Tories (still) in disarray on Europe - 6th Feb '09

The Conservatives still can’t decide where they will sit in Europe!

Readers may remember that David Cameron pledged in 2005 to withdraw British Conservatives from the European Conservative political grouping in the European Parliament. The European Conservatives are the largest political group in the Parliament. Leaving the group would mean a serious loss of influence for British Conservative MEPs who, not surprisingly, are split on the issue.

Now Cameron has said he is going to wait until after the European elections on 4th June this year before deciding whether or not to pull out.

The president of the Group in the European Parliament, Wilfried Martens, has said he wants Cameron to make up his mind before the election campaign starts in April.

However ‘The Parliament’ magazine points out that “any signal by Cameron before the European elections that Conservative MEPs might stay in the EPP-ED (Euro Conservatives) group would infuriate eurosceptics within his party and likely damage the Tory vote in June”.

While Conservative MEPs waste time discussing where to ally themselves, Liberal Democrat MEPs have no such identity crisis. The Liberal group in the European Parliament is widely seen as one of the most forward thinking and hard-working forces in the EU, with British Liberal Democrat MEPs to the fore!