Former Tory ministers agreed to advise fake overseas company for £10,000 in sting operation
Former Conservative cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng told a fake overseas company looking for MP advisers that their daily rate for consultancy would be £10,000.
In a sting operation set up by campaign group Led By Donkeys, Mr Hancock and Mr Kwarteng both set out five-figure sums for what they would expect to be paid to advise a non-existent firm in South Korea.
There is no accusation of wrongdoing, with MPs permitted to seek employment outside of parliament.
When asked whether he had a daily rate during an online “interview”, Mr Hancock said: “I do, yes. It is 10,000 sterling.”
The Conservative former health secretary, who was stripped of the party whip by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he was announced as a contestant in last year’s series of ITV reality programme I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, later said he had an hourly rate of “around £1,500”.
A spokesman for Mr Hancock said the West Suffolk MP had “acted entirely properly and within the rules”.
Former Tory chancellor Mr Kwarteng, when asked the same question, said: “I would say as an MP, obviously I don’t need to earn a king’s ransom.
“But I wouldn’t do anything less than for about 10,000 dollars a month.”
Mr Kwarteng, whose mini budget in September sent the value of the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring, went on to clarify that he would prefer the rate to be in pound sterling.
Told by a fake employee of the company they were considering offering between £8,000 and £12,000 per day, with the intention for him to attend six board meetings a year, Mr Kwarteng said: “OK yes, we’re not a million miles off. We can work with the numbers.”
Labour accused Tory MPs of using “their taxpayer-funded offices to line their own pockets”, calling the behaviour “shameful”.
Led By Donkeys, an anti-Brexit group, said it created a sham company called Hanseong Consulting, setting up a website and paying for a so-called “fake virtual office” in the South Korean capital Seoul.
It said, after consulting the register of MPs’ interests, it approached 20 MPs from different parties asking if they would join the phoney firm’s international advisory board.
The group sold the “company” as one with aims to expand into the UK and Europe, asking any would-be advisers to attend pretend board meetings held in a mix of locations, including allegedly in South Korea.
According to its preview video posted on social media, Led By Donkeys said 16 of the MPs approached were Tory, two Labour, one a Liberal Democrat and the other an independent.
Out of those contacted, five are said to have progressed to an online interview stage, including Mr Hancock and four Tories: Mr Kwarteng, former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, former minister Stephen Hammond and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, an influential backbench body.
Sir Graham Brady said he made it clear he would ‘only act within the terms of the Code of Conduct’
Sir Graham, according to the video, said he was “thinking something like £60,000 as an annual rate” for assisting the firm.
In a statement sent to Sky News, the senior Tory said he made clear to those behind the hoax that any work would have to fall “within the terms of the Code of Conduct”.
Mr Hammond is seen in the video published on Saturday, but no details of what was said have been aired as yet.
Led By Donkeys said Sir Gavin had turned down the opportunity to take discussions any further.
MPs are permitted to have second jobs on top of their role representing constituents.
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But external employment opportunities for those in Westminster have come under the spotlight in recent years, following former Tory cabinet minister Owen Paterson’s suspension from the Commons for breaching lobbying rules in 2021.
He later quit parliament following a furore after Boris Johnson’s administration attempted to rip up the standards body that dished out the punishment.
Sir Gavin Williamson was targeted in the sting operation
A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said in response to the sting operation: “The accusation appears to be that Matt acted entirely properly and within the rules, which had just been unanimously adopted by parliament.
“It’s completely untrue to suggest any wrongdoing and therefore absurd to bring Mr Hancock into this story through the illegal publication of a private conversation.
“All the video shows is Matt acting completely properly.”
Sir Graham said: “Having decided to leave the Commons at the next election, I have received a number of approaches regarding future opportunities.
“I did have an exploratory discussion with someone purporting to be recruiting an international advisory board for a South Korean investment house.
“I made it clear that any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that whilst a Member of Parliament, I would only act within the terms of the Code of Conduct.
“I also made it clear that whilst I could be flexible in attending international meetings in person, this would be subject to some important votes or commitments in Westminster.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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