UKIP attacks jungle-bound Kilroy

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Euro MP Robert Kilroy Silk should not be paid while he appears on the TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, the UK Independence Party has said.

The Veritas politician, who left UKIP amid much bitterness in 2004, is in the Australian jungle for the ITV1 reality series, along with nine other people.

UKIP MEP Derek Clark said Mr Kilroy Silk should give his wages and allowances to a "suitable charity".

Former Lib Dem London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick is also in the show.

Party row

Mr Kilroy Silk, a former Labour MP and talk-show host, became an East Midlands MEP for UKIP in 2004 but left the party later that year after a row with the leadership.

He later joined the tiny Veritas party, running unsuccessfully for Parliament in 2005.

My most irritating habit is wanting things done properly all the time Robert Kilroy Silk

It was announced earlier this week that he would be joining tennis player Martina Navratilova, Star Trek actor George Takei and TV presenter Esther Rantzen, among others, in the Australian jungle.

Mr Clark, a fellow East Midlands MEP, said: "As Robert will not be attending work in the EU Parliament, I wonder if he will give his parliamentary wage and allowances for the time he is on this show to a suitable charity?"

The Conservatives and Labour have also expressed annoyance at Mr Kilroy Silk's appearance on I'm a Celebrity.

But it is up to the voting public whether he stays on the show.

'Control freak'

There is another punishment available, should the outspoken MEP irritate viewers.

They can make him take part in the Bushtucker Trial - which often involves eating live insects and larvae - in an effort to silence him, at least temporarily.

However, Mr Kilroy Silk does not think this will be necessary.

He told the programme's makers: "My most irritating habit is wanting things done properly all the time. Or as my wife Jan says, 'Being a control freak'.

"Clearly I have very strong opinions and other people will have too, but I don't see the jungle as being the place where they should be aired."

The only political figure to win the show since it started in 2002 is Carol Thatcher, daughter of former prime minister Baroness Thatcher.

Respect MP George Galloway caused a stir when he took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, performing robotic dancing in a leotard and pretending to be a cat and drink milk from actress Rula Lenska's lap.

The new series of I'm a Celebrity starts on Sunday.