European shipping's dirty secret

When I travel to Brussels to the European Parliament, I never fly, for the same reason that many others choose not to - frequent flying is a disaster for the planet.

Instead, I sometimes take the ferry, from Harwich in my East of England constituency to the Hook of Holland.

Sailing out from Harwich into the North Sea at night, I can see the lights of countless huge ships heading to and from Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, just across the bay.

Ships carrying t...