Trouble-shooter to tackle Tory claims; Leader deals with expenses controversy

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), June 7, 2008

Byline: By EXAMINER News Correspondent

DAVID Cameron is sending his new financial troubleshooter to Brussels to sort out Tory MEPs' expenses, it has been announced.

Hugh Thomas, appointed in March as the Conservative Party's Head of Compliance, will visit the European Parliament next week in the wake of the expenses controversy surrounding Tory MEP Giles Chichester.

South West MEP Mr Chichester stepped down as Tory euroleader yesterday after being told by Mr Cameron to justify transferring more than pounds 400,000 of European Parliament staff expenses into a private family company.

Mr Chichester said he had committed a "technical" breach of spending rules and would work to prove his probity as a rank-and-file MEP.

But the scandal raised the spectre of more Tory sleaze and Mr Cameron has acted swiftly to nip more trouble in the bud.

Even as Mr Thomas' mission was announced, another Tory MEP, Den Dover, from the North West, was insisting there was nothing amiss in paying his wife and daughter a reported pounds 758,000 through a "service provider" company for secretarial and support services over nine years.

And other MEPs - not just Tories - were today assessing their potential exposure to investigation thanks to a complex expenses system which has defied years of reform plans.

Now Mr Thomas aims to put in place what Conservatives say will be Westminster-standard checks and balances on the Party's MEPs.

Ironically the downfallen Mr Chichester had been ordered by Mr Cameron to get a grip on the European Parliament expenses regime and had already introduced a new code of conduct for the Tory members in Brussels.

Before stepping down he said it was embarrassing to then find that, "whoops-a-daisy", he was breaching existing rules himself.

Mr Thomas, whose job is to ensure the integrity of all Tory finances, will now act swiftly to bring the Brussels branch of the party in line with London.

CAPTION(S):

NEW CHECKS: David Cameron is calling for better standards