By Martin Banks - 1st April 2006
Parliament's deposed Tory leader Giles Chichester has thrown his weight behind David Cameron´s decision to pull his party out of the EPP after June's European elections.
In an exclusive interview with this website, Chichester said he "fully endorsed" the Tory party leader´s move.
He said, "I have no problems with it at all.
"Let's remember that we Tory MEPs all signed up to an agreement that the Tories would withdraw from the EPP, after a full-term in the current legislature. David Cameron has now fulfilled that pledge so I do not see any problem with that."
Chichester, who is seeking re-election in June, also said he was confident the Conservatives would be able to form a significant political grouping in the next parliament.
"Talks are going on at present but I am not aware of what progress is being made in that direction," he said.
Chichester's wholehearted endorsement of Cameron's decision may come as a surprise to some party members.
He is the man who, until last year, led the Conservative party's MEPs - the second biggest national delegation in the EPP group - but was forced to quit that role after he admitted breaking expenses rules.
It was claimed Chichester paid thousands of euros in staff allowances to a firm of which he is a paid director.
At the time the south west England MEP said he had made a "technical" breach of the rules and had always acted "in good faith".
Earlier last year, Chichester drew up a new expenses code for Tory MEPs after being asked by Cameron to get a grip on their allowances in the wake of the Derek Conway affair.
But Chichester - son of round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis - was forced to own up to what he called a "whoops-a-daisy" moment - apparently failing to spot a flaw in his own financial arrangements.
In recent weeks, two other sitting UK Tories, Caroline Jackson and Christopher Beazley, have broken ranks and castigated Cameron's decision to opt out of the EPP, saying it will "isolate" both the Tories and the UK.
Beazley has applied for full membership of the EPP while Jackson told this website she is considering quitting the Tory party of which she has been a member since 1963.
Cameron's decision - which crucially still has to be confirmed in a letter to the EPP leadership - has left the EPP, parliament's biggest group, looking for new political partners after June.
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