Lib-Dem Davies in swipe at UKIP

Date published: 21 May 2009

A Liberal Democrat Euro-MP fighting to retain his seat next month’s elections has attacked the UK Independence Party for “betraying Britain’s real interests”.

Chris Davies said he was fed up with UKIP candidates “pretending to be patriots”, and accused the party of making up claims about the size of Britain’s financial contribution to the European Union budget.

Both the Liberal Democrats and UKIP have seen their support rise in recent opinion polls at the expense of the two main parties.

Mr Davies said UKIP misled voters about its record on expenses transparency.

Mr Davies, currently travelling around the North-West with a petition aimed at cleaning up Euro-MPs’ expenses, said: “It is harder to find details of the expenses claimed by UKIP Euro-MPs than about those of members of any other party. Is it because there are things they want to hide?

“One quarter of the UKIP Euro-MPs elected in 2004 are no longer with them. Ashley Mote served four months in prison for benefit fraud.

“Tom Wise is currently awaiting trial in connection with expenses misuse. Robert Kilroy Silk has not made a speech in parliament since 2005.

“Power and influence comes from being at the table where the decisions are made. Withdrawal from the European Union would weaken Britain.”

Mr Davies claimed that UKIP was exaggerating the cost of Britain’s EU membership by a factor of four: “Our net contribution is £3.8 billion, which is half what British bankers have just claimed in bonuses in the middle of an economic recession.

“It is a small fraction of the amount we paid for defence just 20 years ago.”

A UKIP spokesman responded: “Chris Davies obviously needs to improve his research skills. UKIP Euro-MPs published their expenses through the Open Europe website.

“As to the cost of the EU, Gunther Verhuegen, an EU Commissioner, said that regulations from Brussels cost the European economy 600 billion euros a year.

“It would be insane to measure the cost, as Mr. Davies does, just by the cash we pay out and not take account of the money we never see because of the European system. Finally, it’s very difficult to see how being able to make our own decisions for ourselves will weaken Britain.”

Responding to the comments made by UKIP, a spokesperson for Open Europe said that claims UKIP Euro-MPs published their expenses through the Open Europe website were not true.

A spokesperson said: “UKIP have not published their expenses on Open Europe’s website.

"Last year, Open Europe sent a survey to all MEPs asking them some simple questions about who handles their accounts and whether they employ family members – which most UKIP MEPs did respond to.

"However, the questions asked nothing about how they actually spend their expenses, and UKIP’s expenses continue to be unpublished anywhere in the public realm.

"UKIP MEPs need to join the Lib Dems and the Conservatives and publish details of their expenses online.”