Tories admit far right MEPs into Euro-party

The Financial Times and the Guardian report on the Islamophobic alliance formed in the European Parliament with the Conservative Party aligned European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group admitting Danish and Finnish parties whose members bear criminal convictions for inciting ethnic tensions.

Tory MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining forces with the Danish People’s Party (DPP) and the True Finns both of whom are former members of the political group Europe for Freedom and Democracy (EFD). The EFD contained a number of Islamophobic MEPs including Slavi Binev, MEP from Bulgaria, who stated in a video on his website that “If Osama bin Laden symbolises the cruellest aspect of the Islam for the Americans, then the Muslim woman with her numerous children are his European equivalent” and Francesco Speroni, MEP for Lega Nord and co-president of EFD, who claimed that “If [Anders Breivik’s] ideas are that we are going towards Eurabia and those sorts of things, that western Christian civilisation needs to be defended, yes, I’m in agreement.”

Morten Messerschmidt, an MEP for the DPP, was convicted in 2002 for publishing material that appeared to link a multi-ethnic society with rape, violence and forced marriages.

Jussi Halla-aho, an MEP for True Finns, was convicted in 2012 of stirring up ethnic tensions after posting a blog on freedom of speech in which he claimed Islam “reveres paedophilia”.

Both papers report that the Conservative move follows reassurance from MEP Syed Kamall, the Tory leader in the European Parliament.

According to the Financial Times, Kamall said “The Danish People’s party is on a political journey. It now has a policy of controlled immigration and disagrees with those on the left who would allow uncontrolled immigration and benefit tourism.

“There is a clear distinction that the left-wing media often fails to make between a party that wants to control immigration and one that seeks to demonise immigrants. The DPP is the former.”

While that may be the case, expressions of anti-Muslim prejudice and rhetoric is inexcusable and not something that can be explained away as a ‘journey’.

The increase in seats on account of the inclusion of the DPP and True Finns in the ECR group will give the Tory-led alliance more funding and influence in the European Parliament. Indeed, Nigel Farage previously admitted that UKIP was compelled to make unsavoury alliances in the assembly in order to secure greater allocated speaking time during parliamentary debates. Are the Tories counting numbers over substance in their choice of political allies?