All Not Well In New Eurosceptic Alliance

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
David Cameron

Cameron: Facing Revolt?

The European Parliament Eurosceptic group, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), have succeeded in receiving EU funding for a pan-European political party, but not all of their MEPs have endorsed this new development.
The ECR currently has 54 members, only 44 of which have pledged their credentials to the formation of the new European-wide party, the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists (AECR).
Speculation is rife in Parliament over which of the MEPs have withheld support for the AECR, with special attention being paid to the British Conservatives, who are internally split on membership of the parliamentary ECR.
The Conservatives split from the mainstream, and powerful, EPP group following European elections last year at the behest of leader David Cameron.
Following this, senior Conservative, Edward McMillan-Scott very publicly withdrew from the group over its “anti-Semitic and homophobic” tendencies to pursue a path as an independent European Parliament Vice-President, which has made him persona non-grata in the party, and has led to the Conservatives withdrawing his membership; an action he is currently seeking to overturn in the UK courts.
McMillan-Scott, co-incidentally, was part of the parliamentary meeting that granted the funding to the AECR, which amounts to around  €1.6m, has so far not been granted access to all ten non-signatories, but has said that he doesn’t believe them all to be UK Conservatives.