Tory MP Andrew Bridgen WILL be suspended over ‘cavalier attitude to lobbying rules’
- Andrew Bridgen will be suspended from the Commons for five sitting days
- Report found he failed to declare he was receiving money while petitioning
- He petitioned ministers on behalf of Mere Plantations, a reforestation company
MPs have agreed to suspend a Tory MP after he was found to have displayed a ‘very cavalier’ attitude to the rules in a series of lobbying breaches.
Andrew Bridgen will be suspended from the Commons for five sitting days from Tuesday.
The Standards Committee recommended the suspension for failing to declare a financial interest in a company he was lobbying on behalf of.
The MP for North West Leicestershire’s actions were described as ‘careless and cavalier’ and led him to breach the MPs’ code of conduct.
Andrew Bridgen will be suspended from the Commons for five sitting days from Tuesday
The standards committee found he approached MPs and public officials on behalf of Mere Plantations, a reforestation company with links to Ghana but based in the UK.
But a report conducted by the committee states he failed to declare that he was paid £12,000 by the company during ‘eight emails to ministers, and in five meetings with public officials’.
The committee also determined he attempted to influence Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, who conducted the investigation.
He reportedly told her he had heard a ‘rumour’ that she would only receive a peerage if she ruled against him.
Mr Bridgen’s suspension was decided on Monday night and will begin Tuesday.
The MP for North West Leicestershire was sanctioned over his ‘careless and cavalier attitude’ to lobbying rules which led him to breach the MPs’ code of conduct
The report found Mr Bridgen ‘breached rules of the House on registration, declaration and paid lobbying on multiple occasions and in multiple ways’ in a ‘significant litany of errors’.
‘Each of these breaches could have led us to recommend a suspension from the service of the House.
‘Mr Bridgen has demonstrated a very cavalier attitude to the House’s rules on registration and declaration of interests, including repeatedly saying that he did not check his own entry in the register.’
Last month the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) dismissed Mr Bridgen’s appeal against his proposed suspension.
He will not be paid during the suspension.
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