Pharmacist member of European Parliament deselected over fraud
Bashir Khanbai, a Conservative member of the European Parliament for Eastern England since 1999 and a pharmacist since 1971, has been deselected from the European election next week after questions were asked about his expense claims.
A Conservative spokesman said: “He made travel expense claims incorrectly.
We held an inquiry and decided he had made an error. We then received
fresh allegations, deselected him and referred the matter to the European
Parliament.”
The Conservative Party website lists monitoring and exposing fraud and
mismanagement in the EU as one of Mr Khanbai’s interests. Mr Khanbai
vigorously denies any wrong-doing. In a statement to The Journal, Mr
Khanbai said that he had voluntarily reimbursed the difference in travelling
expenses between Brussels and his permananent home in Sevenoaks, Kent,
and his constituency mailing address — 57 Peninsula Cottages, Wroxham,
Norfolk.
He had been advised that he need not do so and that he had done nothing
wrong. He said that his deselection was a denial of natural justice and
had been decided by a Conservative Party kangaroo court. Although Mr
Khanbai admits that 57 Peninsula Cottages does not exist, he insists: “I
maintain that I am not in breach of any Parliament rule in the use of
my Wroxham address.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader