Lord Tebbit: Shun all the main parties

Lord Tebbit , former Conservative chairman, on Tuesday earned a stinging rebuke from David Cameron after he urged voters to record their disgust over MPs’ expenses by shunning all the main parties in next month’s European elections.

Lord Tebbit’s comments were seen by Mr Cameron as an incitement to voters to back the UK Independence party, and the Tory leader warned the eurosceptic peer to watch his step.

“As a former party chairman, he should know a thing or two about party discipline and he should probably know a thing or two about the rules about supporting other parties,’’ Mr Cameron said. “He was treading a very careful path and I would warn him, if he slips off that path, he’s sitting as an independent.”

Lord Tebbit, a fierce eurosceptic, made it clear he was not advocating a vote for the far-right British National party, but Tory officials believe he would be very relaxed about rising support for Ukip. Ukip would be an unlikely recipient of protest votes over financial probity, given the record of some of its own members in the European parliament. More