Cameron expels Tory MEP found guilty of breaking expenses rules

David Cameron has promised a "deep clean" of MEP expenses after expelling a Conservative MEP found guilty of expenses abuses yesterday. Den Dover, a former Conservative chief whip in the European Parliament, was found guilty by an official inquiry and was ordered to repay more than £500,000.

Dover resigned as chief whip in June over claims that he had paid £758,146 over seven years in allowances to a family-owned company, M P Holdings, run by his wife Kathleen and daughter Amanda. The inquiry found just over £500,000 worth of unaccounted expenditure which Dover has agreed to pay back in full to the European parliament.

Yesterday Cameron acted within minutes of being informed about the Strasbourg authorities' decision that Dover had breached its rules. Cameron demanded that the whip be withdrawn from Dover and expelled him from the Conservative party - a decision which the disgraced MEP can appeal against. Dover's name was also removed from the list of Conservative candidates for the European parliamentary elections next June.