Tory MP criticised for giving thumbs-up to French conspiracy theorists

Questions have been raised over a Tory MP who endorsed a group on the fringes of far-right French politics.

Andrea Jenkyns gave the thumbs up to the Union Populaire Républicaine, a Party founded in 2007 by conspiracy theorist politician François Asselineau.

It follows criticism of another Tory MP, Daniel Kawczynski, for speaking at a conference of far-right parties in Rome earlier this week, whose attendees he said "represent serious ideas and concerns".

The Union Populaire Républicaine celebrated by Ms Jenkyns won 0.92 per cent of the vote in the 2017 French presidential election with Mr Asselineau as its candidate.

Conspiracy theories expounded by the party's leader include the idea that Marie Le Pen's National Front was secretly backed by liberal politicians, the CIA, and the Bush family to undermine the cause of French nationalism.

The party wants France to leave the EU and Nato. Mr Asselineau claims that the hand of the CIA can be seen in the founding of the common market and that its founding fathers like Robert Schuman were likely CIA agents.

On Wednesday Ms Jenkyns approvingly shared an article in the Daily Express celebrating the group's campaign for France to leave the EU, and asked "Is Frexit next?" before posting a thumbs-up emoji.

She later told The Independent she "was not aware of the political views of the man mentioned in the article" and only supported the idea of France leaving the European Union.

The Conservative party says it issued a formal warning to Ms Jenkyns' colleague Mr Kawczynski on Thursday, after he attended and spoke alongside Hungary's authoritarian ruler Viktor Orban and Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini.

The MP was however not prevented from speaking at the conference despite concerns being raised well ahead of its start.

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“Clearly, offence archeologists have done a thorough job in finding historic remarks from some of the participants that jar with the liberal world-view," Mr Kawczynski complained.

A party spokesperson said of that episode: “Daniel Kawczynski has been formally warned that his attendance at this event was not acceptable, particularly in light of the views of some of those in attendance, which we utterly condemn, and that he is expected to hold himself to higher standards. Daniel has accepted this and apologised."

In a statement given to The Independent, Ms Jenkyns said: “I was expressing support for the idea of Frexit. I was not aware of the political views of the man mentioned in the article and I was in no way condoning or expressing support for his political party, to suggest otherwise is entirely misleading and false.”

UPDATE (11.02.20): Following publication of this article, Union Populaire Républicaine has asked The Independent to place on record its position that it rejects the "conspiracy theorist" label, which has been widely used in the French media when discussing the Party. The Party has also asked The Independent to make clear that it represents both left and right-wing thought on the political spectrum.