Lib Dems top European Parliament reform charts

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 28th May 2004

Liberal Democrat MEPs have come top of a chart of votes to reform the European Parliament, according to a new study by the London School of Economics and the cross-party Campaign for Parliament Reform.

The study looks at the record of all MEPs when it comes to 40 votes on issues such as stopping the whole Parliament moving from Brussels to Strasbourg each month and reform of MEPs expenses. It concludes that Liberal Democrat MEPs in the European Parliament are the most reform-minded of all the British political parties, with a reform score of 89%. The Conservatives are in last place with a score of 69%.

Commenting on the results, Graham Watson, South West Liberal Democrat MEP and leader of the European Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, said:

"I am proud to have taken on the mantle of my predecessors Pat Cox and Gijs de Vries who led the Liberal group as a campaigning group for reform. Liberal Democrats have consistently voted in favour of reforming the European Parliament. The Tories often talk about reform, but this independent analysis proves that when it comes to votes, their record is the worst of all the main British parties."