By Martin Banks - 12th May 2010
These were particularly offensive remarks
Martin Callanan
Britain's new deputy PM Nick Clegg has been told to apologise for branding the Tories' European allies as "nutters, homophobes and anti-Semites".
It was announced on Tuesday that Clegg, a former MEP, will be given one of the top jobs in the UK's new Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government.
During a TV debate in the election campaign, Clegg accused David Cameron, the new prime minister, of aligning himself with "nutters, anti-Semites, people who deny climate change exists and homophobes".
He was referring to the decision last year by the Conservative leader to quit the EPP, parliament's centre-right group, and align himself with right-wing parties in Europe, including the Polish Law and Justice party, which has been accused of homophobia, anti-Semitism and racism.
Speaking to this website on Wednesday, UK Tory MEP Martin Callanan demanded that Clegg now apologise.
"These were particularly offensive remarks. They were untrue, incorrect and slanderous and clearly showed that Clegg did not know what he was talking about.
"He should establish the facts before he comes out with such stuff."
However, senior Liberal MEP Andrew Duff said on Wednesday that he "fully supports" Clegg's "nutters" comment, adding, "What he said on TV is true."
Callanan's withering attack - and Duff's reaction - will be seen by some as an early sign of the potential for conflict between the Tories and Lib Dems over Europe.
Callanan himself admitted as much when he said, "We all know the two parties' position over Europe differs quite markedly and this is going to make things very difficult.
"We will just have to prove that we can work together but, let's be clear; there must be no further transfer of powers from the UK to the EU without a referendum."
Meanwhile, UK Tory eurosceptic MEP Roger Helmer has warned there will be "hell to play" if there is "any attempt" to dilute the party's red lines over Europe.
He said he expects new UK foreign minister William Hague to "be very, very robust" in ensuring, for instance, that "there is no British contribution" to the Greek bail-out or "regulation of the City of London".
"I am not exactly full of enthusiasm for this deal. We Tories have had to give up some of the values we cherish and swallow things like electoral reform and Clegg is going to have to do the same.
"In particularl, he will have to accept the Tory position on further EU integration. We are committed to a referendum in the event of any such move."
Further reaction came from Duff who said he would have "much preferred, without a shadow of a doubt" an alliance with the Labour party.
He said he hoped the deal would "tame" eurosceptics in the Tory party.
Fellow ALDE member Chris Davies said, "There will be some dissent from us working with the Tories but this is a chance for us to influence government decision-making.
"What a deal with the Liberals, the UK's most pro-European party, will do is thoroughly isolate the anti-Europeans in the Tory party.
"It will effectively dash the eurosceptic agenda. We have already seen a sign of this with the Tories agreeing to drop their plans to withdraw from EU agencies such as Europol and Eurojust."
However, he concedes that the different approach to Europe by the two parties "could be the cause of tension" in Tory ranks and possibly "destabilise" the coalition.
