Here is what he said:

Roger Helmer, a Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region has written to the Chairman of the East Midlands Conservatives, Stephen Mold, to announce his resignation from the European Parliament. Mr Helmer has been an MEP since 1999 and is known for his staunchly Eurosceptic views.

Mr Helmer’s letter says:

“I am writing to you now to advise you that I shall be resigning my seat in the European parliament effective December 31st this year. 

As with any major decision, this is driven by a number of factors.  Some might say that it is high time I stood aside for a younger man.  For myself, I think that twelve-and-a-half years banging my head against the same brick wall in Brussels is perhaps long enough.  And I should certainly like to see more of my three fine grandsons. 

But it would be disingenuous to deny that my decision is dictated in part by my increasing disillusion with the attitudes of the Conservative Party.  I am finding it ever more difficult to defend the policies of the Coalition, not only on my key issues of Europe, and of climate and energy, but on a range of other matters besides. 

I will have more to say about this in coming days. 

At this point I must express my thanks to all those, too numerous to mention individually, who have helped and supported me up and down the Region since 1999 – to the Party supporters and activists, and indeed the voters, who have three times selected me, and elected me, at the head of the East Midlands MEP list, as well as to all those who supported the successful “Reinstate Roger” campaign when I had the Party Whip temporarily withdrawn. 

But some names I must mention.  Three previous regional Chairmen, Nigel Cutts, Dudley Bryant and most recently Linda Kirk, have been hugely supportive, even though I have not always made life easy for them.  I am grateful to David Surtees, who has been present in one rôle or another throughout my political career, and to Simon Richards of The Freedom Association who has been a trusty comrade-in-arms for many years. 

I am especially grateful to Chris Heaton-Harris, who for ten years in the European parliament was the best colleague I could have hoped to have – and to the other members of “the H-Block”.  And I should thank all those former staffers who have passed through my office, especially Sally McNamara and Cat Bray (both now in political roles in Washington) and Lydia Smith, just starting work in Westminster with Mark Lancaster MP. 

I should also thank my current staffers Joe Bono and Neelam Cartmell, and of course my current East Midlands colleague Emma McClarkin MEP, for their help and support. 

It is my understanding that my place will be taken automatically by Rupert Matthews, who was next-in-line on the 2009 Conservative list.  Rupert is a very sound man indeed, and well known in the region, and I have absolute confidence that he will serve the voters of the East Midlands with great skill and diligence.  He has been a good friend and colleague both to me and to Chris Heaton-Harris for many years, and we have worked together on a number of projects.  Most recently, Rupert has edited and published my latest book “Sceptic at Large”. 

I will no doubt be asked about my plans for retirement, but so far I have no plan beyond taking a long and well-earned rest. 

Again, thank you for your help and support, and I wish you, and the region, all the best for the future.”

9.30am Update: Rupert Matthews, who, as Mr Helmer writes above, will take the vacant seat, comments:

“Roger Helmer will be a tough act to follow. I first met Roger when we were both campaigning in the 1999 European Elections – he as a candidate and I as a Conservative Party activist. I recall I was with a team of volunteers preparing to go out delivering leaflets when Roger appeared and with a few words enthused us all to go out on to the pavements. Since then Roger has done a fine job of representing the East Midlands out in Brussels and Strasbourg. I hope to continue Roger’s superb work of responding to the needs of East Midlands residents, businesses and communities, and to representing their interests in Brussels.  It will be an honour to follow Roger in the task of battling the ever increasing federalism of the EU by representing the people of the East Midlands and the Conservative Party in the European Parliament.”

History of Yorkshire – 12 most significant events until 1642
 
Ferriby boats

 
Bronze age log boats found on the banks of the Humber estuary in what has been described as the world’s oldest boatyard and showed local people were trading across the North Sea.

Constantine

 
Considered to be one of the greatest of Roman emperor spent 2 years ruling the entire empire from Ebarocum. Established York as one of the pre-eminent cities of not just Britain but of Europe. The Romans helped develop the rural economy of Yorkshire as demand for products through the Empire grew.

 
Viking kingdom of Yorkshire

 
Almost all of what is present day Yorkshire spent over a hundred years as part of the great Norse/Viking kingdom. The Viking influence on Yorkshire through settlers and trade was not absolute but the influence was considerable and it could be argued can still be seen in the language and topography. York was one of the great Viking settlements
 

 
‘Harrying of the North’ by William the Conqueror

 
Estimates of 100,000 killed by the Normans in the north may be exaggerated but the brutal campaign carried out had significant cultural, economic and social consequences.

 
Monasteries, Minsters and Friaries

 
No doubting the importance of these in defining the countryside and their influence on developing Yorkshire’s economy. The building of York Minster should be mentioned in this context: one of the great Cathedrals in northern Europe.

 
Black Death

Nearly four hundred villages became deserted as a result of the Black Death. Wharram Percy was not one of them but the population took such a hit it was abandoned in the late fifteenth century. It remains an eerie yet interesting pace to visit.

 
Wars of the Roses

Significant in many ways not least the Battle of Towton was the largest ever battle fought on British soil

 Council of the North

 
 Richard III realised that the north was difficult to run from London and needed to be administered in different ways so set up the Council of the North.

Pilgrimage of Grace and dissolution of the Monasteries

 
Just as the setting up of the monasteries brought a economic well-being to the north so their dissolution left a huge social, economic, spiritual and most importantly educational vacuum

 Growth of the rural textile industry

Woollen items exported all over Western Europe help to develop the textile industry

Changes to the region’s economy

 Economic changes fuelled by immigrants and innovations especially in coal mining and in the making of steel

Puritans
 

When the Puritan vicar went to the new world to escape persecution he often took parishioners with him leaving whole villages denuded. Rowley in East Yorkshire is an example.

What was most interesting came out of a visit to the Yorkshire Crisp Company’s stand.  The company, set up seven years ago, is based in Sheffield and I spoke to the representative at the Show at some length. My question really was why they chose to brand the crisps ‘Yorkshire’. It seemed that, especially for overseas markets which are important to the company, the word ‘Yorkshire’ is known and has, in his words, ‘positive attributes’. Excellent news and confirmed to me that there is research paper to be written on the strength of Yorkshire as a brand name.

My cynicism is aggravated by the fact I have not received a ticket for anything after two rounds of application. Not even a piece of a ticket. And I would be interested to know just how many people from the north of England will form part of the crowds come July next year. So I’m done with it. Yes, I will be watching Jessica Ennis but then I would watch her perform in the Olympics from anywheres and I could get excited about Lawrence Okoye because he looks an awesome talent, but not much more.

By contrast, should the Tour de France be here in Yorkshire in 2016, it will be free to watch, it will not require stays in expensive hotels and we can go the pub afterwards and have proper beer!

Spotting some painters doing the outside of the house two doors away I ambled over to get a business card. The guy at the bottom of the ladder said I need to speak to the boss. The boss then emerged from the garage. The conversation went something like this:

“Have you got a business card?”

“No. Haven’t got any I’m afraid.”

Noticing the white van with absolutely no markings on it, I said:

“And no telephone number on your van; what’s that all about?”

“Well if we advertise we get too much work. You can find us in Yellow Pages though.”

Pointing to my house I said: “All I want really is you to come and take a look at doing some exterior painting for my house and give me a quote.”

“Ok I’ll come over later.”

Needless to say nobody ever came and about a week ago the painters moved on. I remain dumb struck…

The recent announcement of the design of the Olympic Torch had me thinking who will be used to the light the flame at the Opening Ceremony in London 2012. Convention has it that the host country’s leading sports personality carries the torch on its final leg to light the flame in the stadium. However, it appears that the choice of sports personality is also politically framed.  For example, Muhammad Ali in 1996 and Australian aboriginal Cathy Freeman in 2000 did the lighting. Indeed in Montreal in 1976 the political aspect was totally dominant as two teenagers representing the French and English speaking parts of Canada lit the flame together.

So if the choice wasn’t hard enough (I mean exactly who is our leading sports personality: Bobby Charlton, Steve Redgrave, Denise Lewis, Geoff Hurst, Rory McIlroy?) it needs, it seems, to be considered in a political context. In which case there is an obvious candidate. One who has just broken the British and European 10000m record and who seems to be very likeable guy. None other than British athlete of the year for 2010and Somali-born refugee Mo Farah.   He might be black, a refugee and a Muslim but surely even if the Daily Mail and Daily Express couldn’t get in a lather over that! Could they? Anyway the ‘Farah for flame’ campaign starts here…

News that the Icelandic people are back on the streets again. Iceland’s equivalent of the State of the Union address took place on Monday evening, when all the party leaders in the Althingi (Icelandic parliament) give speeches and then have the opportunity to reply to one another.

Over 5,000 people gathered outside the Althingi and began banging their oil drums and other large containers both as a way of showing their discontent and asan attempt to disturb parliament.

I know how effective this can be. When I was up in Reykjavik earlier in the year, a crowd of demonstrators were banging pots, pans and setting off air horns outside the Bank of Iceland HQ in what was dubbed the ‘Kitchenware Revolution’. Across the stillness of a city which, after all is not huge, it was an eerily constant noise. I chatted to a couple of the demonstrators. They were clearly very angry and frustrated but found some release in contributing to the cacophony of noise. The clip above is from that demonstration.

This idea of banging pots, pans and other kitchen utensils has its origins in South America and is known as a cacerolazo or cacerolada from the Spanish cacerola (stew pot). What always intrigued me is how such a typically South American or Spanish happening could end up in Iceland and in that sense almost uniquely because I don’t recall seeing it take place in other European countries at the time of the banking crisis.