16th September 2009 - Edward McMillan-Scott MEP expelled from the Conservative Party

Following the news that Yorkshire & Humber Conservative MEP Edward MacMillan-Scott has been expelled from the party, Labour Euro-MP Linda McAvan made the following statement;

"Since the European election, one Conservative MEP has travelled half way around the world to call for the NHS to be scrapped. Another declared homophobia is “merely a propaganda device”. A third, Edward McMillan-Scott, expressed his personal discomfort with the leader of David Cameron’s new group in the European Parliament. It tells you everything you need to know about David Cameron’s Conservative Party that he was the only one to face disciplinary action by his party’s leadership.

“The leader of the new Conservative group, the Polish MEP Michal Kaminski has been described a "symbol of homophobia in Poland" according to one leading Polish campaigner against homophobia, and senior Jewish figures have criticised the Tories for supporting someone associated with anti-Semitism. But when push came to shove, David Cameron chose Kaminski – and saving his new group – over the man who has served the Conservative Party in the European Parliament for 25 years.”

Mr McMillan-Scott’s expulsion from the Conservative Party means that no party has more than one MEP representing the Yorkshire & Humber region.