Most of us have no idea what our MEPs are doing, except making a bloody good living at our expense. But I worked for Nikki Sinclaire last year and still count her among my good friends, even if she is a Liverpool season ticket holder. So I was delighted to see her hard work come to fruition.
A petition demanding a straight "in or out" vote has now attracted more than 100,000 signatures - which should be enough to force a Commons debate.
The breakthrough is bolstered by a new YouGov poll which reveals a clear majority want ordinary people to have the fInal say on whether we pull out.
For the first time the YouGov poll shows a majority of people would actually vote to leave the European Union in an referendum.
The mountain of signatures has been collected in a cross-party campaign led by West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire.
It will pile pressure on the Prime Minister to hold the first referendum on Europe since 1975.
Mr Cameron has pledged to dedicate House of Commons time to any issue which has the support of at least 100,000 people.
While he insists the names must be collected on individually entered electronic petitions, the Commons Leader's office has indicated that a traditional pen-and-ink petition could be lodged with the backbench business committee if it has one or more MPs sponsoring it.
Nikki will tell a London Press conference today: "This is an encouraging development and raises the prospect of an early debate on our continued membership of the EU - Almost eight in ten people want a national debate on the pros and cons of EU membership"
"To insist that only an online petition will count would disenfranchise millions of people, particularly the poor and elderly, who do not have an email account or access to a computer.
"The huge response to our campaign, together with the findings of our poll, show that most people want their say."
Today's poll shows overwhelming support for letting the public decide our future in the EU - and if they got their way they would vote to pull out.
Some 60% of voters want a referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the EU, according to the YouGov survey commissioned by Nikki's campaign.
If there was a vote, a massive 52% would vote to leave, with only 30% preferring to stay in and 15% undecided and 4% not bothering to vote.
Nikki, an independent MEP, added: "Clearly the people of Britain want to decide who governs Britain. It must be alarming to the government that despite all their assurances on sovereignty and cast iron promises, more and more people have given up on this European project. This argument has gone on far too long, we must decide our course once and for all in a binding referendum"
MPs are already facing demands to debate bring back hanging after 100,000 backed the move in an e-petition.
But Nikki points out that Britain is powerless to restore the death penalty while still in the EU because it would breach the UK's membership conditions by breaching the EU's Fundemental Charter on human rights.
She believes we get the worst of both worlds while inside the EU but outside the eurozone.
"We have one foot in and one foot outside it," she said. "This is detrimental to our interests and to those of the EU, both politically and economically. We need to take a decision as to where our future lies.
"Despite numerous promises, nobody under the age of 54 has ever had a say on Britain's relationship with the EU. This issue needs to be resolved."
EU membership costs Britain £48 million a day - or £4,912 per household over the last 11 years.
But we have signed away power to decide our own future, with 75 per cent of British regulation coming from EU law.
Nikki also pays tribute to the hundreds of people across the country who have helped collate the petition including one gentleman in Dorset who has collected 2,000 signatures. Nikki said "I'm overwhelmed by the level of support and the dedication of these people who truly are an inspiration."
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