The Conservatives� new �anti-federalist� political group in the European Parliament will be a powerful force for change, it has been claimed.

Geoff Meade

The Conservatives' new "anti-federalist" political group in the European Parliament will be a powerful force for change, it has been claimed.

Timothy Kirkhope, acting chairman of the new European Conservatives and Reformists Group, used a speech in London to defend David Cameron's decision to pull his MEPs out of the dominant EPP centre-right alliance in Strasbourg.

When the newly-elected parliament sits for the first time next week, the 26 Tories will be the largest national faction in a 55-strong bloc, which is a marriage of political convenience with mostly Polish and Czech Republic centre-right MEPs.

Mr Kirkhope insisted that far from marginalising the Tory voice, the new group - the fourth-largest in the Parliament - would give the Tories more clout.

Mr Kirkhope, the leader of the Tory contingent in the last European Parliament, is a candidate in next week's vote for the leadership of the new group.

He told the Association of British Insurers in London that the new alliance provided an opportunity to build a "lasting and reliable coalition against socialism and over-regulation".

He went on: "I believe that the new group will be a powerful vehicle to drive forward our ideals.

"I am aware that our political opponents have argued the reverse - that in parting company with the EPP we have diminished our influence in the EU.

"But the facts are already proving them wrong and I want to put the record straight. My experiences in recent days already demonstrate the increased leverage the British Conservative Party will now enjoy in EU decision-making.

"Our influence will be used not only to hold back the tide of regulation, but also to reverse the ebb towards further integration."

Mr Kirkhope said the newly-formed group would break the hold of the traditional centre-right and centre-left mainstream political groupings.

He said the new Tory-led bloc would see the first "euro-realist" political grouping, which would make the case for EU action on issues where it counted - climate change, global poverty and economic competitiveness."

He added: "Conservative MEPs have now fulfilled the commitment we gave to the British people to create our own anti-federalist, centre and centre-right mainstream grouping in the European Parliament."