By Martin Banks - 21st September 2009
I am dealing with it
Edward McMillan-Scott
Ousted Tory MEP Edward McMillan-Scott says he will fight his expulsion from the party.
Speaking to this website on Monday, the veteran MEP said he had "no intention" of accepting the decision to expel him from the Conservative party.
He said he regards the decision to kick him out of the party as "wrong" and based on "misinformation."
McMillan-Scott, one of parliament's most respected and longest-serving MEPs, said he had been inundated with messages of support and declared, "I am dealing with it."
He was expelled last week after defying orders from party leader David Cameron's new grouping in parliament.
The deputy, a former leader of the Tory group in parliament, angered the party leadership in the summer when he stood – successfully – for one of parliament's vice president posts.
It had been agreed that Michal Kaminski, a Polish MEP, would be the official European Conservatives and Reformists candidate.
His defiance led to the party whip being withdrawn and, after he refused to back down, his subsequent expulsion.
"I have no intention of accepting either my expulsion or the loss of the whip. I have had lots of letters and emails, with all of them very supportive of me," he said.
He said he will lodge an appeal with the Conservative party board which may then constitute a panel, possibly chaired by a lawyer, to hear his case.
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