MEP defects from Tories to UKIP

A MEMBER of the European Parliament (MEP) representing residents in south Lincolnshire has defected from the Conservative Party to the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

MEP for the East Midlands Roger Helmer announced on Saturday that he would be joining UKIP, stating that the party now has closer policies than the Tory Party to the “conservative principles”.

The Eurosceptic intended to step down from his post after a disagreement with party policies, but the party’s apparent inability to find a replacement has frustrated him into changing his allegiance.

A statement from him yesterday said: “This has been a tough decision to take. I well understand that many of my friends and colleagues will greet the news with dismay.

“My increasingly tenuous relationship with the party has been predicated primarily on people, not policies and I cherish the hope that at least some of the good friendships I have made...will survive my change of allegiance.

“I announced my intention to resign at the end of 2011. But that plan was frustrated by the deliberate obstinacy and recalcitrance of the Party Chairman.

“I will continue to work for a free, independent, sovereign and democratic Britain, trading and cooperating with our neighbours but governed from Westminster, not Brussels.”