Tory MP Andrew Bridgen should be suspended for threatening commissioner, Standards Committee recommends
A Tory MP should be suspended from the Commons for suggesting the standards commissioner’s potential peerage depended on ruling against him over lobbying breaches, the Standards Committee has recommended
Andrew Bridgen should be suspended for five sitting days, the parliamentary committee that oversees the work of the standards commissioner said.
The committee found the MP had breached the Code of Conduct by making multiple approaches to ministers and public officials on behalf of Mere Plantations, a Cheshire-based teak reforestation company with forests in Ghana for which he was initially paid £12,000 a year as an adviser.
He failed to register his interest in the company in the time frame stipulated by the code, with the committee saying he had a “very cavalier” attitude to the rules.
The committee also found Mr Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire since 2010, had attempted to improperly influence Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone during her investigation into his lobbying.
He emailed the commissioner shortly after the investigation started and implied she could be swayed with a peerage as he claimed he heard a “rumour” she would only receive one if she ruled against him because he was an outspoken critic of then prime minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Bridgen faces a suspension of two days for three breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct and a further three for the “unacceptable attack upon the integrity” on Ms Stone. MPs will now have to vote on whether they accept that recommendation.
Mr Bridgen was accused of ‘attacking’ Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone. Pic: Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
‘Unacceptable behaviour’
The MP wrote to Ms Stone: “I was distressed to hear on a number of occasions an unsubstantiated rumour that your contract as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is due to end in the coming months and that there are advanced plans to offer you a peerage, potentially as soon as the prime minister’s resignation honours list.
“There is also some suggestion amongst colleagues that those plans are dependent upon arriving at the ‘right’ outcomes when conducting parliamentary standards investigation.
“Clearly my own travails with Number 10 and the former PM have been well documented and obviously a small part of me is naturally concerned to hear such rumours.
“I do apologise if you find the contents of this letter offensive, it is certainly not my intention, but I would be grateful if you would provide me reassurance that you are not about to be offered an honour or peerage and that the rumours are indeed malicious and baseless.”
He told the committee the email was purely “seeking assurance” but they dismissed that and said he “clearly did not need to seek official reassurance from anyone about rumours that he himself described as ‘unsubstantiated’ and likely ‘malicious and baseless'”.
They said he failed to apologise for the email or acknowledge he should not have emailed the commissioner as he did.
The committee added Mr Bridgen’s email “appears to be an attempt to place wholly inappropriate pressure on the Commissioner. This was completely unacceptable behaviour”.
Andrew Bridgen was a fierce critic of Boris Johnson
Significant litany of errors
On the lobbying breaches, the committee said Mr Bridgen should have told ministers and officials he received a donation to the North West Leicestershire Conservative Association and a funded visit to Ghana from Mere Plantations as well as the £12,000 adviser contract.
Mr Bridgen told the committee he decided to not take payment from the company or to undertake his duties a year and a half after accepting the role, but the committee said he did not amend the contract or have any written exchange with the company to confirm that.
He was found to have committed a “significant litany of errors” by failing to declare his interest in the company in eight emails to ministers, and in five meetings with ministers or public officials about carbon offsetting that would financially or materially benefit Mere Plantations.
Reacting to the ruling, Mr Bridgen said: “Whilst I am extremely disappointed with the recommendations of the committee, I accept them and will comply with them as required to do so.”
UK
How people are coping with the floods: Carpets, furniture and food destroyed as homes deluged under feet of water
People whose homes have been destroyed by the floods sweeping across parts of the UK over the past couple of days have been telling Sky News how they coped with the deluge.
In Lincolnshire, where a major incident has been declared, Terry, from Grantham, showed a Sky crew the aftermath of the deluge in his home, which was left under two feet of water.
“Everything’s gone,” he said, adding that he was “devastated”.
The first sign of trouble came at lunchtime on Monday, when his wife woke him and said there was water coming in [to the house], and “within a few minutes, the whole house was flooded”.
Terry told us he’s ‘devastated’
Flooding in Loughborough. Pic: AP
They rushed their belongings and pets upstairs, he said, as he revealed the damage to the flooded living room and kitchen, where the water mark was above a power socket.
Terry said the kitchen, where the floor was covered in sludge, smelled of mud and sewage, and their furniture and carpets were wrecked.
Flood waters in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Pic: PA
They have no electricity and the food in the cupboards and freezer was “completely ruined”.
Graham Johnson, who lives in a boat with his wife and dog, in the village of Barrow upon Soar in Leicestershire, was in the pub on Monday night, before the water started to rise “rapidly”.
People living in a local caravan park were moved as a severe flood warning was issued.
Graham Johnson, from Barrow upon Soar in Leicestershire, feared he would lose his boat home
A man is rescued from the flooding at a caravan park near Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire. Pic: PA
Mr Johnson said he had gone out “for a couple of pints as usual and, the next thing we know, bingo”.
The couple feared their boat home was about to be swept towards the bridge.
“That’s our pride and joy, where we live, and we didn’t want to lose it,” he said, as he praised the “fantastic” emergency services, who rescued them and their dog after a nervy three-hour wait.
They were two of the 59 people rescued by firefighters in the county, where a major incident was declared and crews were called out to 160 flood-related incidents, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said.
Another Leicestershire resident whose home was inundated was Qasim Abdullah from Loughborough.
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Flooding across East Midlands
Pictures taken by the Associated Press show him walking through almost knee-deep water in his living room.
In nearby Quorn, businesses have shut as the main high street has flooded for the second time in as many years.
Two of the pubs in particular have been damaged.
Last year, residents had to launch a crowd fundraiser to help pay for the costs of renovation. Not to mention soaring insurance premiums.
Indy Burmi, who owns a hair salon and restaurant, hasn’t suffered flooding, but said he’s had to close up and cancel all Tuesday’s reservations, as his clients simply can’t get into the village.
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And, with more rain forecast, conditions could get even worse in the short term, while residents worry that an annual battle with rising water is now the new normal.
Elsewhere in the UK, the next danger is from ice forming on untreated surfaces after rain on Tuesday evening, the Met Office has said, as it issued a new warning for northern England and Wales from 5pm until midday on Wednesday.
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