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		MEP defiant over President's financial penalty Thursday, 13th March 2008 Earlier this week in the European Parliament, Roger Helmer MEP, was among a group of MEPs punished by the President, Hans-Gert Pottering, for taking part in a demonstration in the Chamber in December 07, demanding national referenda on the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Helmer has been subjected to a £600 fine. Commenting, the Conservative MEP said:- "I'm not surprised by the President's vindictive action, not least because it is the product of a most flawed process in which Hans-Gert Pottering was both my accuser and my judge. Such defiance of the basic rules of natural justice is hardly likely to produce an equitable outcome. "If the President thinks his punitive action will subdue my demands, on behalf of my constituents, for the right to vote on their own future, then he is sadly mistaken. If £600 is the price of free speech in Strasbourg and of speaking up for the people of the UK, then so be it! "Whatever, the injustice done to the protesting MEPs, it pales into insignificance when compared with the great undemocratic injustice being done to the peoples of Europe by denying them a say on the radical changes in governance which the Lisbon Treaty will bring. There have been recent postal ballots by the "I Want a Referendum" campaign in ten Westminster constituencies, including Gedling in the East Midlands, in which 88% of voters wanted a referendum, and 89% rejected the Treaty. The turnout, at over 36%, was described by commentators as "stunning" for a private poll. Over 150,000 voters responded altogether. In six constituencies, including Gedling, the number of votes for a referendum was greater than the number cast for the incumbent MP in the 2005 General Election. "I will exercise my right of appeal to the Bureau of the Parliament, both to expose the farcical nature of the President's process and to underscore my belief in my actions."