Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has withdrawn the whip from one of its MEP’s over ‘a likely conflict of interest’.
In a brief statement, the party said that the whip was being removed from West Midlands MEP Andrew England Kerr “with immediate effect”.
“This is due to irreconcilable differences regarding a likely conflict of interest,” the statement said.
Asked about the decision, Nigel Farage would not detail the accusations made about Kerr.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Well he is a MEP but he is also a shareholder in several businesses, and in our view, one or two of the things he said and done as an MEP could have been seen potentially as a personal gain through his business, and that to us is just not acceptable.
“We made these rules when they came in. Some will say we acted harshly – but we want to have the highest possible standards and we’re not happy with what he’s done.”
Asked specifically what he had done, he said: “As I say, he has acted an MEP, making comments about a business and a product that he has a direct interest in and we think that’s unacceptable.”
England Kerr, 61, was due to appear on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Midlands, but reportedly pulled out at the last minute.
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He was one of 29 Brexit Party candidates elected in the European elections in May.
A qualified solicitor, he previously set up a law firm and is a director of a firm that designs and supplies life-saving equipment.
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