June 3rd 2009 - UKIP MEPs give value for money

3 June 2009

An independent study by the Taxpayers' Alliance has shown UKIP members delivering great value for money in representing British interests in the European Parliament.

UKIP's star performer was Derek Clark who was rated at 59% for his efforts in fighting the EU. That placed him seventh overall on the league table of 78 British MEPs who were marked on: Number of Parliamentary Questions asked (20%) Campaigning activity (20%) Expenses Transparency (20%) Parliamentary voting record on key transparency, red tape, spending controls and anti-corruption legislation (40%) The report, entitled 'Could Do Better? Grading the Performance of British MEPs' contains voting records on key issues, including reform of the MEP gravy train. UKIP's blanket support for replacing the blank cheque travel scheme with payment for receipts is clear, as is the opposition to any sort of reform or transparency of all Labour MEPs.

UKIP chairman Paul Nuttall said: "Derek Clark must be applauded for coming seventh out of all British MEPs. "And this is despite UKIP's policy of spending as much time as we can in the UK, so we're not just staying in Brussels picking up expenses". "It is interesting to see that not a single Labour MEP in in the top ten and their leader Gary Titley is on only 9%. Glenys Kinnock, the junket queen, is even worse at 8%."