Paranoia in parliament as far right group starts up

10 February 2007

The establishment of a far right political grouping in the European Parliament has got the UK Independence Party acting more than usually paranoid, writes our Brussels media correspondent. Former UKIP MEP Ashley Mote has joined the grouping, giving Tories in the parliament the opportunity to gleefully resurrect David Cameron's UKIP “nutters and fruitcakes” jibe.  Mote, the Tories point out, had the UKIP whip withdrawn in 2004 not for any ideological reason, but because of fraud allegations. One victim of UKIP's fear of being tarred by the fascist brush has been EUObserver.com, a Brussels-based EU news website.  Some financial support for EUObserver came from the parliament's Eurosceptic Independence/Democracy Group, of which UKIP is a part.  The money was given on the basis of editorial independence, but UKIP was notorious for interference, complaining frequently that the website didn't feature them enough. When EUObserver did publish an article mentioning UKIP, suggesting that some UKIP MEPs were considering joining the far right group, for UKIP it was the last straw.  Under pressure from the party leadership, the financial support has been cut. Once again, UKIP demonstrates its commitment to freedom of speech! A version of this article originally appeared in Private Eye.

 

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