Friend first taking MEPs out for historical record (10)

I believe the answer is:

palimpsest

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'out for historical record' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'friend first taking meps' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'first' becomes 'ist' (ist resembles mst).
'taking' is an insertion indicator.
'meps' becomes 'mpse' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ist' going around 'mpse' is 'impsest'.
'pal'+'impsest'='PALIMPSEST'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for palimpsest that I've seen before include "Simple taps (anag.); a manuscript" , "Recycled manuscript" , "Reused parchment" , "recycled document" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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