Tory councillors stay within EPP

The Local Government Chronicle reports that Conservative councillors on the EU Committee for the Regions will remain within the European People's Party group. Of course Conservative MEPs have pulled out of the EPP to help form the new Conservatives and Reformists Group, ECR. But committee member Cllr Gordon Keymer, leader of Tandridge District Council, has said leaving the EPP would have been impractical. He is quoted saying that being a member of Political group has the advantage over being an independent as help is available from Group staff. But what about the ECR staff?

Also what benefit do we really get from councillors going along to this whether they sit on EPP or ECR? Are we really better of pleading with Eurocrats than we would be by blowing the whistle on the damaging regulatonsand wasteful spending from the EU which we spot as local councillors? I am emailing Cllr Keymer to ask him to explain how it all works.