END THE EURO GRAVY TRAIN, SAY GREENS

Brian Fewster and other East Midlands Green Euro-election candidates are amongst the first batch of signatories to a pledge to end the "bizarre extravagances of the European Parliament". They have added their names to the Campaign for Parliament Reform's pledge, which will

End the travel expenses "gravy train" - so that MEPs are only reimbursed for what they actually spend.

Improve MEPs' accountability through a stronger code of conduct.

Put an end to the wasteful practice of the entire parliament moving from Brussels to Strasbourg EVERY MONTH at huge public expense, just to vote.

The Green Party is expected to be the first party to have 100% of its Euro-candidates signed-up to the pledge, and the six East Midlands candidates are already amongst them:

Leicester’s Brian Fewster and Bob Ball
Nottinghamshire’s Sue Blount, Simon Anthony and Paul Bodenham
Lincolnshire’s John Chadwick.

UPDATE MAY 22: 74 UK Green Party candidates have signed the pledge - more than those of all the other UK parties put together.
GREEN Party MEP Caroline Lucas has been named Britain's most pro-reform Euro-MP by a cross-party group campaigning to clean up the European Parliament.
Dr Lucas, who represents South-East England, has been a tireless campaigner against waste, inefficiency and fraud in the EU. She has spearheaded calls for the parliament to abandon its second seat' in Strasbourg, which costs the EU taxpayer some 200 million Euros a year.

The cross-party Campaign for Parliamentary Reform (CPR) has named Dr Lucas the UK's most pro-reform MEP, scoring 95 per cent on the 'Reform Index' - an analysis of voting behaviour in 40 votes on parliamentary reform since she was elected in 1999.

The East Midlands Green candidates have issued a joint statement:

"The EU has a bad reputation for wastefulness and extravagance. Existing Green MEPs and new Green candidates are committed to changing that.
"All Greens are committed to greater accountability of MEPs to the public. We are committed to ending unreasonable expense payments. And we are committed to ending the huge waste of public money and of MEP and employee time that the parliament currently undertakes every month when it moves from Brussels to Strasbourg to vote."

The Greens already have three dozen MEPs, including two from England, and following recent electoral performance are expecting to increase that number in this year's European elections.

The pledge, at www.ep-reform.net, reads "If elected Member of the European Parliament in June 2004, I pledge to work for

Greater Efficiency by demanding an end to the European Parliament's three working places arrangement, and giving it a single seat - in Brussels;
Enhanced Transparency through reform of the system of expenses, including the reimbursement of travel expenses only on the basis of costs actually incurred;
Improved Accountability, through the introduction of a strengthened code of conduct setting out MEPs' rights and responsibilities, and through further reform of Parliament's Rules of Procedure."

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Published and promoted by Brian Fewster on behalf of the Green Party and himself as candidate at 89a Winchester Avenue, Leicester LE3 1AY.