Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson threatens to quit party

From theparliament.com:

British Tory leader David Cameron has been condemned as “ridiculous” for pulling his party out of the EPP-ED group.

The blistering attack, from one of his own MEPs, comes in the wake of Cameron’s decision to cut loose from parliament’s biggest political group after June’s European elections.

Caroline Jackson is so incensed by the move she says she is considering quitting the Tory party of which she has been a member since 1963.

“Pulling out of the EPP was ridiculous, is a serious mistake and I am minded to leave the party,” she said.

Jackson, who is retiring in June’s European elections, has been an MEP since 1984, making her one of the longest-serving deputies.

Meanwhile, in councillor news the BBC has the story of Thurrock Council leader Terry Hipsey quitting the Conservatives for Labour.