EURO-LAWMAKER SUSPENDED FOR DRUGS

LONDON (AP) The opposition Conservative Party on Sunday suspended a
European Parliament lawmaker who was fined by customs for bringing
marijuana and homosexual pornography into Britain.

Tom Spencer, 50, a member of the Conservative group in the European Union's
parliament, based in Strasbourg, France, paid $900 to customs in an
out-of-court settlement after pornographic videos, magazines and a small
amount of marijuana were found in his briefcase during a routine check at
London's Heathrow Airport.

Such settlements are usually confidential and mean individuals do not have
to appear in court. However, news of the fine was leaked to newspapers at
the weekend.

Spencer said he would not stand for re-election to the European Parliament
in June, adding that he would understand if the Tories decided to drop him.

"I am gay, I have always been gay," Spencer told reporters, standing
alongside his wife, Elizabeth, outside their home in Churt, Surrey, 40
miles west of London.

"Part of the way we run our lives is that occasionally I would go away for
a weekend," he said.

Spencer said he acquired the videos and marijuana during a weekend in
Amsterdam. He absent-mindedly left them in his briefcase when he returned
to London after taking part in a Jan. 14 debate in Strasbourg on fraud at
the EU's headquarters in Brussels.

"My actions were a moment of astonishing stupidity," added Spencer,
chairman of the foreign affairs security committee in the European
Parliament.

In London, Conservative Party headquarters announced the suspension of
Spencer pending an inquiry by its ethics committee. "We hope for a decision
shortly," the party said in a statement.

Spencer's wife said she had known he was homosexual since they first met at
university.

The couple have been married for 19 years and have two daughters. She has
another daughter by a previous marriage.

"We believed we could make it work and I have to say, I believe we have,"
she said.