THE MEP who sparked a right-wing row by defecting from Ukip to the Tories at the weekend was once a candidate for George Galloway’s Respect party.

Chancellor George Osborne was grilled yesterday about whether the Tories should have welcomed Amjad Bashir amid allegations of impropriety.

It came after Respect revealed on Sunday evening that Mr Bashir had been a member and was even fleetingly selected to stand in Bradford council elections in May 2012.

And in a further twist, Respect revealed that Mr Bashir had claimed to have been an active Labour member during the 1970s and ’80s on his membership application.

The now-Tory MEP was sacked as a Respect candidate before the election for reasons that Mr Galloway refused to reveal.

Mr Bashir denies he was a member of the left-wing party.

But Mr Galloway said: “Not only has this man not got a shred of principle, his acquaintance with the truth is distant, to say the least.

“He joined Respect, now he’s lying about it.

“For the first time ever I have to agree with Nigel Farage that there are grave concerns about things in this guy’s past.”

Mr Osborne was forced to defend the new Tory member on Radio 4 yesterday, saying he was “not aware” of any reason to turn Mr Bashir away.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said that Mr Bashir was suspended by Ukip over “some big open questions in Brussels about money” and allegations he employed illegal immigrants at a restaurant he owns.

In a joke reference to the number of parties associated with the MEP, Mr Galloway posted on Twitter: “Stop press: Tory MEP Amjad Bashir aka “Peter,” ex-Labour, ex-Respect, ex-Ukip, applies to join Syriza …”