch taking communion from a Roman Catholic priest, nor on the Head of the [[Church of England]] marrying a Catholic, provided that the Monarch and heir to the throne remain Protestant Anglican.<ref name="Ecumenicism">"The Prince and the Pope", ''The Times'', 11 July 1978, p. 15.</ref> Having chambers in [[Munich]] as well as London gave Turner experience of business practice on the continent.<ref name="Munich chambers">David Wood, "Worker participation:the fifth directive goes into the shredder", ''The Times'', 21 February 1980, p. 21.</ref> When the [[European Parliament]] was opened to direct elections, Turner was chosen as Conservative candidate for Suffolk, and at the [[1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1979 election]] he was easily elected. |
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===Worker participation=== |
===Worker participation=== |
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Turner took heavy committee responsibilities at the European Parliament, where he was appointed vice-chairman of the Legal committee, as well as serving on the Economic and Monetary Committee, and the ACP Joint Assembly.<ref name="Debrett" /> In November 1979 he used his position on the Legal committee to argue against a European directive laying down a requirement on employers to consult with workers on major decisions affecting their workplace.<ref name="Worker participation hearing">Hugh Clayton, "Farmers to fight 'catastrophic' cuts proposed for EEC sugar production", ''The Times'', 19 November 1979, p. 17.</ref> The committee's final report, agreed in February 1980, was largely written by Turner and rejected the [[European Commission]]'s proposals which had been prepared eight years previously.<ref name="Worker participation">David Wood, "EEC draft on company law rejected", ''The Times'', 21 February 1980, p. 19.</ref> Later that year he also defeated the requirement for British companies to have 'worker |
Turner took heavy committee responsibilities at the European Parliament, where he was appointed vice-chairman of the Legal committee, as well as serving on the Economic and Monetary Committee, and the ACP Joint Assembly.<ref name="Debrett" /> In November 1979 he used his position on the Legal committee to argue against a European directive laying down a requirement on employers to consult with workers on major decisions affecting their workplace.<ref name="Worker participation hearing">Hugh Clayton, "Farmers to fight 'catastrophic' cuts proposed for EEC sugar production", ''The Times'', 19 November 1979, p. 17.</ref> The committee's final report, agreed in February 1980, was largely written by Turner and rejected the [[European Commission]]'s proposals which had been prepared eight years previously.<ref name="Worker participation">David Wood, "EEC draft on company law rejected", ''The Times'', 21 February 1980, p. 19.</ref> Later that year he also defeated the requirement for British companies to have 'worker directors'.<ref name="Worker directors">Paul Routledge, "Britain triumphs on worker directors", ''The Times'', 29 November 1980, p. 17.</ref> |
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===British membership=== |
===British membership=== |
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==European Parliament roles== |
==European Parliament roles== |
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Turner served on the Transport committee from 1981 to 1984, and on the Energy and Technology committee from 1983 to 1989. He was re-elected in a boundary-changed constituency in the [[European Parliament election |
Turner served on the Transport committee from 1981 to 1984, and on the Energy and Technology committee from 1983 to 1989. He was re-elected in a boundary-changed constituency in the [[1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1984]] and [[1989 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1989 elections]].<ref name="Debrett" /> Serving from 1984 to 1989 as the spokesman on energy research and technology for the European Democratic Group which included the Conservative MEPs, from 1989 to 1992 he was Chief [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] of the group.<ref name="Who's Who" /> When the Conservative MEPs joined the [[European People's Party]] in 1992, Turner was named chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs and Civil Rights.<ref name="Debrett" /> He was also a member of the EPP's ruling bureau.<ref name="Who's Who" /> |
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At the [[European Parliament election |
At the [[1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1994 election]], Turner fought for re-election in the Suffolk and South West Norfolk constituency. The [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] pointed to the fact that he had voted in 1990 to support a motion calling for "a European union on a federal basis" and economic and monetary union, including a single currency, which did not reflect Conservative policy.<ref name="Federalist">Andrew Grice, "F-word haunts 16 Euro-Tories", ''Sunday Times'', 29 May 1994.</ref> Turner ended up losing his seat to Labour's David Thomas.<ref name="Defeat">"Results from all the UK constituencies", ''The Independent'', 14 June 1994.</ref> |
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==Subsequent career== |
==Subsequent career== |
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Turner returned to work as senior counsel in [[Brussels]] to Oppenheimer, Wolff and Donnelly, a United States law firm. He also represented [[lobbying|lobbyists]] APCO Europe from 1995 to 1999 and WorldSpace Ltd from 1999 to 2001. From 1999 he was a director of CJA Consultants Ltd., becoming |
Turner returned to work as senior counsel in [[Brussels]] to Oppenheimer, Wolff and Donnelly, a United States law firm. He also represented [[lobbying|lobbyists]] APCO Europe from 1995 to 1999 and WorldSpace Ltd from 1999 to 2001. From 1999 he was a director of CJA Consultants Ltd., becoming chairman in 2004.<ref name="Who's Who" /> Turner assisted the Macedonian Parliament to play a fuller part in the political system, and revised its rules of procedure, in 2001–02 as part of the [[PHARE]] programme. He was a member of the Advisory Council to the Anglican Observer mission to the United Nations from 2002 to 2006.<ref name="Debrett" /> In 2005–06 he wrote a report on Anglican, [[Anglicanism|Episcopalian]] and Muslim discussions on the attitudes of lay Muslims to democracy and human rights in the US and Britain.<ref name="muslim report">Turner, AE. http://muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822010237/http://www.muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com/ |date=22 August 2018 }}</ref> In Jan 2014 he produced a 44 pp report entitled “Everything that is in the Qur’an described by a non-Muslim for non-Muslims”.<ref name="Qur'an">{{Cite web |url=http://www.muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com/index.php?page=the-qur-an-paper-2 |title=The Qur'an Paper |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031837/http://www.muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com/index.php?page=the-qur-an-paper-2 |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also wrote reports on patent litigation insurance for the European Commission in 2003 and 2006.<ref name="Who's Who" /> In 2017, he published “All the Qur’an in a 100 Pages by a Non-Muslim for Non-Muslims” (Amazon publication). |
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<www.muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com></ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.cjac.co.uk/3.htm Biography at CJA Consultants]. |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070912163245/http://www.cjac.co.uk/3.htm Biography at CJA Consultants]. |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Turner, Amedee |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British politician |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 26 March 1929 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
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| DATE OF DEATH = |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Amedee}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Amedee}} |
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[[Category:1929 births]] |
[[Category:1929 births]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:2021 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]] |
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]] |
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[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MEPs]] |
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MEPs]] |
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[[Category:Eli Lilly and Company]] |
[[Category:Eli Lilly and Company people]] |
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[[Category:English barristers]] |
[[Category:English barristers]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:MEPs for England 1979–1984]] |
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[[Category:MEPs for |
[[Category:MEPs for England 1984–1989]] |
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[[Category:MEPs for |
[[Category:MEPs for England 1989–1994]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]] |
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[[Category:English people of Swiss descent]] |
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[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]] |
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[[Category:21st-century King's Counsel]] |
Latest revision as of 15:15, 3 October 2022
Amédée Edward Turner QC (26 March 1929 – 13 September 2021) was a British barrister and politician, who served for fifteen years as a Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament.[1] As an English patent lawyer he worked both in New York City and in London. A strong supporter of British membership of the European Union, he resisted proposals to impose worker participation on British business, and eventually became Chief Whip of the European Democratic Group. After losing his seat he returned to business as a senior counsel in Brussels.
Family and education
[edit]Turner's mother, Ruth Hempson, came from a Huguenot Swiss family,[2] and his parents moved in 1946 to a converted Jacobean barn[3] in Westleton, Suffolk.[4] His family were wealthy and he had a fee-paying education at Temple Grove preparatory school in Heron's Ghyll, Sussex, and Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire.[5] At Christ Church, Oxford he read law and in 1954 he was called to the bar by the Inner Temple. He immediately went into practice at the Patent Bar.[2]
Patent law
[edit]In 1957, Turner was made an associate of Kenyon & Kenyon, patent attorneys, in New York City; he was an adviser on English patent law to American clients.[6] He returned to London in 1960, to continue as a specialist in patent law,[5] and in the same year he married Deborah Dudley Owen, who was from an American family.[4] In 1962 he wrote "The Law of Trade Secrets".[5] Turner acted for Eli Lilly and Co. Ltd. against the Chelsea Drug Chemical Co. Ltd for infringing the patent on penicillin;[7] he succeeded in persuading the Judge to grant the injunction.[8]
Political candidate
[edit]Turner began writing study papers for the Conservative Party in 1950,[5] and was selected as candidate for Norwich North for the 1964 general election. Norwich North was a Labour-held seat and Turner was defeated by 6,491 votes, but the swing in the constituency was below 1% to Labour in contrast to a national trend of 3.2%.[6] Reselected in March 1965,[9] he fought the seat again in the 1966 general election but suffered a 4.7% swing and lost by 8,926 votes.[10]
In the aftermath of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech and during the passage of the Race Relations Act 1968, Turner wrote to The Times to endorse the principle of a legal remedy for racial discrimination, but said that people were genuinely concerned at being "swamped by coloured people where they live". He argued that residents should be able to complain to a race relations board about overcrowding in a particular house, or an undue number of homes being taken over by coloured families.[11] On his third attempt in Norwich North, Turner was again defeated at the 1970 general election.[12]
Europe
[edit]After twenty years' legal practice, Turner "took silk" in 1976 to become a Queen's Counsel. In 1978 he argued that there should be no prohibition on the Monarch taking communion from a Roman Catholic priest, nor on the Head of the Church of England marrying a Catholic, provided that the Monarch and heir to the throne remain Protestant Anglican.[13] Having chambers in Munich as well as London gave Turner experience of business practice on the continent.[14] When the European Parliament was opened to direct elections, Turner was chosen as Conservative candidate for Suffolk, and at the 1979 election he was easily elected.
Worker participation
[edit]Turner took heavy committee responsibilities at the European Parliament, where he was appointed vice-chairman of the Legal committee, as well as serving on the Economic and Monetary Committee, and the ACP Joint Assembly.[2] In November 1979 he used his position on the Legal committee to argue against a European directive laying down a requirement on employers to consult with workers on major decisions affecting their workplace.[15] The committee's final report, agreed in February 1980, was largely written by Turner and rejected the European Commission's proposals which had been prepared eight years previously.[16] Later that year he also defeated the requirement for British companies to have 'worker directors'.[17]
British membership
[edit]With concern about the British contribution to the European Community budget, in July 1980 Turner argued in favour of a proposal from Transport Commissioner Ray Burke for providing EC funds to improve transport links; he believed the ports of Ipswich, Felixstowe, Harwich in his constituency would benefit from the investment, as well as British Rail.[18] In a debate with leading opponent of British membership Teddy Taylor in September 1981, Turner defended British membership and argued that there was no room for a "half-way house attitude" to the EEC.[19] Turner wanted to see a Europe-wide competition to design a flag of Europe, rather than adopting the Council of Europe's flag.[20]
European Parliament roles
[edit]Turner served on the Transport committee from 1981 to 1984, and on the Energy and Technology committee from 1983 to 1989. He was re-elected in a boundary-changed constituency in the 1984 and 1989 elections.[2] Serving from 1984 to 1989 as the spokesman on energy research and technology for the European Democratic Group which included the Conservative MEPs, from 1989 to 1992 he was Chief Whip of the group.[5] When the Conservative MEPs joined the European People's Party in 1992, Turner was named chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs and Civil Rights.[2] He was also a member of the EPP's ruling bureau.[5]
At the 1994 election, Turner fought for re-election in the Suffolk and South West Norfolk constituency. The Liberal Democrats pointed to the fact that he had voted in 1990 to support a motion calling for "a European union on a federal basis" and economic and monetary union, including a single currency, which did not reflect Conservative policy.[21] Turner ended up losing his seat to Labour's David Thomas.[22]
Subsequent career
[edit]Turner returned to work as senior counsel in Brussels to Oppenheimer, Wolff and Donnelly, a United States law firm. He also represented lobbyists APCO Europe from 1995 to 1999 and WorldSpace Ltd from 1999 to 2001. From 1999 he was a director of CJA Consultants Ltd., becoming chairman in 2004.[5] Turner assisted the Macedonian Parliament to play a fuller part in the political system, and revised its rules of procedure, in 2001–02 as part of the PHARE programme. He was a member of the Advisory Council to the Anglican Observer mission to the United Nations from 2002 to 2006.[2] In 2005–06 he wrote a report on Anglican, Episcopalian and Muslim discussions on the attitudes of lay Muslims to democracy and human rights in the US and Britain.[23] In Jan 2014 he produced a 44 pp report entitled “Everything that is in the Qur’an described by a non-Muslim for non-Muslims”.[24] He also wrote reports on patent litigation insurance for the European Commission in 2003 and 2006.[5] In 2017, he published “All the Qur’an in a 100 Pages by a Non-Muslim for Non-Muslims” (Amazon publication).
References
[edit]- ^ "'Hard-working, eccentric and very good company' – Suffolk's first MEP remembered". East Anglian Daily Times. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "TURNER, Amédée Edward" in "Debrett's People of Today".
- ^ Kate Worsley, "Express your individuality in your own home", Sunday Times, 3 June 2001.
- ^ a b "Forthcoming Marriages", The Times, 2 August 1960, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "TURNER, Amédée Edward" in "Who's Who".
- ^ a b "The Times House of Commons 1964", p. 139.
- ^ "Penicillin: Judgment Reserved", The Times, 9 September 1965, p. 19.
- ^ "Penicillin: Company Restrained", The Times, 14 September 1965, p. 13.
- ^ "Tory choice again for Norwich North", The Times, 16 March 1965, p. 7.
- ^ "The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1966", p. 161.
- ^ "Removing a fear" (letter), The Times, 24 April 1968, p. 11.
- ^ "The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1970", p. 172-173.
- ^ "The Prince and the Pope", The Times, 11 July 1978, p. 15.
- ^ David Wood, "Worker participation:the fifth directive goes into the shredder", The Times, 21 February 1980, p. 21.
- ^ Hugh Clayton, "Farmers to fight 'catastrophic' cuts proposed for EEC sugar production", The Times, 19 November 1979, p. 17.
- ^ David Wood, "EEC draft on company law rejected", The Times, 21 February 1980, p. 19.
- ^ Paul Routledge, "Britain triumphs on worker directors", The Times, 29 November 1980, p. 17.
- ^ "EEC's transport funds for the UK" (letter), The Times, 7 July 1980, p. 18.
- ^ "EEC 'may curb expansion of farming'", The Times, 4 September 1981, p. 5.
- ^ George Clark, "MEPs filch 12-star flag of Europe", The Times, 12 April 1983, p. 8.
- ^ Andrew Grice, "F-word haunts 16 Euro-Tories", Sunday Times, 29 May 1994.
- ^ "Results from all the UK constituencies", The Independent, 14 June 1994.
- ^ Turner, AE. http://muslim-grass-roots-discuss-democracy.com Archived 22 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Qur'an Paper". Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
External links
[edit]- 1929 births
- 2021 deaths
- Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
- Conservative Party (UK) MEPs
- Eli Lilly and Company people
- English barristers
- MEPs for England 1979–1984
- MEPs for England 1984–1989
- MEPs for England 1989–1994
- Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
- English people of Swiss descent
- 20th-century King's Counsel
- 21st-century King's Counsel