North West Tories slammed over Euro expenses
May 12, 2008 12:00 AM
Two Conservative MEPs representing the North West in the European Parliament have been condemned by a national newspaper for the use of their expenses.
The News of the World on Sunday revealed yesterday (11 May) that David Sumberg had paid his wife more than £95,000 in some years for "secretarial assistance", despite the fact that he has made only two speeches in the European Parliament since 2004.
And in circumstances similar to those of the Conway affair in the House of Commons, Sir Robert Atkins was revealed as having paid both his wife and his son more than £2,500 a month EACH!
Now local Liberal Democrat MEP is demanding to know what Tory leader David Cameron is doing to clean up his party's act.
Chris Davies blew the whistle on attempts in the European Parliament to cover up reports into the abuse of expenses. He has led the campaign for wholesale reform and complete openness by all MEPs.
He says the shocking revelations suggest that the Conservative commitment to reform is skin deep.
Chris Davies said: "This looks like another case of sleaze, sleaze, sleaze, and it is bad for the reputation of everyone in politics. The people of the North West deserve better from their representatives.
"MEPs in all parties must set the same standards of financial probity that they would demand of every other public institution in Europe. They must never forget that they are spending taxpayers' money.
"I doubt if anyone locally has ever heard of David Sumberg. He lives in London but he is one of the three Tory representatives for the North West in the European Parliament. The newspaper dubs him "Britain's laziest MEP", and it is a matter of public record that he has made only two speeches in the past four years.
"He is David Cameron's man in Brussels, and we should be told just exactly what is he doing for the money he gets."
The entire North West region is represented by nine MEPs: 3 Conservative, 3 Labour, one Liberal Democrat, and one UKIP.
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