Ousted Tory MEP defects to Lib Dems

Tory rebel Edward McMillan-Scott's defection to the Liberal Democrats has been branded a "savage indictment" of the UK Conservative party.

McMillan-Scott, a vice-president of parliament and one of its longest-serving members, is now facing calls to resign his seat in the assembly.

He sent shockwaves through political circles when he formally announced at the weekend he was joining the Lib Dems.

The veteran politician split from the Tories over party leader David Cameron's decision to leave the EPP and form the ECR alliance with the Poles and Czechs.

He used an article in the Observer newspaper to say he was joining the Liberals because they were "internationalists not nationalists".

McMillan-Scott was expelled from the Tories last year in a row over the party's support for Polish MEP Michal Kaminski for a vice-presidency post.

McMillan-Scott, who has accused the Pole of holding anti-Semitic views, stood against him and won. Kaminski was subsequently elected ECR leader.

The Briton, who announced his decision at the Lib Dems' spring conference in Birmingham, is now expected to sit with the ALDE group in parliament.

Party leader Nick Clegg, a former MEP, said, "For many years he has fought for human rights and democracy world wide and he is rightly a respected politician across Europe."

McMillan-Scott is considering a legal challenge to his expulsion, saying it was "disproportionate".

Labour's leader in parliament Glenis Willmott said, "This news is a savage indictment of the modern Tory party and its dubious European allies.

"It just goes to show how far the Conservatives have moved away from the political mainstream."

Another MEP, who did not wish to be named, called on McMillan-Scott to resign his seat in parliament, saying, "This sort of thing is unacceptable. He was elected on a party list and should step down.

"This would only be fair to the people who elected him in his home constituency."

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