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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  ] Blair shows his true European colours - Daily Telegraph Editorial - Thursday, 22nd December 2005 As a consummate actor, the Prime Minister knows the importance of measuring his words. Therefore it was notable that he should have launched such a petulant outburst two days ago in response to hostile questioning from British MEPs. "EU rebate sell-out is treachery" - Tuesday, 20th December 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair today faced a scathing attack over his EU budget sell-out from East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer. Mr Helmer, the first British Conservative to speak in the debate in the Brussels parliament, attacked the Prime Minister’s ‘treacherous’ rebate proposals and claimed Mr Blair had failed both the country and the people of the East Midlands. Move to stop bear bile farming in China - Friday, 16th December 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has today welcomed the passing of a written declaration in the European Parliament that condemns the practice of bear farming in China and calls on the Chinese government to desist. In China, bears are frequently ‘milked’ for their bile using horrific methods of bile extraction that causes severe physical pain. MEPs welcome Cameron victory - Tuesday, 6th December 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris have today expressed their delight at David Cameron’s election as the new Conservative Leader. Voting in the postal ballot of the 253,600 party membership ended yesterday with Mr Cameron achieving 134,446 votes over his rival, the Shadow Home Secretary David Davis’ 64,398. Notts campaign goes to Brussels! - Wednesday, 30th November 2005 In a bid to raise the profile of the county as a tourist and business destination, "Experience Nottinghamshire", the county's Destination Management organisation, has launched a logo in the form of a bold letter "N". Montreal Meeting - Daily Telegraph - Tuesday, 29th November 2005 Media reports on the Montreal "Son of Kyoto" meeting are presenting the USA as totally intransigent, and totally reckless in the face of the "global catastrophe" of climate change. They are mistaken. If we look at the latest reliable data on changes in aggregate Greenhouse Gas Emissions since 1990, on the UNFCCC website, we find that the USA at +14% is well below several European countries (Greece, Spain, Monaco), and ironically, also below the Montreal host country, Canada, at +20%. Fury as EU plans to scrap Red Ensign - Monday, 28th November 2005 Roger Helmer MEP has reacted with dismay to the news that the European Commission is to revive a plan to scrap the famous Red Ensign - despite a successful campaign led by Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament against the idea two years ago. MEP visits British Geographical Survey - Monday, 28th November 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer today was today in Keyworth, Nottingham to visit one of the United Kingdom's premier centres for earth science information and expertise. He was at the headquarters of the British Geographical Survey, which is a public sector organisation, responsible for advising the UK government on all aspects of geoscience. Letter to the Editor - Various East Mids publications - Monday, 28th November 2005 Two years ago I and my fellow Conservative MEPs led a successful campaign in the European Parliament to save the Red Ensign from abolition. This flag has been the symbol of Britain's merchant navy for hundreds of years. The European Commission had wanted to impose a standardised EU flag on all European shipping. Spanish land relief for British expats - Thursday, 24th November 2005 Cross-party cooperation between British Conservative and Labour MEPs in the European Parliament today could help provide relief for thousands of British and East Midlands home owners in Spain. Britishness - Lincolnshire Echo - Thursday, 24th November 2005 There's more to Britishness than warm beer and the thwack of leather on willow. ('Do Rain and tea make us British, Echo 15th Nov). Our very special history as an island nation has created a unique sense of identity, and a unique outlook on the world. We are a great global trading nation, and the world's second largest global investor. East Midlands hustings confirm support for Cameron - Monday, 14th November 2005 Leadership contenders David Cameron and David Davis today addressed a packed hall at the Walker Stadium in Leicester in the first of the Conservative Party’s traditional leadership hustings. The East Midlands hustings was the first in a series of 11 meetings around the country which are designed to allow members the opportunity to quiz both candidates on a wide variety of issues. Letter to the Editor - Various local publications - Thursday, 10th November 2005 I was delighted to read your recent coverage highlighting local anger at the proposed wind factory at Airfield Farm, on the Northamptonshire / Bedfordshire borders. On Sunday, I attended an exhibition at Podington organised by the Committee to Limit Onshore Windfarm Development, CLOWD which are opposed to this proposal of erecting nine 400ft turbines and wish to offer my full support to the campaign. MEP helps top tourist spot - Tuesday, 8th November 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer today re-visited one of Leicestershire's top tourist attractions to give his support to an ongoing £2.8 million project to conserve and improve elements of Foxton Locks. Save our Sausages - Tuesday, 8th November 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris today welcomed a Lincolnshire butcher to the European Parliament in Brussels as they backed a Lincolnshire Echo campaign to Save the Lincolnshire Sausage. Leadership Election - Statement from East Midlands Conservative MEPs - Monday, 7th November 2005 We have looked carefully at the two remaining candidates for the Conservative Leadership, and we have decided that David Cameron offers the Party the best prospect of returning to government at the next General Election. We will be voting for him, and we would urge all East Midlands Conservatives to vote for him too. Is Labour about to join the EPP? - Monday, 7th November 2005 On October 26th, Roger spoke in the Tony Blair debate in Strasbourg and suggested that as "Mr. Hans-Gert Poettering of the EPP is as New Labour as they come", Blair might like to pull his MEPs out of the socialist PES group, and apply to join the EPP instead. Perhaps Tony is taking Roger's advice -- here he is seen shaking hands with Herr Poettering. US public policy institute honours MEP - Friday, 4th November 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer today became the first international legislator member of ALEC when he was presented with the International Membership Certificate by Representative Earl Ehrhart (GA) ALEC's 2005 National Chairman. Leicestershire girl in Euro job - Tuesday, 1st November 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP for Leicestershire Roger Helmer is today pleased to announce the appointment of the newest member of his international team, Leicestershire student Keeley Boyd. Letter to the Editor - The Times - Tuesday, 1st November 2005 Your article on David Cameron's position regarding Tory MEPs and the EPP group presents a very one-sided view. You describe the EPP as "the main right-wing party in the European parliament". But the EPP itself angrily rejects the term "right-wing", and insists that it is a centre party. On many social and employment issues, the EPP is to the left of New Labour, and indeed to the left of the European Liberals. Outrage as live animals used as shark bait - Thursday, 27th October 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has today condemned the use of live shark bait, regularly used by fisherman on the French controlled island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It has been well documented by the British press and campaigns by well respected animal welfare charities that fishermen are regularly rounding up stray cats and dogs to use as live bait. 'Wreckage of shattered dreams': Blair in Strasbourg - Wednesday, 26th October 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair today faced a scathing attack from East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer. Blair was addressing the European parliament in Strasbourg, to report on the start of Britain's six-month EU Presidency, which is widely regarded in Brussels as a failure. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Tuesday, 18th October 2005 Mr. Pollard (Mailbox, 18th October) says I am totally confused. Not so confused as he is, though! He says that "The European Arrest Warrant has nothing to do with the UK's police reorganisation". Not directly, no. But the proposed regional police forces bear an uncanny resemblance to the "European regions" into which our country is being split. Melton twinning event a big success - Monday, 17th October 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer was this week a key note speaker at a Town Twinning event at Melton Community College, held to celebrate Melton’s links with Sochaczew in Poland. Roger's Conservative Whip: the saga continues - Wednesday, 12th October 2005 On September 27th, the leader of the Conservative MEPs Timothy Kirkhope conducted a "Review Panel" to look into the issue of the suspension of Roger's whip. The conclusions of the Review were announced to Roger in a letter of October 12th from Timothy Kirkhope. Hunting ban raised in Brussels - Wednesday, 12th October 2005 Speaking in a European parliament plenary session today, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has attacked the Labour government's controversial ban on hunting with hounds. During a debate on the subject of circuses Helmer argued that for hunting, as well as for circuses, there were genuine and legitimate animal welfare concerns, but in neither case should these be used as a pretext to ban the activity. Rebuttal - Letter to the Editor - Derby Evening Telegraph - Monday, 10th October 2005 You say that I "would consider it a point of principle to leave the Conservative Party if Ken Clarke became leader" What I said was that I should have difficulty reconciling myself to a Clarke leadership. I have said before, and say again, that I have always been a Conservative and expect, sooner or later, to die as a Conservative. Fox’s Euro changes welcomed In East Mids - Friday, 30th September 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Chris Heaton-Harris and Roger Helmer today welcomed Liam Fox’s announcement that he would withdraw the Tories from the European People's Party in the European Parliament, if elected party leader. Being Conservative: A Cornerstone of Policies to Revive Tory Britain - Friday, 30th September 2005 A renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the European Union; radical reform of health and education; and taking millions of low paid workers and pensioners out of tax; should be at the heart of Conservative policy, members of the Cornerstone Group of Tory MPs, including key shadow ministers, say in a pamphlet published today. “Partnership better than membership” for Turkey - Wednesday, 28th September 2005 As the question of Turkish membership of the EU comes under debate, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer today spoke to a packed Parliament in favour of a "Privileged Partnership" for Turkey with the EU, rather than full membership. Battle of Britain remembered by MEP - Thurday, 22nd September 2005 Marking the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer is pictured with a pewter scale model of a Spitfire, which he keeps in pride of place in his office in the European parliament in Brussels. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Tuesday, 20th September 2005 David Pollard (Mailbox, September 20) says we need MEPs who will campaign for the benefit of the people of the East Midlands. Chris Heaton-Harris and I have been doing just that since we were first elected in 1999. But in drawing attention to the poor record of Robert Kilroy-Silk in the European parliament, we are not, as Mr. Pollard suggests, "wasting time in petty squabbles". Euro-judges rule in favour of integration - Monday, 12th September 2005 Eighteen months ago, Roger Helmer was one of 25 MEPs to launch a legal challenge against the proposal to establish state-funded European political parties. The legislation provided for trans-national parties, to be supported by the taxpayer, contesting elections across the EU. To qualify, a party would need to “accept the values of the EU, as set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms”— a clause evidently designed to bar Euro-sceptics from recognition. Builders' bums still under threat: UKIP and Labour support new EU law - Friday, 9th September 2005 Conservative MEPs today narrowly failed in their attempt to scrap the infamous "sunshine directive" - because UKIP MEPs voted against an amendment which would have removed natural sunlight altogether from the scope of a draft EU law at the European Parliament in Strasbourg this afternoon. Ashes sing-along in Strasbourg - Tuesday, 6th September 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Chris Heaton-Harris and Roger Helmer joined UK staff at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today to belt out the hymn 'Jerusalem' in support of England's cricketers. Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris, who organised the impromptu outburst of patriotism, led the singing of the hymn (words by William Blake) in the middle of the modernist circular tower where MEPs have their offices. Builders' bums and bar-maids' bosoms: MEP savages sun-tan rules - Tuesday, 6th September 2005 Today in the Strasbourg parliament, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer launched a scathing attack on the EU's proposals to make employers responsible for employees' sunburn. The Optical Radiation Directive, under debate in the parliament, includes "natural sources of radiation" - primarily the sun. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Monday, 5th September 2005 The extraordinary anti-British tirade from Ivan Crooks (Mailbox, 22 August) demands a response. If he thinks Britain is so repulsive, perhaps he should live somewhere else. MEPs back British pint - Monday, 5th September 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris have attacked a new European assault on the traditional British pint, mile and acre. Enjoying a pint at the local pub could soon be a thing of the past as the European Commission has controversially claimed Britain must set a date for abolishing its imperial system 'as soon as possible'. Open letter to Ken Clarke - Saturday, 3rd September 2005 On "The World at One", you declared that Michael Howard had withdrawn the Conservative Whip from me. This was a false, damaging and prejudicial allegation, and you chose to make it on one of the nation's highest-profile radio programmes. Ken Clarke & Roger Helmer, BBC World at One - Saturday, 3rd September 2005 I set out on World at One the reasons why I cannot support Ken in the leadership election. In response, Ken made an accusation which was false, damaging and prejudicial. He said that Michael Howard had withdrawn my Conservative whip. But Michael Howard did no such thing. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Saturday, 3rd September 2005 Collis Gretton accuses me of sneering and cowardice. He can't argue with the message, so he chooses to insult the messenger. He quotes Margaret Thatcher at length, speaking in favour of the (then) EEC. I could equally quote Tony Blair, who in his 1983 election manifesto said "A Labour government will take Britain out of the EEC. Letter to the Editor - Daily Telegraph - Thursday, 1st September 2005 So it's official -- Ken Clarke is standing for the Tory leadership. Most of the Conservative activists I know simply will not work for a Clarke-led party. They will defect to UKIP. Or they will work for a non-party, anti-EU organisation, like the Democracy Movement. Win bubbly in the great Kilroy hunt! - Wednesday, 31st August 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Chris Heaton-Harris and Roger Helmer have today launched a ‘Where is Kilroy?’ contest in order to discover exactly how Robert Kilroy Silk is representing his electors in the East Midlands. Letter to the Editor - Daily Telegraph - Tuesday, 23rd August 2005 There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, but it will take more than a press interview to convince many Conservatives that Ken Clarke has abandoned a life-time's commitment to the European project (lead story, August 23rd). Belatedly, he admits the obvious -- that the euro is a failure. Letter to the Editor - Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Friday, 12th August 2005 Yvonne Orchard at the Pattishall WI (Your Say, August 10th) writes about the EU's Chemicals Directive (REACH). She falls into the same trap as many commentators on EU legislative proposals. Because she agrees with the objectives of the directive, she pays no attention to the methodology. Derbyshire’s global Scout gathering supported by MEP - Thursday, 11th August 2005 With over 6000 campers and staff from all over the world, Peak 2005 is one of the largest events of its kind, bringing together children from as far way as Japan, Canada and America with local scouts and guides from Derbyshire. MEP visits Spalding launch of Wash Estuary project - Monday, 8th August 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer was today in Moulton, near Spalding to visit the groundbreaking launch of the 2nd Edition Wash Estuary Management Plan and attend a meeting of its Strategy Group. MEP campaigns at Bakewell Show - Thursday, 4th August 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has been taking part in the annual 175th Bakewell Show, the largest agricultural and horticultural annual in Derbyshire. Love Europe. Hate the EU! - Monday, 1st August 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer has come up with a new and snappy way of getting his message across to his East Midlands constituents. He has decided to create a bumper sticker that perfectly summarises his political euro-sceptic views in five short words. Letter to the Editor - E Mids regional newspapers - Monday, 1st August 2005 Robert Kilroy Silk left the Labour Party, resigned from UKIP, and has now quit the leadership of the new party that he tried, but failed, to establish. Although he is an East Midlands MEP, we rarely see RKS in the European parliament. We rarely see him in the East Midlands. It seems he has decided to attend the parliament just often enough to ensure he keeps getting his expenses. Letter to the Editor - Leicester Mercury - Monday, 1st August 2005 Collis Gretton of the European Movement (Mercury Mailbox, 29 July 29) concedes that Britain's economy took off after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, but then, bizarrely, claims that "it would not have done so but for our membership of the EU". MEP applauds Triumph’s success - Thursday, 21st July 2005 Conservative MEP Roger Helmer this week paid tribute to the remarkable success of an East Midlands engineering company, following his visit to the Triumph motorcycle factory at Hinckley. The visit, along with MP for Bosworth, David Tredinnick included a tour of the manufacturing and assembly halls, the production lines and a comprehensive briefing on Triumph's recent history. Murderous North Korean stamp - Tuesday, 19th July 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer has just returned from an EU parliamentary delegation to North Korea, bringing with him an extraordinary 10 Won postage stamp showing a North Korean soldier in the act of bayoneting an American. The stamp was on open sale in a shop a few yards from Helmer's hotel in Pyongyang, the NK capital. MEP in North Korea as nuclear debate hots up - Monday, 18 July 2005 On July 10th, North Korea announced it would return to the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear programme, having earlier claimed to possess nuclear weapons. On that day, East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer was actually in Pyongyang, North Korea, as part of a European parliament delegation. A new vision for the Conservative Party - Thursday, 7 July 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris, and other Conservative colleagues today launched an innovative Conservative vision for the future of the party. The collection of essays, largely by serving members of the European parliament but also including US congressman Tom Feeney proposes genuinely Conservative solutions to the policy options faced. London Olympics: MEPs thank Chirac - Wednesday, 6 July 2005 East Midlands Conservative MEPs Chris Heaton-Harris and Roger Helmer today hailed the success of the 2012 British Olympic bid and thanked French President Jacques Chirac for his last minute intervention that they claim swung the Olympic bid London’s way.