Tom Wise, 60, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire was arrested on suspicion of obtaining money by deception by police on Friday. He was later given bail.

The former policeman who was elected for UKIP had the party whip withdrawn in 2007 and now sits as an independent, Mr Wise, who represents Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, was elected in 2004.

He is one of seven MEPs covering the east of England.

A spokesperson from Bedfordshire Police told the BBC a man was arrested for obtaining money by deception and has been released on bail pending further inquiries.

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Police say that Mr Wise is being investigated by detectives on behalf of the European Parliament authorities in Brussels.

His history has been a little chequered to say the least, following reports of his misuse of parliamentary allowances which finally led to Nigel Farage making a statement on 11 May 08 withdrawing the party whip.

Tom was also the only MEP who stood up to Alishr Usmanov, in the European Parliament, repeating the allegations made in Craig Murrays book Murder in Samarkand, following the move by Alisher Usmanov to get his lawyers, Schillings to threaten ISP's with action due to a couple of posts by Tim Ireland and Craig Murray who were asking questions about the criminal past of the rich Uzbek, and his attempts to control Arsenal football club, his corrupt relationships with Islam Karimov the brutal dictator of Uzbekistan and with Putin's regime in Moscow.. Consequently the servers of Tim Ireland, Craign Murray and Boris Johnson were all taken down.

So many MEPs from other parties also have their snouts in the trough, that the singular action being taken against UKIP and its allies may appear to be a deliberate attempt to undermine the entire eurosceptic campaign. But they wouldn't do that, would they?