Tories have given up all influence in Europe

They have left the main centre-right grouping to which Angela Merkel's and Nicholas Sarkozy's parties belong.

Instead they have joined up with right-wing parties, in Poland, the Czech Republic and elsewhere, some of which are clearly homophobic.

See also the news item about the Tory expulsion of the Vice-President of the Parliament for failing to give up his post in favour of a Polish extremist MEP.

European Parliament

European parliamentary elections are conducted using proportional representation, on the "party list" system, every five years. The Eastern Region constituency, which consists of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, has seven seats. The last election was in 2009 when one Labour MEP was elected - Richard Howitt, who had been a Labour MEP since 1994. In addition to Richard, there are three Conservatives, two from UKIP and one Liberal Democrat.

Richard Howitt is the Labour spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and chairs the European Parliamentary Labour Party. The Labour MEPs are members of the Socialist Group in the Parliament and Richard is their spokesperson on Human Rights.

The Tories have now broken away from the main conservative group in the European Parliament and set up a new grouping which brings in a small number of MEPs from other parties. The  Polish party in the group, which is known for its homophobic views, has ousted the Tories from the leadership of the group. "The Tories are a divided party," says Richard Howitt, "with no influence amongst the few friends they have, let alone in the European Parliament as a whole."

Richard Howitt's website is at www.richardhowittmep.com
His office is in Cambridge (01223 240202 or richard@richardhowittmep.com).

Richard Howitt MEP