01/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on 1 September 2008, British Conservative MEP Philip Bushill-Matthews called on the British prime minister Gordon Brown to seize the opportunity provided by the European Parliament's inability to meet in Strasbourg to end the travelling circus of having to travel to the city. Shuttling back and forth to Strasbourg costs £160 million year and generates a carbon footprint of more than 20,000 tonnes of CO², explained the MEP. He said it was time for Gordon Brown to make use of the brand new 'entente formidable' with France to ask President Sarkozy to finally scrap the travelling circus. The European Parliament has to meet in Brussels this week following the collapse of part of the ceiling of the EP headquarters in Strasbourg. (O.J. /trans.fl)