Letter to 'The Independent'

3.21.45pm GMT Fri 26th Mar 2010

Diana had a letter printed in 'The Independent' today refuting the claim by the UKIP MEP, the 10th Earl of Dartmouth, that he was stopped from speaking in the debate on the Arctic in the Strasbourg Plenary recently because of the 'political comment' he made.

The video clip showing the events leading up to and beyond the incident involving the Earl of Dartmouth can be seen here. It is evident that Diana turned the Earl's microphone off when he continued a stream of personal insults, not political comment, directed at the High Representative, Cathy Ashton

Full text of the letter:-

Dear Sir

I did not, as the Earl of Dartmouth claims, have him "thrown out of the chamber" of the European Parliament for making a "political comment". I turned the earl's microphone off when he continued a stream of personal insults, not political comment, directed at the High Representative, Cathy Ashton, who was sitting directly across the chamber from him. His speaking time had, in any event, almost concluded.

He then started to create a disturbance, so that we were unable to continue our work, at which point I merely indicated that the assistance of the ushers might be required. In fact he left the chamber of his own volition.

Diana Wallis MEP

(Lib Dem, Yorkshire and the Humber) Vice President of the European Parliament, Brussels