THE CRUCIAL DIFFERENCE ABOUT LABOUR AND TORY GROUPS IN EUROPE

by Marjorie Smith
Various right-wing bloggers (e.g. Harry Phibbs and Ian Dale) have tried to defend the Tories new found friends in the European Parliament by saying that ok a few might be oddballs but the Socialist group has some oddballs as well. It's the normal defence of the intellectually defeated, reminiscent of the playground.

The Party of European Socialist probably does have a couple of members who have a dubious past and may, undoubtedly, have said some rather unfortunate things. Whilst the Tory group seems to have, proportionately a lot more of these 'mavericks'.

However, the crucial difference is that if the Party of European Socialists (of which Labour is a member) expelled all their MEPs who allegedly have dubious histories (which they should) , the group would still be a vibrant, cohesive and effective opposition in the European Parliament.

Whereas, the Tories would be destined for the political wilderness. Under European Parliament rules you can't have a funded group unless you have MEPs from a minimum number of Member States. If the Tories lost their odious partners from Latvia and Belgium for example, they would be unable to form a recognised group in the EP, therefore losing any influence and funding, hence their great reluctance to face their demons so the Tories and their obnoxious allies are locked in a grim embrace. Consequently, it exposes the main reason why they have an extreme reluctance to admit their strategic mistake.

They are, simply, fellow travellers of neo-fascist and other right-wing reactionaries and like all fellow travellers, they are driven by their own selfish ends, disregarding the bigger picture in pursuit of their own self-aggrandisement.