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Letter to the Editor
Nottingham Evening Post - Wednesday 11th February 2004 Dear Sir, Keith Ward (letters, Feb 6th) asks a reasonable question, and deserves a reasonable answer. He quotes me, correctly, as referring to EU bodies as "unaccountable foreign institutions where we have no control and little influence", and says if that is the case, what on earth am I doing in the EU parliament as an MEP? The short answer is, exercising the little influence we have in the best way I can. Day after day, week after week, Conservative MEPs take bad legislation and amend it to make it a bit less bad. Often we find that even our Labour government recognises the damaging nature of EU proposals, and calls on British MEPs to oppose it. But Labour MEPs often reject their own government's advice and vote with their European socialist partners. The EU has its own momentum and its own agenda, and most MEPs have bought into it - they only decided to stand because they were already dazzled by the European dream. The overwhelming majority of MEPs are passionate federalists. In this context I believe that it is vitally important that people like me and my colleagues are there to speak up for the national interest, and against the torrent of EU legislation that is damaging competitiveness and employment in the East Midlands. Mr. Ward asks why people should vote Conservative in the June euro-elections. The answer is, to elect more MEPs who will represent the East Midlands in Europe, not Europe in the East Midlands. We are currently undertaking a telephone research survey which shows that a large majority of East Midlands voters want to keep the Pound, and want a referendum on the proposed EU Constitution. The Conservative Party is the only major party that supports both those policies. Yours faithfully, Roger Helmer MEP
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