Tory MEP sacked over expenses

A Tory MEP who had to repay around £7,000 in over-claimed expenses will not be allowed to represent the Conservatives in the forthcoming European elections, the party announced today.

In a statement, the Board of the Conservative Party said it had removed Bashir Khanbhai from the party's list of candidates for the Eastern region in the June 10 polls.

The statement said: "In the light of new information about his travel allowance claims sent to the Conservative Party by Mr Khanbhai on Monday 10th May, John Taylor, chairman of the Board's committee on candidates, will be referring a number of issues to the European Parliament authorities for further investigation."

Only last Friday, party leader Michael Howard gave his full backing to Mr Khanbhai, saying he would remain third on a list of seven Conservative candidates for seats in the Eastern region.

In April, the Party Board's Committee on Candidates recommended that Mr Khanbhai should be removed from the approved list of candidates.

But Mr Khanbhai appealed to the Full Committee on Candidates.

That committee said it concurred with the original panel in concluding that Mr Khanbhai should have shown "more diligence".

But it said that it felt that Mr Khanbhai had made an "inadvertent error" which he regretted and that his name should stay on the list of candidates.