£109m for election ‘charade’
THERESA MAY has been accused of “frittering away” more than £100million of taxpayers’ money on “non-event” and “pointless” European elections.
Taxpayers face a bill of £109million to stage the elections on May 23, for which even the Prime Minister’s spokesman yesterday declined repeatedly to say if she would campaign.
A further £2 million a month may also have to be spent on any elected MEPS’ salaries, expenses and staff, potentially for four months from taking their seats on July 2 until the October 31 Brexit extension granted by the EU.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, says it is “utter humiliation” to be forced to fight the elections and “fritter away” so much on a “charade”. “We cannot possibly consider fighting these absurd elections. We must resolve instead to say no,” he writes.
Jacob Rees-mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPS, said the money could
be “better spent on almost any other government objective”, adding: “It will prove difficult to motivate Conservatives to vote or activists to campaign.”
Anne-marie Morris, the Tory MP, said she was not willing to campaign for Conservative candidates because the elections were a “non-event” and refused to rule out the possibility of voting for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party, which the former Ukip leader launched yesterday.
“There is very little time to prepare for them. A number of individuals who were MEPS have said they won’t stand again because it is completely counterculture, if you like, to everything we said about withdrawal. So no, I am not going to be campaigning,” she said.
The estimated £109 million total, based on what the 2014 elections cost, would be enough to pay for more than 4,750 newly qualified teachers for a year, up to 5,500 new police constables or up to 7,000 trainee nurses.
Charlie Elphicke, the Tory MP, said:
“It beggars belief that we are spending £100 million on pointless elections where we could be electing people who serve for a matter of months before we finally leave the EU.”
Other Tories warned of a potential wipeout for the party if the elections went ahead. David Campbell-bannerman, the Tory MEP who has refused to stand because he believes it would be “dishonourable”, predicted the Conservatives could lose half their 18 MEPS.
“MEPS will not be there for very long so it is the perfect protest vote, and that means we will get a kicking. Unfortunately it is a major issue,” he tells Chopper’s Brexit podcast today.
The MEPS would lose their jobs instantaneously on Brexit day, whenever that was agreed. They would only be entitled to the €8,757 (£7,550) allowance for losing their seats if Brexit was delayed until July 2020 and they served a full year as MEPS.
The parties also face multi-million bills. The Tories and Ukip each spent £3 million, the Lib Dems £1.5 million and Labour £1million during the previous EU election. The Electoral Commission has also been allocated £686,000 costs relating to the elections, including raising the public’s awareness.
“What a waste, this should be invested in our public services,” said Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns.