EFDD group dissolved after Schultz bribes member to resign

The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group that UKIP formed in the EU Parliament has been forcibly dissolved after the supposedly-neutral president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schultz, bribed Iveta Grigule MEP to leave the group.

Grigule told EFDD staff that Schultz told her she had to resign from the group to get the presidency of the EU delegation to Kazakhstan.

Dissolving the EFDD group is a big prize for Schultz. UKIP and other EFDD group members have been denied seats on committees that they should have had under the D'Hondt system since the start of the parliament and every effort was made to try and prevent the group from being formed in the first place. Unless another MEP from another country not currently represented in the EFDD group can be convinced to join, Nigel Farage will get less talking time in the EU Parliament and a valuable source of funding for all the members of the EFDD will be lost, along with the jobs it creates.