Tories expel MEP who criticised 'fascist' links

A senior MEP has been thrown out of the Conservative Party after criticising the leadership for joining a hardline right-wing alliance in the European Parliament and telling David Cameron that he had been led by the nose by Eurosceptics.

Edward McMillan-Scott, an MEP for 25 years, had the whip withdrawn during the summer and was told last night that he was being expelled from the Conservatives after refusing to offer the party assurances about his behaviour.

He broke ranks with the leadership when he stood in - and won - an election as a vice-president in the European Parliament against the Conservatives' chosen candidate Michal Kaminski, head of the Polish Law and Justice Party.

Mr McMillan-Scott accused Mr Kaminski, the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) anti-federalist bloc which the Tories decided to ally themselves with in Europe, of being a fascist with "anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist links".

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said the expulsion revealed "the true face" of the Tories.

"Mr McMillan-Scott has been expelled for standing up against the new far-right conservative extremists and their associates in the European Parliament," he said.