Tories ready to quit EU alliance

Article reports that UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron was accused on the 11 March 2009 of putting the Conservatives on the 'lunatic fringe' of European Union politics after his party confirmed it would be withdrawing from the mainstream centre-right EU group before the June 2009 elections to the European Parliament.

The Tories said they would be leaving the European People’s Party (EPP) party with the aim of establishing a 'new grouping' in the European Parliament after the June poll.

BBC News, 11.3.09: Tories leaving Europe's EPP group http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7938482.stm

ESO: Background information: UK Conservatives in the EPP-ED: Will they stay or will they go? http://www.europeansources.info/record/uk-conservatives-in-the-epp-ed-will-they-stay-or-will-they-go/

EurActiv, 12.3.09: Will UK Tories return EU Socialists to power? http://www.euractiv.com/eu-elections/uk-tories-return-eu-socialists-p-news-221481

The European Journal, Vol.16, No.3, April 2009, p18: The end of a loveless marriage: Cameron plans EPP exit http://www.europeanfoundation.org/docs/April%202009.zip

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