Jailed MEP faces expulsion from ITS group

The far-right European Parliament group, Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) will discuss expelling the jailed MEP Ashley Mote at a meeting on 18 September.

The British MEP was sentenced by a court in Portsmouth, England, on Tuesday (4 September) to nine months in jail following his conviction for dishonestly receiving more than £65,000 (€96,000) in income support and housing and council tax benefits. He began his sentence after the court hearing, Portsmouth Crown Court confirmed.

The ITS MEPs discussed the case yesterday (5 September) in Strasbourg. It is understood two of its 23 MEPs proposed visiting Mote in prison.

Eugen Mihaescu, a Romanian MEP and vice-chairman of ITS, said that he was in favour of Mote’s expulsion. He said that the issue of corruption was a sensitive one for Romanians. "We are against all forms of corruption and are in the middle of a crusade against corruption," Mihaescu added.

Some members of the group are thought to be concerned about losing their status if Mote is expelled. Parliament rules state that a minimum of 20 MEPs representing one-fifth of the member states are needed to form a political group. Though Mote’s loss alone would not break up the group, a failure by the five MEPs from the Greater Romania Party to get elected in Romania’s European elections on 25 November could jeopardise the group.

Other political groups in the Parliament called on Mote to resign. But under UK rules, an MEP is only obliged to resign if the sentence is 12 months or more. This means Mote can retain his MEP’s salary of £60,000 (€88,757) from the UK government and will also receive part of his allow-ances from the European Parliament. He loses allowances for travel and attending sessions and half of his allowance for his constituency office. But just under €2,000 per month will still be paid to Mote for the cost of running the office in south-east England.

Parliament’s political group leaders are today (6 September) examining if this money can be withheld.

The far-right European Parliament group, Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) will discuss expelling the jailed MEP Ashley Mote at a meeting on 18 September.