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		Conservatives Call for Kilroy to Quit Wednesday, 19th November 2008 While MEP and former TV personality Robert Kilroy Silk earns £15,000 in the outback for his appearance on "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here!", calls are growing for him to quit the European parliament. Other regional MEPs have pointed out that the real issue isn't his jungle jaunt. The real issue is that he hasn't been pulling his weight ever since he was elected in 2004. Now the figures are out. Other East Midlands MEPs have an attendance record in the last two years of around 90%. The figure for Kilroy is 39.2% -- less than half the average of the others. Since the last Euro-elections, Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has spoken 58 times in the parliament, Chris Heaton-Harris MEP 69 times, Glenis Willmott MEP (Lab) 30 times -- but Kilroy just seven. Helmer and Heaton-Harris have each sponsored 3 Written Declarations over the period: Kilroy none. The one area where Kilroy leads all his colleagues is on parliamentary questions. He has asked no fewer than 1580 (his regional colleagues range from 17 to 255). This is the highest number for any MEP in the parliament. With the estimated cost of answering each question at around €200, Kilroy has spent some €300,000 of tax-payers' money on parliamentary questions. But as Helmer points out, "The Written Question is the one parliamentary activity which Kilroy can carry out remotely -- for example via a lap-top by the pool-side at his villa in Spain, while topping-up his perma-tan". Moreover many of his questions are trivial and time-wasting. He asked whether the European Commission would investigate the absurd suggestion that Marks and Spencers uses distorting mirrors in its changing rooms to make women look slimmer in M&S dresses. Kilroy is almost never seen in the East Midlands region he is supposed to represent. Heaton-Harris once offered a bottle of champagne for the first sighting of Kilroy in the region. It was never claimed. Commenting on Kilroy's performance, Helmer says: "Kilroy is taking the mickey. He is treating voters and tax-payers with contempt. He is taking the money and not doing the job. It is time for him to go". Helmer points out that to keep his full office allowance, an MEP needs to attend at least half of the monthly Plenary Sessions in Strasbourg -- which Kilroy does. To keep his daily allowance in Strasbourg, he needs to participate in at least half of the recorded votes. But while other MEPs mostly vote "Yes" or "No", and only abstain occasionally, Helmer (who overlooks Kilroy's seat in the Strasbourg "Hemicycle") reports that Kilroy almost always abstains. As Heaton-Harris puts it, "Kilroy may be in the jungle for a fortnight, but he's been in the wilderness for years".