A new report by the Taxpayers' Alliance reveals Britain's best and worst Members of the European Parliament, based on a detailed analysis of their performance. The assessment provides a key source of information on which MEPs are hard-working, and committed to transparency and accountability. The results reveal a wide gap between the most hard-working, transparent and pro-taxpayer MEPs and their more lazy, secretive and pro-establishment colleagues.
All 78 UK MEPs were assessed and scored on the basis of:
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Number of Parliamentary Questions asked (20%)
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Campaigning activity (20%)
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Expenses Transparency (20%)
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Parliamentary voting record on key transparency, red tape, spending controls and anti-corruption legislation (40%)
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Bonus marks were awarded for MEPs who opted out of the excessive second pension scheme and deducted for the 4 MEPs who have been involved in scandals involving financial irregularities.
The full report can be read here (PDF).
Key Findings
The top ten MEPs were:
The bottom ten MEPs were:
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The highest scoring MEP is Jim Allister (Northern Ireland), elected as a Democratic Unionist but now sitting as an independent, with 79 per cent.
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Two MEPs, Christopher Beazley (Eastern Region) and Den Dover (North West), both elected as Conservatives, poll bottom with scores of 0 per cent.
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Five parties have MEPs within the top ten - Greens, UKIP, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independent.
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Of the 16 MEPs who scored higher than 50 per cent, there is one Green, two UKIP, three Liberal Democrats, eight Conservatives, and two Independents.
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The parties spread right across the range of scores. The exception is Labour; the poor voting profiles of MEPs on key votes means that the highest scorer, Robert Evans, comes in at 27th, just outside the top third.
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The full report, including individual scores and the full ranking of all UK MEPs, can be read here (PDF).
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
"Whilst some MEPs have been out in Brussels doing a good job for taxpayers, others have been letting people down. Across all parties there are a range of MEPs who have worked hard, been transparent and stood up for taxpayers' interests, whilst some of their colleagues have simply cashed in the pay cheques, turned up sparingly and voted against the national interest. All MEPs' expenses and voting records must be made fully transparent so people can see what kind of deal we really get from our representatives in Brussels."