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		No UK money for Greek bail-out Thursday, 11th February 2010 A local MEP has insisted that no British tax-payers' money should be used to fund the proposed bail-out for the stricken Greek economy. Commenting on the fact that Prime Minister Gordon Brown last Wednesday refused to rule out a British contribution, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer argued that if the Euro-Zone was unable to put together a rescue plan, then Greece should go to the IMF, as Britain had to do in 1976 when Denis Healey was the Labour Chancellor. The IMF exists in part to carry out just this kind of rescue operation when necessary. Helmer points out that Britain's own current fiscal deficit in percentage terms is much the same as for Greece, and it is therefore absurd that British tax-payers should be called on to assist the Greek bail-out. Commenting in Strasbourg today, Helmer said: "When we argued that Britain should not join the euro, we warned of precisely the sort of problems which are now besetting Greece, and indeed the other Club-Med euro-zone countries like Spain and Portugal. We in Britain kept the Pound explicitly so that we could avoid being caught up in problems like this. It would be outrageous if we were now to contribute voluntarily to activity which we had worked so hard to avoid". Matthew Sinclair of the Taxpayers' Alliance, quoted in a national press report, says: "Ordinary families are facing a big enough bill for the massive debt being run up to pay for our own politicians’ wasteful spending. The last thing they need is to be asked to pay for years of irresponsibility from Greece’s political leaders and unions as well".