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Will Tory Eurosleaze Lead To A Purge?
A couple of days ago we pondered if the piggies squealing most about having their expenses revealed also happened to be the same Conservative MEPs who threw hissy fits when David Cameron pledged to pull British Tories out of the federalist EPP-ED grouping.
Seems like the mainstream press has caught up with this theory. Both The Times and The Telegraph report that Tory Euro MEPs warn that Cameron's sleazebuster Hugh Thomas risks setting off a "timebomb" if he continues his investigation.
This is scandalous blackmail. Cameron is riding high in the opinion polls in Britain. He knows that much of his success is based on Gordon Brown's unpopularity rather than any appeal the Tories hold for voters; his lead is fragile.
This week's revelations of creative expensive management recall the dark days of the mid-90s, when Tory sleaze dominated the media.
What Tory MEPs are saying in effect is "leave our expenses alone, or what you find could damage you as much as us." Standard mobster tactics! Cameron is faced with a stark choice. Should he ignore their squeals, and make the party cleaner than clean, even if it is the only major party in the European Parliament to demand such high standards of its MEPs? Or should he call off the investigation rather than risk opening a Pandora's Box of Tory Sleaze which might damage his leadership?
It's a choice likely to show what kind of man he is, and the press would be right to keep close tabs on his decision.
For now, it is encouraging that the Tories are sticking to their tough line. The Times reports that a preliminary hearing by Mr Thomas broke up in "bitter infighting" yesterday. Euro MPs say that they're being "witch hunted" for their expenses as part of a plan by William Hague and his speechwriter, Open Europe's Neil O'Brien to rid the party of "several MEPs seen as too comfortable in Brussels and not sufficiently Eurosceptic."
For his part, O'Brien says that a huge electoral premium awaits the first party to clean up its Euro-act. The endless and seemingly unstoppable accounts of expenses abuse, fiddling and corruption emerging from Brussels is a central cause of British Euro-suspicion.
A Euro insider told the newspaper that at least two prominent Europhile heads will roll, and this will be Cameron's strong response. The Telegraph reckons that four or five will be sacrificed: To us this seems a more likely figure, to judge by the rumours of sleaze swirling around a number of individuals in the Tory ranks. Plus, Cameron needs to exercise control over his MEPs. He may not have been able to extract them from their cosy relationship with their fellow federalists, but he can make the point that the same standards applied to Westminster MPs will be applied to MEPs and if they don't like it, they must go.
Doubtless they'll be replaced by Tories who tack close to the party's traditionally Eurosceptic line.
