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		Twists and u-turns Parliament Magazine - 3 October 2005 By Nicola Smith Could there be an end in sight to the long running dispute between eurosceptic MEP Roger Helmer and his Conservative bosses? After months of political limbo after the Tory whip was withdrawn in May, Helmer should be told by the end of this week whether he will be allowed back into the fold. Helmer was disciplined by his MEP leaders after being publicly expelled from the centre-right EPP by president Hans-Gert Pöttering during an angry exchange on a motion of censure. Pöttering's patience snapped when Helmer accused him of being "discreditable" for pressuring Tory MEPs to remove their names from a motion calling for European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to explain why he had failed to declare a holiday on board the yacht of Greek shipping tycoon Spiros Latsis. Tension had been simmering between the two politicians over Helmer's fierce opposition to the EPP's federalist views. The decision to withdraw the Tory whip came when he charged delegation leader Timothy Kirkhope with acting "inappropriately" by threatening five MEPs with "serious consequences" if they did not withdraw their names from the motion. At the time, Kirkhope stressed action had not been taken against Helmer because of his political views but purely as a disciplinary measure for attacking his leader publicly. "By implication he has attacked the Conservative Party" Kirkhope said, a charge that Helmer denies. Helmer would now like to see the decision reversed, even though he points out that as in independent member he has more speaking time, more staff and more access to parliamentary facilities. "The problem is not my problem, but it is a problem for the Party. It has caused anger and dismay amongst Party members and activists up and down the country", he said. According to Helmer his office has been inundated with hundreds of letters of support from Party members, regional chairmen and Westminster MPs. After a short internal hearing last week, where Helmer was only permitted a witness after much protest, he was given two conditions to fulfil. The first - offer an apology - is one that he says he is willing to do for any offence inadvertently caused, although he has refused to apologise for signing the censure motion. The second - submitting a re-application to rejoin the EPP - will also be fulfilled says Helmer, if not a bit reluctantly. But anger among the Tory grass roots over the continued uncertainty of his future in the Conservative delegation is threatening to boil over into the UK Party's annual conference this week in the northern British city of Blackpool. Regional chairmen are planning to raise the matter with Kirkhope and leaflets will be distributed urging party members to lodge their protests with the MEP leaders. Helmer's cause may also have been boosted by a declaration by Tory leadership candidate Dr Liam Fox who told the Daily Telegraph last week he would remove the Conservative delegation from the EPP group if he took over the Party reins. Fox argued that the EPP's most recent manifesto committed it to press for the realisation of a "United States of Europe", with a European army and police force and tax raising powers for the European Parliament. By raising the issue during the leadership contest, Fox highlighted the embarrassment that EPP membership has been to previous Conservative Party leaders who know that the current situation is deeply unpopular with grass root members. Iain Duncan Smith had wanted to pull out when he led the party but did not go through with it, and current leader Michael Howard decided controversially after the last European elections to realign the Tory delegation again with the largest political group in the parliament. Fox himself has not gone through a bit of a U-turn as it was he who obliged Tory MEPs to sigh a letter of commitment to the EPP group before the new parliamentary term