Crisis in UKIP: Farage & Bloom in the media spotlight

At long last the media turn their sights on UKIP's two biggest hypocrites.

Taken from the Telegraph

British MEPs exploit loophole to pay relatives to work for them

British MEPs are paying relatives hundreds of thousands of pounds to work for them by exploiting an exemption they forced into new rules banning the practice.

By Jon Swaine and Bruno Waterfield in Brussels

Published: 4:32PM BST 16 Oct 2009

Regulations introduced earlier this year prevented newly elected MEPs from using their £184,000 staffing allowances to employ family members.

However, amid threats of legal action, a so-called “British clause” was inserted, allowing serving MEPs already paying relatives to continue doing so until 2014.

At least 17 British MEPs – including the Labour, Conservative and UKIP leaders in Europe – are still paying relations tens of thousands of pounds a year from public funds, the Daily Telegraph has found.

The disclosure threatens to embarrass all parties but particularly the Conservatives. About half of those involved are Tories. David Cameron, the party leader, promised a “deep clean” of his MEPs following two high-profile scandals in their ranks.

Chris Davies, a Liberal Democrat MEP and anti-sleaze campaigner, said: “It’s impossible to justify. A relationship between the MEP and the staff member means we can’t know whether they are suitably qualified or working 100 per cent of the time, as people would expect.”

The new rules were agreed last year after being proposed by Ingeborg Graessle, a German MEP. She said a "very serious conflict of interest" was being allowed under the previous system.

While the practice was unheard of among MEPs from Germany, Austria and many other countries, 34 out of 72 British MEPs employed a relative during the last parliamentary term.

Several British MEPs were known to be furious at the new rules. Senior members from all the main parties told officials last summer that a ban on employment of family members would mire the parliament in expensive unfair dismissal litigation.

A compromise allowed family members already employed by MEPs to continue working until 2014. No new employment contracts for relatives were allowed to be drawn up from July 2009.

“Incumbent British MEPs blocked the ban with the threat of legal action unless they were given at least five years grace to make other arrangements,” said an official.

“It is known as the ‘British clause’ because it is only really the British MEPs who can get away with employing their relatives in public office.”

Diana Wallis, a Liberal Democrat MEP who pays her husband up to £25,000, said last night: “This was specifically included in the rules because the European Parliament could have been faced with a lot of unemployment cases and claims”

Of the 17 MEPs continuing to employ family members, eight are Conservatives – including Timothy Kirkhope, the Tory leader in Europe. Mr Kirkhope pays his wife Caroline between £20,000 and £29,999 to work for him in Britain.

Also among them is Giles Chichester, the party’s former European leader, who was forced to resign the post after it emerged he paid £400,000 for office services to a company of which he was a director.

Mr Chichester was put in charge of ensuring the probity of his colleagues’ expenses before being stripped of the role after news of his arrangements surfaced. He continues to employ his wife Virginia as a “part-time local assistant”.

Four are from Labour, including Glenis Willmott, the party’s leader in Brussels. Mrs Willmott pays her husband Edward between £10,000 and £20,000 to work as her “full-time parliamentary assistant”.

Brian Simpson, a Labour MEP for the North West, employs two members of his family. He lists his son Mark as “Political Head of Office” in Brussels, on a salary of between £26,000 and £36,000, and pays his wife Linda £10,000-£12,000 to work as “part-time accounts manager”.

Three of the 16 are Liberal Democrats, including Graham Watson, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe. Mr Watson pays his wife Rita Giannini-Watson between £10,000 and £20,000 a year to manage his “office premises and staff employment”.

Two UK Independence Party members have continued employing relatives. Nigel Farage, the party leader, employs his wife Kirsten at an undisclosed salary.

Godfrey Bloom, a UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside, states on his website that he “employs no immediate members of his family on his secretarial allowance unlike most other MEPs”. However Victoria Skowronek, his 21-year-old secretarial assistant, is his niece.

Miss Skowronek also works for an investment company in which Mr Bloom is a major shareholder.

Mats Perrson, a spokesman from Open Europe, the pro-transparency campaign group, said: “It doesn’t look good. This should not have been allowed and a code of conduct should have prevented it.

“It’s much better if MEPs do not employ family members, in terms of public perception and avoiding suspicion, whether justified or not.

“The British pride themselves on taking the lead in Europe but on this they are trailing far behind.”

All the MEPs told the Telegraph that their relatives provided excellent value for taxpayers because they worked longer hours than other staff and were available at any moment.

MEPs who employ family members:

Brian Simpson – Lab – Son Mark £26,000-£36,000, wife Linda £10,000-£12,000
Sir Robert Atkins – Con – Wife Lady Atkins £30,000-£39,999
Nirj Deva – Con – Wife Indra £30,000-£39,999
Stephen Hughes – Lab – Wife Cynthia Beaver £30,000-£40,000
Charles Tannock – Con –Wife Silvia Janicinova £30,000-£39,999
Michael Cashman – Lab – Civil partner Paul Cottingham £30,000
Timothy Kirkhope – Con – Wife Caroline £20,000-£29,999
Diana Wallis – Lib Dem – Husband Stewart Arnold £20,000-£25,000
Roger Helmer – Con – Wife Sara £10-£20,000
Graham Watson – Lib Dem – Wife Rita Giannini-Watson £10,000-£20,000
Glenis Willmott – Lab – Husband Edward Willmott £10,000-£20,000
Giles Chichester – Con – Wife Virginia £10,000-19,999
Martin Callanan – Con – Wife Jayne Burton £0-£10,000
Geoffrey van Orden – Con – Wife Frances £0-10,000
Baroness (Sarah) Ludford – Lib Dem – Husband Steve Hitchins
Nigel Farage – UKIP – Wife Kirsten
Godfrey Bloom – UKIP – Niece Victoria Skowronek

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