Time running out to recoup money from others alleged to have broken rules

The European parliament has recovered more than £200,000 from Ukip MEPs accused of misusing public funds through payments to party workers. But with three weeks to go until European elections, time is running out to recoup money from others alleged to have broken EU rules.

The parliament has suspended the pay of two staff attached to Ukip’s former leader Paul Nuttall and his fellow North West England MEP Louise Bours, the Guardian has learned. Neither MEP is standing for re-election on 23 May, which could make it harder for officials to recover money.

Since the Guardian revealed the parliament’s investigation into Ukip misspending in 2017, £202,667 has been recovered from two current MEPs and one former one.

Nigel Farage was docked half his MEP’s salary for 10 months in 2018, and he is judged to have repaid a £39,653 debt to the EU. European parliament financial controllers said Farage broke the rules by paying a Ukip party worker with EU funds meant to pay for staffing of his MEP office. Farage, who left Ukip in December and now leads the Brexit party, has always denied the charge.

Raymond Finch was docked £61,650 of his MEP’s salary over the employment of two assistants, including Farage’s estranged wife, Kirsten.

Roger Helmer, who stood down as an MEP in 2017 when allegations against him emerged, lost £101,364 of a transition allowance for former MEPs.

While Nuttall and Bours could lose their transitional allowances, it is not clear whether this would be enough to cover the alleged losses from the EU budget.

Elected in 2014, Bours would be entitled to a €40,949 (£35,025) after-tax transition payment, while Nuttall’s stint as an MEP since 2009 could entitle him to €68,428. The payments are based on the length of time served as an MEP, but are not meant to be claimed by ex-politicians with another job or pension.

Earlier calculations put repayment demands on then Ukip MEPs at around £500,000, but cases against two were later closed without any action.

All MEPs have strenuously rejected claims that the rules were broken. Their bloc in the European parliament, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, has previously described the investigation as “a vindicative campaign” against Eurosceptic MEPs.

Responding to the latest findings, an EFDD spokesman said the parliament had behaved “disgracefully” towards the former employees of Bours and Nuttall. “Both of them have been doing the jobs they have been contracted to do and one of the guys lost his house,” the spokesman said.