LibDem MEP joins Conservative Party

Sajjad Karim, Liberal Democrat MEP for the North West region and apparently the first Muslim elected to the European Parliament, has today announced he is defecting to the Conservatives:

"David Cameron's recent speech on immigration was incredibly impressive - sensible, rational and positive. It persuaded me that he is a leader who has changed his party and will change this country. I'm afraid that the Liberal Democrats have lost their way and are no longer a serious force in politics. I'm here to serve the people of the North West and I think I can only do that now as a Conservative. I'm sure I will not be the last politician to reach the same conclusion."

Karim is now officially under the Conservative whip. He had recently been reselected as the second-placed Lib Dem candidate (behind the active Chris Davies) by North West Lib Dems, but as the North West region is losing an MEP his re-election was in doubt.

David Sumberg, one of the three Conservative MEPs for the North West, is standing down at the next election but the rules state that his "top slot" on the list has to be taken by a female candidate.

The Conservative MEPs are electing the next leader of their delegation on Wednesday. It is not clear whether incumbent leader Timothy Kirkhope, who was involved in negotiating Karim's defection, will be able to win.

Deputy Editor

Comments

[James Maskell]

It says an awful lot when the Tories get converts from the Lib Dems. Defections from Labour I can understand, but there is a huge gap between the Lib Dems and the Tories, even now. Without slurring on his reputation, is Sajjad Karim's intentions honourable?

[Malcolm Dunn]

Does anyone know anything about this chap? Surely his views on our realationship with the EU are key to his being adopted as a Conservative MEP. I'd be suprised if a Lib-Dem would have similar views to a mainsstream Conservative but would like to be convinced.

[Veritas]

Coincidentally, I had a very enjoyable time in Brussels this weekend (thoroughly recommend La Maison du Cygne). The above concerns me. The LibDems are full-on advocates of EU membership: one of the most corrupt, bureaucratic and cynical governmental institutions of modern times. Cameron's euroscpticism / eurorealism has appeared thin at the best of times. For such a move to take place as above makes me worried that the Conservative Party - which should be challenging the EU over the failure to sign off its accounts for the 14th year in a row and looking to reptriate significant swathes of legal competence - is either not telling the truth over its intentions or going native.

Still, one wonders where this chap will end up. Many MEPs rock up at their regional hustings, proclaim undying euroscepticism and then go back to Brussels and forget all about it. The number in this category is legion. I suppose one more makes little difference.

[Geoff]

He's a really nice guy and very hard working.

I suspect he was always a tory but went Lib Dem just to get elected in the first place.

A very welcome addition.

[lady tory]

What a load of nonsense! Typical Liberal jumping ship whenever the going gets tough.

This man is not a Conservative, and the Conservatives in Europe are mad if they let him in.

He is active on anti war issues with a focus against anti terror measures and is clearly against the US. Apart from this the only views he is allied on is the environment.

Come on Conservatives you can see through this, he just wants to be relected. How about supporting people who have actually worked for years in the party to become MEPs rather than taking in people who are simply seeking to retain their salary!!

[michael mcgough]

Geoff; so he's a sincere conviction politician who does/joins anything to get elected.

[Lancashire CFer]

When Quentin Davies defected to Labour from us, you all screamed on here he should resign and face re-election. Now, I think a by-election wouldn't happen if this guy did resign, (don't the lib dems just appoint the next guy on the list? My knowledge of European politics is dodgy.... just like European politics itself really).

Should Sajjad now resign?

[James Maskell]

Fair point Lancashire CFer. Sajjad should step down and seek re-election in a by-election under his new banner.

[Nicholas Bennett]

By elections do not take place for the European Parliament, the next person on the list for the same party takes the place of the resignee.

[Patriot]

Tim - the post on ConHome which was made this morning at 07:23 - referenced below, is offensive, illegal and obscene.

Please delete it

Thread: Was Winston Churchill wrong to fight fascism?

Post: Tim Wigston.Monday 26.11.07

[Traditional Tory]

I suspect he was always a tory but went Lib Dem just to get elected in the first place. A very welcome addition

You think so?

Clearly his previously-expressed views on the EU are totally different from the tale he is telling now, so his sincerity is immediately called into question.

It would be more interesting to know whether his reselection by the LibDems was in doubt.

[Voice from the South West]

Sir Robert Atkins will be happy, IIRC I remember him mentioning once at an event at Lancaster Uni that Sajjad Karim used to belong to the Young Conservatives. If so, this is probably more of a case of someone "coming home". I'm never keen on defections, but its hard not to admit that this news hasn't put a smile on my face. :)

[Andrea]

"David Sumberg, one of the three Conservative MEPs for the North West, is standing down at the next election but the rules state that his "top slot" on the list has to be taken by a female candidate."

will Karim be considered as a sitting Tory MEP for the reselection purpose?

[Paul Oakley]

Tim - his reasons as set out above are very brief. Did he produce a longer piece explaining his new position and can you publish this? In particular, is he now opposed to the constitution, a far more important issue than immigration? If so, what changed his mind?

If he's now truly a Tory then he's welcome, but as a general proposition I don't feel that any party should accept any defector unless they've proved themselves worthy.

[Pamela Goodwin]

I note that Saj Karim is a member of the “Am I the only person who doesn’t like David Cameron?” group on Facebook.

[Erasmus]

Look it really is quite simple -- if a Labourite or Lib Dem defects to the Conservative Party then it is because he has seen the light. But if a Conservative defects to Labour or the Lib Dems it is because he is an embittered old failure.
Anyone care to fault my logic?

[Michael]

A Labour councillor has also jumped ship in West Suffolk;

http://richardspring.mpblogs.com/?p=462

[Geordie-Tory]

Lets just rejoice that the bandwagon is rolling our way for once!!!

[Nadfan]

Dear Mr Karim

If you're reading this, ignore the swivel eyed loons posting on this thread -- you are very welcome to the party.

[Chris]

I do hope that Sajjad has joined the party for our politics not to save his own skin, but he shall have to prove to us that that is the case. He was recently re-selected for slot 2 on the north west list (his position last time) so he wasn't necessarily going to lose his seat.

I'm not going to condemn him for facebook groups or blog posts written in his name, because it's possible that one of his staff helps manage his facebook/blog and did it on his behalf, complying with the party line. He wouldn't have survived in the Lb Dems for this long if he hadn't even pretended to believe in their vision.

The fact that his father was a Conservative councillor does make it more likely hat he's simply returning to the flock.

[Tony Makara]

Surely the essence of democracy is that everyone has the right to change their political views, especially if they can see a better way forward. Sajjad Karim has seen that David Cameron is the man we need as prime minster to get the change we need for our country. We want to woo over Liberal and Labour voters to win the next election so lets woo over their MEP's, MPs and councillors too.

[brian silvester]

there are no by elections to the EU parliament. the next one on the list gets it. this has already happened to a labour MEP in the NW, one resigned and the next on the list, who just happened to be a former labour MEP, got it, so he safely back on the gravy train without one vote being cast. isn't democracy wonderful???

[Lee Rotherham]

I am assuming that as a "sitting MEP" he will automatically get one of the top slots rather than be leapfrogged by a woman candidate.

Nice if you can manage it.

[Geoff]

His Dad was a tory cllr in Pendle I do believe.

[Yogi]

First of all as a matetr of principle Mr Karim should resign his seat. Then it is up to the local selection team to determine his position in the list.
I will be wary of any LibDem MEP defecting to us, because as a Party, the LibDems are the most Europhile, anti-American and totally against the small government ethos of the Conservative Party.

If as one of the posters above indicate that he is really a Tory but joined the LibDems just to get selected, then my attitude is that the man has no scruples and could easily stab us in the back if an opportunity arises. I agree with James Maskell above.

[Umbrella man]

It looks like he left the Libdems because he didn't get the number one slot on their regional list.

A defection from conviction is welcome. This doesn't smell right.

[Chris Paul]

Sajjad is a conviction Tory who has gone home. Some of his liberal views may now diminish.

Lib Dems in NW pimped him in a communalist way IMO.

[Londoner]

We should welcome this. I do not go along with even MPs resigning when they defect, but this case is different anyway as he would just be handing the seat to another Lib Dem, i.e. there would be no chance for his constituents to decide the issue. So he should stay put. There is also a precedent with the Labour MEP in London who defected to us a few years ago (he got on our list for the subsequent election but was not convincing enough to secure a high enough place to get re-elected).

As regards his convictions and suitability for being selected as a Conservative MEP candidate next time, that can only be judged by those who know him, interview him, hear him at the hustings etc I believe. He certainly should not be counted as a sitting MEP, because he has not previously been selected by us, but should a possibly unknown female be given automatic preference over him? It could be a reason to make an exception and have an open selection process between him and the best woman. But in fact this situation perfectly illustrates the mess of the Euro selection process that has been adopted.

For the sake of argument, say Michael Howard or, in the future, William Hague were to decide that they would like to continue public service as an MEP after stepping down as an MP. Would we say that an unknown woman and a number of mediocre sitting MEPs should get preference? No, but with this system of course they would.

[Michael Rutherford]

Welcome and thanks for joining!

[Mark Fulford]

No party can perfectly match our individual beliefs and, inevitably, in joining one we make compromises. It’s not hard to see why a pro-EU, pro-environment Muslim may previously have found Lib Dems a happier compromise.

I think it’s a great credit to David Cameron that he has made it easier to be a Conservative.

[Adam]

Any new member should be welcomed but we should also be wary of this kind of thing and should learn our lesson from the the last bye election when we had large scale defections from Labour due to the fact that these people weren't getting everything their own way in their party and not because they were ideologically Tories.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Wonderful news. Welcome, Sajjad!

[MH]

Sorry, but this stinks.

[George Hinton]

Whilst i have nothing against the chap, and all are welcome to the party, I have this undercurrent of disquiet about defection and defectors.
If there is no proper mechanism for an MEP to trigger a bye-election by resigning, thus re-standing in his new colours, perhaps we should not allow defection in the first place.
Should one wish to be principled and swop party, having seen the light, then arrangements must be made for bye-elections to facilitate this for Local, Westminster, and Brussels.

[David Walker]

This is very different to a Parliamentary or Council defection because in these elections it is the candidate who is officially elected not the party. In EP elections it is unashamedly the party which is elected, and the list is put together by them. By virtue of this Sajjad should resign so the Lib Dems can replace him with another Lib Dem MEP.

Constitutionally he is in a position of peril because he has no mandate whatsoever aside from that what the Lib Dem party gave him.

It is nice to see we are attracting defections but I hope he has joined us because of the policies and principles we now advocate rather than a promise of a safe seat in the Commons or Brussels.

[John]

He's definitely against the death penalty.

[John]

You're welcome to him - good riddance to bad rubbish!

[Chad Noble]

Nice quote from Sajjad, from just last year (well into Cameron's leadership), offering his 'high' opinion of the Tory party:

"With their failure to support a resolution condemning discriminatory remarks by political and religious leaders targeting homosexuals, the Tories have shown their true colours.

Tory apathy in the face of rising homophobia should come as no surprise as, today, the Conservative camp is rife with contradiction."

[AB]

Recent statements by Saj Karim on the Conservatives..

On Human Rights
"This is just another example of how the Labour and Conservative parties are completely aligned on stripping away our human and civil rights..."

On Conservative Homophobia
With their failure to support a resolution condemning discriminatory remarks by political and religious leaders targeting homosexuals, the Tories have shown their true colours."
"Their apathy in the face of rising homophobia should come as no surprise. The Conservative camp is today rife with contradiction. Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK while desperately trying to get into bed at European level with Poland's homophobic 'Law and Justice' party."

On Kashmir
"I can honestly say that that whilst the British Conservative and Labour delegations were trying to make political capital out of the human rights situation of the Kashmiri people, the Liberal Democrats and Greens were the only MEPs to vote on the substance of the amendments, regardless of who their authors were."

On Animal Welfare
"...it is an issue that the Liberal Democrats in Europe take very seriously. The fact that the Tories have adopted such an untenable position on animal welfare indicates how out of touch they are with the European consumer. Astonishingly, the Tories were against the mandatory labelling of products to ensure the traceability and quality of food and related products"

On Education
"There are very clear differences between what the Liberal Democrats say and what the Conservatives and Labour are saying. For a start we say very very clearly that there ought to be a standard of education that is available right across the board. We don't accept that specialist schools of the sort that are being proposed by both Labour and Conservatives are the way forward. That's the first distinction that we make."
"What the Labour Party have done since they have come into power is carry forward the Conservative policies so far as bringing forward league tables, creating greater discrepancy in the provinces of the standard of education that is being provided. This is not acceptable..."

On the environment
“The environment has long been the major area of policy where the Liberal Democrats have had a sustained lead in the polls over both Labour and the Conservatives. Despite the “greening” of David Cameron, that position has not changed. The public have seen through his stunts and the trust of the Liberal Democrats on green issues has only increased.”

“And remember too, that David Cameron has only proposed setting targets for carbon emission, without a single specific policy proposal on how to achieve those targets. The electorate know that climate change is a desperately serious challenge, and they are willing us to rise to it. When “going green,” the voters are out for the real thing."

[Adam]

Chad

You didn't use the remainder of the quote from Sajjad which is:

'Whilst Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK, he is also desperately trying to get into bed, at European level, with Poland's openly homophobic 'Law and Justice' party. I just hope the British public see Chameleon Cameron for who he really is!!!'

Obviously the 'chameleon' has done Sajjad. A few change of colours and Sajjad has seen the light!

[Adam]

Chad

You didn't use the remainder of the quote from Sajjad which is:

'Whilst Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK, he is also desperately trying to get into bed, at European level, with Poland's openly homophobic 'Law and Justice' party. I just hope the British public see Chameleon Cameron for who he really is!!!'

Obviously the 'chameleon' has done Sajjad. A few change of colours and Sajjad has seen the light!

[Chad Noble]

Thanks for completing the quote for me Adam.

He seems a nice, loyal, principled chap.

I can only guess that opposition to homophobia comes second to remaining on the EU gravy train.

[MH]

Chad / Adam. Gulp. He really is not someone to be welcomed.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Anyone thinking of joining us from other parties will be hugely put off by the unwelcoming bile of this thread. You should feel ashamed, Ed!

[Bexie]

TBH Whilst I welcome his crossing the benches, since MEP's are elected on a list basis and not on a by person basis he should resign and the voters of the North East have the next LD on the list appointed. We would be howling for that if someone had gone the other way

[D Roberts]

So an member of an etnic minority chages party to try to ensure election.That is not news and it happens every month in local government, ask any of us who work with theses communities every day

[Mark Fulford]

D Roberts, the quality of your writing matches the quality of your comment.

[Dale]

"Surely the essence of democracy is that everyone has the right to change their political views, especially if they can see a better way forward. Sajjad Karim has seen that David Cameron is the man we need as prime minster to get the change we need for our country. We want to woo over Liberal and Labour voters to win the next election so lets woo over their MEP's, MPs and councillors too."

I quite agree that people should be able to change their minds and I welcome him to the PARTY, not to the tories MEP delegation. He was elected a liberal democrat, voting with the conservatives , sitting with them, flying their banner, makes him a lyer and a fraud. He said he was a lib dem, if he has changed his mind he should be re elected as a conservative.

[Fred Ford]

Is the same Saj Karim who not long ago posted this on his website:

http://www.sajjadkarim.org.uk/speeches/000030/speech_to_beld.html

“The environment has long been the major area of policy where the Liberal Democrats have had a sustained lead in the polls over both Labour and the Conservatives. Despite the “greening” of David Cameron, that position has not changed. The public have seen through his stunts and the trust of the Liberal Democrats on green issues has only increased.”

“And remember too, that David Cameron has only proposed setting targets for carbon emission, without a single specific policy proposal on how to achieve those targets. The electorate know that climate change is a desperately serious challenge, and they are willing us to rise to it. When “going green,” the voters are out for the real thing.

Does he still regard Cameron in this way?
I think we should be told. By the way when does the NW select its MEP slate?

[Votedave]

Remember all the fuss about John Stevens and Bill Newton Dunn defecting FROM the Tories?
This barely gets a mention on today's news.

[HF]

Looking at this from political tactics, part of the publicity gain has been lost because the man has made anti-Conservative statements. When one reads the comments from Sajjad Karim about the party that others have posted above, the fact that they are still accessible on his website one wonders about the amateurs who are handling this defection.

They could at least have ensured these comments had been removed by now. Why had Kirkhope's team not ensured that this was done during the discussions when he was vetting the man's suitability? Or does Kirkhope not use the web?

It also does not say much for the political common sense of Mr Karim that he did not think fit to have removed the blogs once he started to think about joining.

[m dowding]

Now The general Secretary to The Labour party has quit, will he join us now!! Or will he now challenge Gordo Dumbo?

[Mark Fulford]

HF, if only covering your tracks were that easy! I recommend the Wayback Machine to you all.

For example:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sajjadkarim.org.uk/

[Traditional Tory]

"With their failure to support a resolution condemning discriminatory remarks by political and religious leaders targeting homosexuals, the Tories have shown their true colours

Am I mistaken in believing that this guy is a Muslim?

I seem to remember something in the Bible about motes and beams...

[ColinW]

sajjadkarimmep.blogspot.com

This makes for interesting reading

[ColinW]

I note that Saj Karim is a member of the “Am I the only person who doesn’t like David Cameron?” group on Facebook.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

ColinW is a Lib Dem troll. Best to ignore him.

[ColinW]

He's still a member though, isn't he? And his webpaged is locked down now so his anti-Tory comments will be there forever.

Oh look, The Times has picked them up:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2946986.ece

[Traditional Tory]

Oh look, The Times has picked them up

ROFLMAO!!!

Chad has just asked Justin to chill out for ten minutes.

Can we make that ten months? :)

[Northernhousewife]

I read on Political Betting that a Labour Councillor and an Independent in Derby have defected/joined the Tories.

[Chad Noble]

Not one to blow my own trumpet, but Brown brought up in the Commons my spot of the eu vote pledge in the Tory ad and now the Times has picked up my spot from Saj's blog.

Do I win a ConHome mug? ;-)

[Libdemtroll]

Hello tories,

I am a Lib Dem who has never felt good about defections in our direction either. I would urge any Tory member/officer in the region to fight Saj being selected towards the top of your list at all costs.

You will learn not to trust him one little bit. You will see what I mean one day.

[john]

I echo libdemtroll's comments. Don't trust this man with anything - knowing the things I know I didn't even put a number by his name.

When I first saw him speak about himself being a tory this morning i was rolling on the floor laughing - I doubt if he'd have the imagination to even decide on policy terms.

The next thing I felt was a sense of relief that we wouldn't have to put up with another 2 years of his games and can get on with having the excellent Helen Foster-Grime as no2.

Not only does she speak 5 languages and is an ex trade representative for the private sector in places like the Ukraine - she also by sheer hard work won the Bramhall North seat from the Conservatives one of the safest in the North West.

Add to that the fact that the excellent Sue Maguire is no 3 it looks like it could potentially be a good day for the Lib Dems here in the North West.

[Ross]

Typing the word "Conservative" into Sajjad's website generates some interesting results:

On Human Rights
"This is just another example of how the Labour and Conservative parties are completely aligned on stripping away our human and civil rights..."

On Conservative Homophobia
With their failure to support a resolution condemning discriminatory remarks by political and religious leaders targeting homosexuals, the Tories have shown their true colours."
"Their apathy in the face of rising homophobia should come as no surprise. The Conservative camp is today rife with contradiction. Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK while desperately trying to get into bed at European level with Poland's homophobic 'Law and Justice' party."

On Kasmir
"I can honestly say that that whilst the British Conservative and Labour delegations were trying to make political capital out of the human rights situation of the Kashmiri people, the Liberal Democrats and Greens were the only MEPs to vote on the substance of the amendments, regardless of who their authors were."

On Animal Welfare
"...it is an issue that the Liberal Democrats in Europe take very seriously. The fact that the Tories have adopted such an untenable position on animal welfare indicates how out of touch they are with the European consumer. Astonishingly, the Tories were against the mandatory labelling of products to ensure the traceability and quality of food and related products"

On Education
""There are very clear differences between what the Liberal Democrats say and what the Conservatives and Labour are saying. For a start we say very very clearly that there ought to be a standard of education that is available right across the board. We don't accept that specialist schools of the sort that are being proposed by both Labour and Conservatives are the way forward. That's the first distinction that we make."
"What the Labour Party have done since they have come into power is carry forward the Conservative policies so far as bringing forward league tables, creating greater discrepancy in the provinces of the standard of education that is being provided. This is not acceptable..."

Just thought you should know what he thinks of you all.

[Geoff]

May I point out that there are two people posting on this site with the name "Geoff".

"Posted by: Geoff | November 26, 2007 at 09:57"

is not me - I'm the Gibraltarian on the right of our party and as I was here first I don't intend to change my own name! I apologise if this has caused confusion before or if it does in the future.

[Sally Roberts]

Oh look - lots of Lib Dems!! Hello Boys!

[Ross]

Hey Sally, hows it going? :)

[Traditional Tory]

From today's Telegraph 'Spy' column

Is he really a Tory?

The defection of the Lib Dem MEP Saj Karim to the Conservatives yesterday may have publicly been hailed by David Cameron, but many of his new colleagues are seething.

"Having failed to top the North West Lib Dem list for the next election, he's clearly concluded that he's most likely to retain his seat by standing as a Tory," one Conservative MEP told Spy. "The man is a complete opportunist and I'm not aware he has a Conservative bone in his body."

[Roger Helmer MEP]

VoteDave asks if we remember all the fuss about Bill Turncoat Dunn defecting in 2000. I certainly remember, as I was near the scene of the crime. The point about BND was that he deliberately misled his selection committee about his views on the EU, and therefore gained his position by deceit.

Needless to say, I was not a Sajjad's selection meeting, so I can't draw comparisons.