48 hours ago I Tweeted that Edward McMillan-Scott MEP had been expelled from the Conservative Party. I was misinformed and misinformed readers in the process. All that has happened so far is that he has had the whip withdrawn.
EMS has been a good champion of human rights issues but his recent actions mean that he deserves expulsion from the party.
He was elected on a pledge to leave the EPP and join the new grouping that David Cameron promised to establish (the European Conservatives and Reformists group has it has been titled). He publicly agreed with that commitment and was put at the top of Yorkshire regional list as a result.
Within two weeks of being re-elected he was attacking the new group and then, on Tuesday, stood against the new group's candidate for Vice President of the European Parliament. If it had not been for the selflessness of Timothy Kirkhope and Geoffrey Van Orden in standing aside for Michal Kaminski MEP there was a real danger of a serious rupture in the new group.
As far as I'm concerned Mr McMillan-Scott has acted dishonourably in signing a pledge that he had no intention of properly honouring. He became a Conservative MEP on false pretences and must now pay a heavy price for his conduct. There is already a suspicion that Europhiles are being given preferential treatment. Ken Clarke joined the shadow cabinet although he disagrees with party policy on Europe. Fair enough but the same freedom is not given to Better Off Out members who are banned from joining Cameron's frontbench. Party democracy was subverted in the MEP selection process to protect MEPs like EMS from scrutiny by members. Stuart Wheeler and Lord Kalms paid heavy prices for their failure to toe the line but they were always 100% open about their intentions. EMS has not behaved with integrity and must be expelled from the Conservative Party.
Tim Montgomerie
