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		What's Old - Archived stories from the "What's New" section [  July - December 2009  |  January - June 2009  |  July - December 2008  |  January - June 2008  ] [  July - December 2007  |  January - June 2007  |  July - December 2006  |  January - June 2006  ] [  July - December 2005  |  January - June 2005  |  July - December 2004  |  January - June 2004  ] [  July - December 2003  |  January - June 2003  |  July - December 2002  |  April - June 2002  ] Letter to the Editor - Nottingham Evening Post - Tuesday 9 December 2003 L. G. Arnott (Letters, 8 Dec) complains that MEPs only come out when an election is in the offing, and are unwilling to debate. Wrong on both counts. Government must step in and stop battery mountain - Monday, 8 December 2003 Local Euro-MP Roger Helmer has called for the government to step in and stop a looming battery mountain. A recent decision by the European Commission to adopt a new Battery Directive will require the collection and recycling of all batteries placed on the EU market. International League for the Protection of Horses reception - 8 December 2003 Photographs from the ILPH reception which Roger sponsored in Brussels Ban cat and dog fur, says MEP - Wednesday, 3 December 2003 At a meeting in Brussels today, local celebrities including Belgian footballer Gilles de Bilde and model Phaedra Hoste joined East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer in calling for a Europe-wide ban on cat and dog fur. EU Calls Rocking Horses 'Foul Play' - Tuesday, 2 December 2003 Rocking horses could be banned if new EU safety laws are introduced in the UK. The laws, which are currently being discussed by the European Committee for Standardisation, insist that the height of seats on children's toys must not exceed 600mm (2ft). Good news for herbal medicines and health food shops - Tuesday, 2 December 2003 Today the Environment Committee in the European Parliament voted through a Second Reading on the proposed EU Herbal Medicines Directive, which should be good news for UK consumers and industry, according to a local Euro-MP. Letter to the Editor - Nottingham Evening Post - Monday, 1 December 2003 Keith Ward (Letters, 26/11) calls for an end to letters from "sad, single-issue campaigners" who write to challenge the so-called benefits of Britain's EU membership. He calls for "more informed debate". Letter to the Editor - Lincolnshire Echo - Monday, 1 December 2003 Lib-Dem MEP Bill Newton Dunn sets out to de-bunk accusations that the EU is full of "crackpot suggestions" (article, Nov 26th). He says they are like the famous "straight bananas" story, and denies there ever was such an EU law. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Monday, 1 December 2003 Graham Howard (letters, 17 November) accuses me, and the entire Conservative Party, of "hypocrisy" because we are demanding a referendum on the draft EU Constitution, despite the fact that we never demanded one at earlier stages of the European process. Letter to the Editor - Nottingham Evening Post - Wednesday, 19 November 2003 Mr. J. Bower (letters, 14/11) asks why the Conservative party opposes "a treaty being negotiated by 25 EU nations to make enlargement work". All I can say to Mr. Bower is that he ought to read the document (it's a Constitution, by the way, not a treaty), and he will see that he's been taken in by Brussels propaganda. Letter to the Editor - Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Friday 28 November 2003 Sally Keeble's exposé on the sickening - and worsening - human rights situation in Zimbabwe (Headline, 18 November) is one that many people will be both shocked and appalled by. EU flag forced on our fleets - Tuesday, 25 November 2003 Merchant fleets will be forced to put the European flag on the Red Ensign that identifies them as British, following a vote today in the European Parliament. Letter to the Editor - Financial Times - Monday, 24 November 2003 Kirsty Hughes, seeking to promote the EU's draft Constitution (letters, Nov 20th), offers us a mish-mash of error and confusion. Constitution vote demanded - Saturday, 25 November 2003 People should have their say on the proposed European constitution in a referendum, according to a Derby councillor. Letter to the Editor - Nottingham Evening Post - Wednesday, 19 November 2003 Mr. J. Bower (letters, 14/11) asks why the Conservative party opposes "a treaty being negotiated by 25 EU nations to make enlargement work". All I can say to Mr. Bower is that he ought to read the document (it's a Constitution, by the way, not a treaty), and he will see that he's been taken in by Brussels propaganda. Letter to the Editor - Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Tuesday, 18 November 2003 Derek Clark of UKIP derides the Conservative position on the proposed EU constitution, and our demand for a referendum (letter, 15/11). He falls into the trap that has dogged euro-sceptics for years. Letter to the Editor - Wednesday, 5 November 2003 Can it be just coincidence that Chancellor Gordon Brown has chosen Guy Fawkes Day to set off his own powder-keg under Labour's EU policy? Chesterfield Conservatives raise over £100 for local School - Tuesday, 4 November 2003 Chesterfield Conservatives raised over £100 for Ashgate Croft School, and attracted a top line up of guest speakers including Roger Helmer MEP and Pauline Latham OBE. EU challenge to hunt ban - Monday, 3 November 2003 Local Euro-MP Roger Helmer is raising the question whether a ban on fox-hunting could represent an infringement of EU Single Market rules. Letter to the Editor - Friday, 31 October 2003 Labour MEP Phillip Whitehead complains that the threat to the name of Waterloo Station is a "Euro myth". Letter to the Editor - Monday, 27 October 2003 As we Conservatives launch our national petition for a referendum on the proposed EU Constitution, some people are saying that the issue is too big and too complicated for voters to understand. They're wrong. And they're under-estimating the voters. Organ trafficking must be wiped out - Wednesday, 22 October 2003 Trafficking in human organs should be made illegal across the EU following a vote tomorrow in the European Parliament. Conservative MEPs have launched a campaign ahead of the vote to raise awareness of the UK Organ Donation scheme. Save our historic place names - Friday, 17 October 2003 Local Tory MEP Roger Helmer has ridiculed a call by an EU official for Britain to stop using names like Waterloo Station and Trafalgar Square. Letter to the Editor - Lincolnshire Echo - Tuesday, 14 October 2003 Euro supporters love to claim that the euro is promoting trade between euro-land countries, and that Britain is losing out by being "isolated" outside. But dramatic new figures from Deutsche Bundesbank, the German Central Bank, and published in the UK by the think-tank Global Britain, show that the opposite is true. Letter to the Editor - Derby Evening Telegraph - Monday, 13 October 2003 It appears that Bombardier has excess production capacity in Europe, and is looking to close factories. The Derby factory, in terms of costs and productivity, is towards the top of the league, so it ought to be safe. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Wednesday, 1 October 2003 I have some sympathy with the views of K .Somerset (Sept 24th), who points out the limitations to the powers of the European parliament. However, he is on shaky ground when he argues that any powers the European parliament has are based on the authority and consent of national parliaments. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Wednesday, 24 September 2003 Lib-Dem euro-hopeful Richard Church (Letters 19 Sept) attacks what he calls my "complacency", and tries to make the inward investment argument for the euro. He obviously hasn't been following his own party's policy too closely. MEPs call for EU ban on cat and dog fur trade - Tuesday, 23 September 2003 Following the exposure of the European cat and dog fur trade in May, East Midlands MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris, are calling for an EU-wide ban in the European Parliament. MEPs hail Swedish no to euro - Monday, 15 September 2003 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton Harris today hailed the No vote in the Swedish referendum as a victory for common sense. Reprieve for UK mortgage industry & credit market - Thursday, 11 September 2003 Planned new laws which would have severely damaged the UK mortgage market and credit were rejected today in the European Parliament. Swedes threatened with second euro-poll - Wednesday, 10 September 2003 A British Lib-Dem MEP told Swedish voters in Stockholm yesterday that if they got the "Wrong" answer in their euro-referendum on Sunday, by voting NO, they would just have to vote again until they got the "right" answer. EU Constitution: time for a referendum - Tuesday, 9 September 2003 The Government today released their White Paper on the proposed European Constitution ahead of the Intergovernmental Conference which begins on 4 October. Cheap share deals get a reprieve - Wednesday, 3 September 2003 Crucial amendments to ensure that the cost of buying and selling shares does not rise by up to 20 times were made by the European Parliament today. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted on the Investment Services Directive (ISD), which threatened low-cost, 'execution-only' share dealing. German diplomat condemned by MEP - Monday, 1 September 2003 Today in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer condemned a German diplomat in Estonia, Mr. Carsten Wilms, for a clear violation of the Vienna Convention, which governs the behaviour of diplomats in host countries. MEP supports ILPH on transportation - Monday, 11 August 2003 East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer is meeting with the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) on Monday 11th August to discuss the issue of live animal transportation. Roger Helmer, who has been campaigning on the issue in the European Parliament, will be taking part in a filmed interview on animal transportation to be used in a documentary for the Anglia TV series Cover Story. County Council defies public on EU poll - Friday, 18 July 2003 Yesterday, Northampton County Council rejected a call for a referendum on the proposed EU Constitution, despite evidence that nearly 90% of voters want a chance to have their say. "Let the people decide" - MEPs Support Referendum Ballot - Thursday, 17 July 2003 East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer will be supporting Northamptonshire County Council's Conservative Group today at it's Full Council Meeting at 2pm. Support for coursing at RSPCA AGM - Tuesday, 1 July 2003 RSPCA members at their AGM at the National Motorcycle Museum at Solihull on June 28th were astonished - and many shocked - to hear a Euro-MP speak up for coursing.