Traditional Unionist Voice MEP Jim Allister has been named as the UK’s top MEP by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. This comes hot on the heels of him being ranked fifth in the UK by the independent Euro-skeptic organization, OpenEurope.

The following is taken from the TaxPayers’ Alliance press release:

A new report by the Taxpayers' Alliance reveals Britain's best and worst Members of the European Parliament, based on a detailed analysis of their performance. The assessment provides a key source of information on which MEPs are hard-working, and committed to transparency and accountability. The results reveal a wide gap between the most hard-working, transparent and pro-taxpayer MEPs and their more lazy, secretive and pro-establishment colleagues.

All 78 UK MEPs were assessed and scored on the basis of:

Number of Parliamentary Questions asked (20%)

·      Campaigning activity (20%)

·      Expenses Transparency (20%)

·      Parliamentary voting record on key transparency, red tape, spending controls and anti-corruption legislation (40%)

·      Bonus marks were awarded for MEPs who opted out of the excessive second pension scheme and deducted for the 4 MEPs who have been involved in scandals involving financial irregularities.

The highest scoring MEP is Jim Allister (Northern Ireland), elected as a Democratic Unionist but now sitting as an independent, with 79 per cent.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:

"Whilst some MEPs have been out in Brussels doing a good job for taxpayers, others have been letting people down. Across all parties there are a range of MEPs who have worked hard, been transparent and stood up for taxpayers' interests, whilst some of their colleagues have simply cashed in the pay cheques, turned up sparingly and voted against the national interest. All MEPs' expenses and voting records must be made fully transparent so people can see what kind of deal we really get from our representatives in Brussels."

Notes to Editors

1) The TaxPayers' Alliance is Britain's independent, non-partisan grassroots campaign for lower taxes and better government. The TaxPayers' Alliance is strictly independent of any political party, and has assessed Britain's MEPs purely on the basis of their Parliamentary performance, voting record and financial dealings.

2) The full report, including detailed scoring and full methodology, can be found here.

Read The Daily Telegraph report on the story.