A Personal Statement
Monday, 3rd July 2006
I should like to thank all those concerned Party members who have written to Timothy Kirkhope MEP to protest against my continued suspension from the Conservative whip. Some have received replies, and I am concerned that letters from the Chief Whip, at Kirkhope's instigation, are saying that the whip was suspended not for political reasons, but because of my unspecified "behaviour". This is false and potentially defamatory. One prominent East Midlands Conservative recently asked me (joking, I hope!) whether I had had my hand in the till. As Kirkhope's letter has been widely circulated, I have little option but to issue a rebuttal.
The reasons why the whip was suspended, and why the suspension has been maintained for an extraordinary and unjustifiable period, are entirely political. Kirkhope has been upset by a number of issues, including:
| 1. |
My insistence on raising the apparent impropriety of President Barroso's Greek holiday -- but as Kirkhope knows we have a manifesto commitment to oppose fraud and maladministration in the EU institutions.
|
| 2. |
My robust campaign against the Tory MEPs' link to the ultra-federalist EPP -- despite the fact that EPP withdrawal is now Party policy.
|
| 3. |
More recently, my backing for the Better Off Out campaign -- although a number of other Conservative parliamentarians have backed it without censure or sanctions.
|
Kirkhope's unsubstantiated allegations of "misbehaviour" are demeaning to him, defamatory to me and damaging to the Party. He must now come out into the open and tell us what he means.
|
|
