EU data shows members taking full advantage of parliamentary allowances while avoiding attending sessions
Trying to find Ukip's MEPs in the corridors of European power in Brussels or Strasbourg can be a frustrating task, according to former party staff members, because they are allowed to wander at will. But woe betide those who go missing when it is time to donate cash.
As party leader Nigel Farage prepares for what is expected to be a successful European parliament election on 22 May – which may provide impetus for the general election – those who have worked for the party claim the MEPs can do as they please, most of the time.
Some rarely carry a mobile phone while others do not turn their phones on; and one or two, it is alleged, have become involved in "extracurricular work"– managing private businesses – at times when they could have been working for constituents.
"They come and go when they like. For weeks, you may not see one and then they are all there – invariably at a bar occupied by other elderly British men," said one former Ukip employee. "Their primary reason for coming in is to claim money."
But if MEPs fail to donate to the party – the Guardian disclosed on Monday that in 2011 the party insisted they give £10,000 each or risk being deselected – they can be put under acute pressure to leave the group, MEPs said.
Nikki Sinclaire, the West Midlands MEP who left Ukip in 2010, said: "The only discipline the party's MEPs come under is that they must sign up to Ukip and the party's grouping, the Europe of Freedom and Democracy [EFD]. As long as they don't cause him any problems. Generally they don't turn up."
Sinclaire said she had left the party after refusing to sign up to the EFD because some of the grouping's members held homophobic and racist views. She said she had been forced out because the party needed her signature to gain access to EU money. "Nigel and others do expect loyalty when it comes to the party's finances. That is how they fund the party and how they are funding May's election," she said.
According to official figures from the EU and Britain's Electoral Commission, Ukip MEPs have continued to excel in the claiming of EU expenses and generous donations to their party in the UK.
In 2012, the party's MEPs claimed £370,000 for office costs and received nearly £420,000 in subsistence allowances for meals and hotels. In the same period, they donated more than £400,000 of their own money to the party.
All MEPs receive a salary of £78,000 but must appear at a parliamentary building in order to receive various allowances.
Ukip MEPs claimed an average of £35,635 each in "general expenditure allowances" in 2012, which should cover "office management costs". The allowances are in addition to salaries, travel expenses and "daily subsistence allowance". Ukip did not return calls seeking comment for this article, but said last week: "All our MEPs conduct their financial affairs honestly and comply with the rules covering allowances and expenses."
Paul Nuttall, the party's North West MEP, has donated £12,400 to Ukip since election in 2009, according to the Electoral Commission. His allowances claim last year was £40,436. He was among MEPs who have given Ukip donations of £426,000 since the 2009 election.
Godfrey Bloom, the outspoken MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, has claimed £46,722 in allowances and paid £72,000 in donations since 2004. He left the EFD after saying British aid went to "bongo bongo land" but is understood to have remained close to Farage.
Derek Clark, MEP for East Midlands, claimed £56,822 general and subsistence allowances and has donated £187,000 to the party since 2004. Clark was asked to repay £31,800 of EU allowances two years ago after it was found that the money was paying salaries for party staff.
Stuart Agnew, representative for East of England, has claimed more than £78,000 in allowances and made at least £31,000 in donations since 2009; Mike Nattrass, who resigned the party whip in September, has received £59,845 in allowances and donated £96,000 since 2004.
Senior Ukip figures have defended the party's position on expenses, and say they are relaxed about diverting money to the party in Britain.
Last month, Trevor Colman, a Ukip MEP for the South West, told the BBC that allowances were a factor influencing his motivations for appearing at the EU parliament. "I wouldn't say getting the allowances is one of the main motivations, I'm trying to be fair about it, it is a factor, of course it is," Colman said.
He defended his decision not to concentrate on making speeches, saying he was instead concentrating on an anti-EU website. "Why make a speech when you know that it is totally ineffective? That you are there talking to a gallery of about six people, I don't quite see the point in doing that," he told the BBC. Colman, who is standing down in May, employs five full-time staff who mainly work on the website, plus another to cover Strasbourg and Brussels. He echoed the sentiments of other senior Ukip activists when he said European democracy is a farce and he uses its funds to try to shed light on its failings.
Ukip officials say they are coming under intense media scrutiny because of the political implications of their rise. Last week, polls showed the party attracting 14% of the vote, which could rise considerably at May's elections.
The Tories are expected to face the greatest damage as a result of Ukip's rise. David Cameron, who once branded the party's supporters "fruitcakes, nutters and closet racists", has since called for them to return to the Conservatives if they wish to curb immigration and see a referendum on EU membership.
Robert Halfon, the influential Tory backbench MP, last week compared the views of Gerard Batten, the Ukip MEP for London – who believes Muslims should sign a special code of conduct – to those of the Nazis, who insisted Jews should wear a yellow star.
Halfon, who is Jewish, said: "I genuinely find it abhorrent and frightening. I'm amazed that the man is still an MEP."
One party official said the Tories – as well as the media – were panicking in the face of a new political force and brushed off allegations of a misuse of EU funds. "We are taking the Devil's money to do God's work. And the more we are scrutinised and attacked, the stronger we seem to be with the electorate." Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 hours ago.
Trying to find Ukip's MEPs in the corridors of European power in Brussels or Strasbourg can be a frustrating task, according to former party staff members, because they are allowed to wander at will. But woe betide those who go missing when it is time to donate cash.
As party leader Nigel Farage prepares for what is expected to be a successful European parliament election on 22 May – which may provide impetus for the general election – those who have worked for the party claim the MEPs can do as they please, most of the time.
Some rarely carry a mobile phone while others do not turn their phones on; and one or two, it is alleged, have become involved in "extracurricular work"– managing private businesses – at times when they could have been working for constituents.
"They come and go when they like. For weeks, you may not see one and then they are all there – invariably at a bar occupied by other elderly British men," said one former Ukip employee. "Their primary reason for coming in is to claim money."
But if MEPs fail to donate to the party – the Guardian disclosed on Monday that in 2011 the party insisted they give £10,000 each or risk being deselected – they can be put under acute pressure to leave the group, MEPs said.
Nikki Sinclaire, the West Midlands MEP who left Ukip in 2010, said: "The only discipline the party's MEPs come under is that they must sign up to Ukip and the party's grouping, the Europe of Freedom and Democracy [EFD]. As long as they don't cause him any problems. Generally they don't turn up."
Sinclaire said she had left the party after refusing to sign up to the EFD because some of the grouping's members held homophobic and racist views. She said she had been forced out because the party needed her signature to gain access to EU money. "Nigel and others do expect loyalty when it comes to the party's finances. That is how they fund the party and how they are funding May's election," she said.
According to official figures from the EU and Britain's Electoral Commission, Ukip MEPs have continued to excel in the claiming of EU expenses and generous donations to their party in the UK.
In 2012, the party's MEPs claimed £370,000 for office costs and received nearly £420,000 in subsistence allowances for meals and hotels. In the same period, they donated more than £400,000 of their own money to the party.
All MEPs receive a salary of £78,000 but must appear at a parliamentary building in order to receive various allowances.
Ukip MEPs claimed an average of £35,635 each in "general expenditure allowances" in 2012, which should cover "office management costs". The allowances are in addition to salaries, travel expenses and "daily subsistence allowance". Ukip did not return calls seeking comment for this article, but said last week: "All our MEPs conduct their financial affairs honestly and comply with the rules covering allowances and expenses."
Paul Nuttall, the party's North West MEP, has donated £12,400 to Ukip since election in 2009, according to the Electoral Commission. His allowances claim last year was £40,436. He was among MEPs who have given Ukip donations of £426,000 since the 2009 election.
Godfrey Bloom, the outspoken MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, has claimed £46,722 in allowances and paid £72,000 in donations since 2004. He left the EFD after saying British aid went to "bongo bongo land" but is understood to have remained close to Farage.
Derek Clark, MEP for East Midlands, claimed £56,822 general and subsistence allowances and has donated £187,000 to the party since 2004. Clark was asked to repay £31,800 of EU allowances two years ago after it was found that the money was paying salaries for party staff.
Stuart Agnew, representative for East of England, has claimed more than £78,000 in allowances and made at least £31,000 in donations since 2009; Mike Nattrass, who resigned the party whip in September, has received £59,845 in allowances and donated £96,000 since 2004.
Senior Ukip figures have defended the party's position on expenses, and say they are relaxed about diverting money to the party in Britain.
Last month, Trevor Colman, a Ukip MEP for the South West, told the BBC that allowances were a factor influencing his motivations for appearing at the EU parliament. "I wouldn't say getting the allowances is one of the main motivations, I'm trying to be fair about it, it is a factor, of course it is," Colman said.
He defended his decision not to concentrate on making speeches, saying he was instead concentrating on an anti-EU website. "Why make a speech when you know that it is totally ineffective? That you are there talking to a gallery of about six people, I don't quite see the point in doing that," he told the BBC. Colman, who is standing down in May, employs five full-time staff who mainly work on the website, plus another to cover Strasbourg and Brussels. He echoed the sentiments of other senior Ukip activists when he said European democracy is a farce and he uses its funds to try to shed light on its failings.
Ukip officials say they are coming under intense media scrutiny because of the political implications of their rise. Last week, polls showed the party attracting 14% of the vote, which could rise considerably at May's elections.
The Tories are expected to face the greatest damage as a result of Ukip's rise. David Cameron, who once branded the party's supporters "fruitcakes, nutters and closet racists", has since called for them to return to the Conservatives if they wish to curb immigration and see a referendum on EU membership.
Robert Halfon, the influential Tory backbench MP, last week compared the views of Gerard Batten, the Ukip MEP for London – who believes Muslims should sign a special code of conduct – to those of the Nazis, who insisted Jews should wear a yellow star.
Halfon, who is Jewish, said: "I genuinely find it abhorrent and frightening. I'm amazed that the man is still an MEP."
One party official said the Tories – as well as the media – were panicking in the face of a new political force and brushed off allegations of a misuse of EU funds. "We are taking the Devil's money to do God's work. And the more we are scrutinised and attacked, the stronger we seem to be with the electorate." Reported by guardian.co.uk 3 hours ago.