Candidates debate issues including the Euro and David Cameron's plan to leave the European People's Party.

The representatives of the main UK political parties battling in next month's European Elections set out their stalls to a high level business audience at Weber Shandwick’s London offices on Thursday 21 May.

Addressing the theme 'A Europe for Business', Timothy Kirkhope MEP, leader of the Conservative Group in the European Parliament, said his party wanted to work in Europe to lift the burdens on business, and to ensure that justice and home affairs policy was retained by national governments. Kevin McGrath, fourth on Labour's list of London candidates, emphasised the need for the UK to be strongly represented in Europe, something which would be undermined if voters switched allegiance to minority parties, such as the UK Independence Party.

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP stressed the commitment of the Liberal Democrats to the European project, and flagged up, by way of example, the way in which her party would continue to promote effective co-operation on banking regulation, while ensuring the retention of appropriate regulatory powers at national level.

She emphasised that her party continued to support British membership of the Euro but added that given the current economic turmoil now was not the time to join.

James Macintyre, political correspondent of the New Statesman, also picked up the Euro theme and criticised shadow foreign secretary William Hague’s declaration that the Conservatives would “never” support the single currency. He added that Hague’s comments, published in The Sun, were designed to reassure the Eurosceptic Rupert Murdoch following Ken Clarke’s return to the Tory front bench.

Responding to Kirkhope's dismissal of the Euro, he pointed out that without it countries such as Ireland and Greece may have suffered the same fate as bankrupt Iceland.

Turning to David Cameron’s pledge to withdraw the Conservatives from the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest centre-right group in the parliament, he reminded the audience that the policy was originally designed to outflank Liam Fox in the 2005 leadership election. Cameron plans to leave the EPP and begin the creation of a new Eurosceptic caucus shortly after the 4 June election.

Macintyre warned that the proposed alliance with right-wing parties including the Polish Law and Justice Party, one of whose leading figures declared that the election of Barack Obama marked the “end of the civilisation of the white man”, would leave Britain isolated and humiliated in Europe.

He also sought to highlight Conservative division on the issue, sardonically expressing his sympathy for Kirkhope, who - Macintyre alleged - probably opposed the move in private. It is a suspicion Conservative central office subsequently denied.

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