East Midlands MEPs call for Kilroy-Silk to step down
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by Katherine Short, London, 18th December 2008 An online petition has been launched calling for East Midlands MEP Robert Kilroy Silk to resign from the European Parliament. The online petition, entitled kilroystepdown, has been backed by all East Midlands MEPS, other than Kilroy himself.
Previously a Labour Party MP for Ormskirk (1974–1983 ) and Knowsley North (1983–1986), Robert Kilroy Silk rose to fame with his daytime television show Kilroy. He joined the United Kingdom Independence Party in 2004 and that year successfully participated in the European Parliamentary Elections. Soon after he defected and joined the small right wing and Eurosceptic party Veritas. His career with Veritas was short-lived and he now stands as an independent MP. The petition comes after Kilroy has received stark criticism from the media and from a variety of political camps for taking time off from the European Parliament seven months before the next election. He has also been criticised for receiving his European parliamentary wage while he simultaneously was paid appeared on the reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here". Kilroy, coincidently, was the first contestant in the Australian jungle to be evicted from the celebrity reality TV show. The on line petition berates Kilroy for his lack of appropriate and regular interaction with the European Parliament. lt also notes how he "last spoke in Parliament in October 2005, denying East Midlands electors a voice." The petition has received overwhelming support, highlighting Kilroys waning popularity; at the time of writing 95% of voters on the website were for Kilroys resignation. Conservative MEP for the East Midlands Roger Helmer expressed his disgust at Kilroys lack of commitment to his European Parliament job on his website, arguing “At a time when the Parliament is voting on vital measures that threaten jobs and prosperity here in the UK, like the climate change package, the pesticide directive and the working time directive, Kiljoy-Silk has decided to abandon it all and head off to Australia for a jolly.” Helmer adds: “Kilroy is pretty casual about attending the parliament. He is almost never seen in Committee, and when he votes, he generally abstains. The tax-payer is entitled to expect that he should do the job he is paid for, not set off on highly-paid extra-curricular junkets”. The petition can be viewed at www.kilroystepdown.co.uk