Letter from the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards to Sir Andrew Bowden MP
As you know, I am conducting an inquiry into
allegations against a number of Members, including yourself.
I am now in a position to set out in formal
terms the complaint made against you, principally by The Guardian.
The allegations of misconduct are, broadly, but not exclusively,
as set out in the draft Amended Defence of The Guardian
in the High Court action 1994 H No. 1654, dated September 1996,
which you may or may not have already seen (for your assistance
I enclose a copy of that Draft Amended Defence). Where there are
references in the list of allegations to Mr Ian Greer, the reference
should be read as if it included Ian Greer Associates Limited,
or any similar company or entity by which Mr Ian Greer carried
on the business of public affairs consultant and Parliamentary
lobbyist.
ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT MADE AGAINST SIR ANDREW
BOWDEN MP
1. During the period from February 1987 to July
1987 (approximately) you were a member of a group of five Members
of Parliament (Mr Neil Hamilton, Sir Michael Grylls, Sir Peter
Hordern, and Mr Timothy Smith), who comprised the parliamentary
lobbying operation for Mr Mohammed Al-Fayed and the House of Fraser.
As a member of this group you, together with the other Members
of Parliament in the group, received material benefits for work
undertaken by you, from Mr Al-Fayed and/or Mr Ian Greer.
2. In April 1987, as part of that lobbying operation,
you tabled Parliamentary Questions on behalf of Mr Al-Fayed.
3. In April 1987 you accepted an invitation
from Mr Al-Fayed to spend the weekend of 25-26 April 1987 in
Paris staying at The Ritz hotel - with other Members of Parliament,
and Mr Al-Fayed. That visit was cancelled on or about 10 April
1987.
4. On 25 June 1987 you were paid £5,319.90,
by cheque from Ian Greer Associates Limited in the name of "Andrew
Bowden Fighting Fund" - that cheque came from monies provided
to Ian Greer by Mr Al-Fayed and the courier company DHL (or Mr
Dave Allen). In the financial year ending 30 June 1987, you were
paid an additional sum of £500 by Ian Greer.
5. Further, in 1987 you sought payment from
Mr Al-Fayed for the assistance which you were providing, and
you were paid by Mr Al-Fayed the sum of £5,000 in cash. In
addition, you requested an annual payment of either £50,000
or £60,000 to continue to provide assistance and act on behalf
of Mr Al-Fayed, and House of Fraser. Your request was not accepted.
(This allegation is not included in the Amended
Defence referred to above, but is taken from Mr Al-Fayed's evidence
to the Privileges Committee on 1 November 1985, and recently confirmed
to me by Mr Al-Fayed).
6. You deliberately omitted to declare or register
any of the payments and benefits received as set out above, by
making appropriate entries in the Register of Members' Interests.
(I attach copies of your Register entries and
relevant correspondence from your Registry file. Please note that
these documents are supplied for your information and assistance,
and they are not to be taken as intended to corroborate or otherwise
the above allegation.) I would welcome a detailed, written
response to these allegations setting out which are accepted,
which are disputed and, in so far as actions or omissions are
accepted by you as correctly described, providing any explanations
which may assist me in my inquiry. As part of that written response
I would be assisted by details of all benefits (monetary or otherwise,
direct or indirect) received by you or by your family from Ian
Greer (of course including Ian Greer Associates Limited, etc.)
and/or Mr Al-Fayed (or Harrods, House of Fraser or any related
company). If payments were received in cash, I would appreciate
details of how such payments were made, when they were made,
and by whom and to whom they were made.
In relation to the sum of £5,319.90 referred
to at point 4 above, please indicate the total figure for election
expenses actually incurred by you at that election, as declared
in your statutory return. Please indicate whether during either
the 1987 or 1992 election period you received any other benefit,
e.g., in the form of research, secretarial or other campaign
assistance, or accommodation paid for, wholly or in part, by or
on behalf of Mr Greer. If so, please describe the nature of the
assistance.
I do not seek to place any limit on the length
of any written statement which you may wish to submit, but so
that the inquiry can proceed I would appreciate your written
statement as soon as possible, and in any event, by 6 February
1997. If you propose to submit written statements from others
who may assist me in considering your responses to these allegations,
I would also hope that they could be provided to me by the same
date. If there are potential witnesses from whom you have not
been able to obtain written statements, please identify them
(with details as to how they can be contacted) and explain why
their evidence will assist me in investigation of the allegations
set out earlier in this letter.
DOCUMENTS
I would welcome copies of any documents upon
which you may wish to reply, which may show the limit of payments
received by you, and/or evidencing payments in money or benefits
in kind, including hospitality, from Mr Al-Fayed, Harrods, House
of Fraser, Mr Ian Greer (and/or Ian Greer Associates), whether
conferred directly or indirectly, including commission payments
(if any) for the introduction of new clients to Ian Greer and/or
Ian Greer Associates. In particular, I would want to see any
records kept by you of payments received.
PROCEDURE
I enclose a copy of the procedure note which
forms the basis for the conduct of my inquiry.
Sir Gordon Downey 28 January 1997
Letter from Sir Andrew Bowden, MP to the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
I acknowledge receipt of your letters of the
28 and the 30 January.
I confirm my telephone conversation with your
office on Monday 3 February and I will come to your office at
10.30 am on Thursday 13 February.
I enclose my reply to the allegations listed
1-6 in your letter.
ALLEGATION NO. 1
Background
In 1985-86 I became clearly aware of the Lonrho
versus Al-Fayed dispute and, from what I read in the media and
the documents circulated by Mr Rowland, I came to the conclusion
he was conducting a scurrilous campaign against Mr Fayed. The
publicity involved was potentially damaging to British commercial
interests and Britain's international business reputation. (See
attached example marked "Annex A").[49]
I was, therefore, very interested in early 1987 to be informed
by my long-standing friend Mr Ian Greer, that Harrods was one
of his accounts. Mr Greer asked me if I would like to meet Mr
Fayed. I said I would. I mid-February 1987 I was present at a
meeting at 60 Park Lane with Mr Fayed, a number of his advisors
and other Members of Parliament. Mr Fayed made it very clear
at the meeting how angry and bitter he was about the campaign
against him orchestrated by Mr Rowland. He thought that he ought
to be in prison. Mr Fayed also emphasised the damage that was
being done to his business interests and the huge investment
he had brought into the UK. I found myself becoming more and
more sympathetic to Mr Fayed's case and, after the meeting, I
made it clear that I would help in any way I could. I was then
asked to liaise with a Mr Webb and Mr Greer. I also said that
I had a constituent who had been employed for some years by Lonrho
and worked directly under Mr Rowland and that they had eventually
fallen out. I was immediately asked to arrange a meeting with
Mr Fayed's advisors as soon as possible. As a result of this
meeting a working arrangement was agreed and financial remuneration
was received by my constituent. As far as I know the arrangement
was terminated after a few months.
The Group of Five Members
I did not regard myself as part of any formalised
group. Indeed, I cannot recall any meeting of us all together,
although informal conversations did take place and two or three
of us did get together to discuss developments on a few occasions.
I did not receive any remuneration or material benefits for my
help and support from Mr Fayed or from Mr Greer.
ALLEGATION NO. 2
As the record shows, I Tabled six questions
in March/April 1987. I also wrote two or three letters to Ministers.
ALLEGATION NO. 3
I did receive an invitation via Mr Greer to
go to Paris. As far as I recall I did not accept and my engagement
diary records the following: Saturday 25 April 1987 12.45
pm Open Bazaar, Partridge House, Bevendean, Brighton Sunday
26 April 1987 2.25 pm St George's Day Parade with the
Mayor of Brighton
ALLEGATION NO. 4
I did receive a cheque from Ian Greer Associates
for £5,319.00 made out to "Andrew Bowden Fighting Fund".
I have known Mr Greer for over 30 years and he helped me in previous
Election Campaigns in a number of ways in the 1970s and early
1980s. I did not receive any help or financial contribution in
1992.
As regards the cheque for £5,319.00, I
categorically deny that I had any knowledge that this was in any
way connected with Mr Al-Fayed. Please see letter to me from
Mr Greer dated 25 October 1996 marked "Annex B" and
Mr Greer's letter to Mr Fayed dated 28 May 1987.
Between 1986-88 I received payments totalling
between £500 and £1,000 from Mr Greer. These payments
were not connected in any way with Mr Fayed and were for lectures
I gave to clients/staff of Ian Greer Associates.
The Andrew Bowden Fighting Fund
The Fund has been in continual existence for nearly 20 years.
Contributions are used in many ways between Elections and, in
particular, to meet expenses incurred preparing for Elections.
As the attached confirms (marked "Annex C") the money
I received from Ian Greer was used to pay for office equipment.
ANNEX C
Letter from Mr George McGowan to Sir Andrew
Bowden, MP, Campaign Headquarters, 72-73 High Street, Brighton
Further to our telephone conversation yesterday,
I have made some enquiries about office equipment in the light
of the generous offer of assistance you have received.
I have deliberately investigated the cost of
equipment which I know and use in my own office. There are obviously
alternatives, but it seemed to me that there would be a great
deal to be said for obtaining equipment to which I am accustomed
and which I should be able to put into operation without training,
and further that I can help whoever will operate it after the
election to develop proficiency.
The following items should be considered:
(a) Canon photocopier NP 155 approximate cost
£1,600.00
(b) Olivetti word processor approximate cost
£3,000.00
(c) Olivetti electronic typewriter ET116 approximate
cost £720.00 My personal view is that we should certainly
have the photocopier and that it would be sufficient to obtain
the electronic typewriter. I would suggest that the balance of
the money be spent on a PC (Personal Computer) and here I would
suggest that a brief word with Kenneth Lane to establish the model
he used would be the best way to proceed. Something like his
equipment, or alternatively an Amstrad (larger model) costing
about £1,000.00 would suffice.
If we went for the Copier, the Electronic Typewriter
and the Computer, the total expenditure would be about £3,500.
If we took the copier and the word processor we would in the long
term be without computer capacity which I feel would be less
effective. Much as it would be nice to use up all the funds offered,
I don't see much point in acquiring expensive equipment which
we would not need when oddly enough we could get all that we
needed for a little less.
Incidentally, in the long run it would be possible
to interface the Electronic Typewriter with a screen and build
up to a full word processor function.
3 April 1987
ALLEGATION NO. 5
I deny having personally benefited from any
payment, either by cheque or cash, and I certainly do not recall
any discussion regarding an annual payment or retainer.
ALLEGATION NO. 6
I have never at any time since I was elected
as a Member of Parliament deliberately omitted to declare or
register any payments or benefits received in the Register of
Members' Interests as required by resolution of the House.
Sir Andrew Bowden MBE MP
4 February 1997
ANNEX B[50]
Letter from Mr Ian Greer to Sir Andrew
Bowden MBE MP
My attention has been drawn to recent Brighton
Argus reports concerning the 1987 General Election campaign
donation made to your constituency fighting fund. The money which
was raised by me came from two sources, DHL International, the
courier company, and Mohamed Fayed.
In making a series of donations to the fighting
funds of friends and marginal seats, I took great care not to
disclose, to any recipient, the names of either donor and insofar
as donors were concerned, I did not reveal to them which candidates
had received money. The reason for this was to ensure that there
was no anticipation or expectation on either side. It could not
be claimed that any money was received by you from any particular
individual as the donations went into a "pot" from
which allocation was made by me.
I hope this clarifies the position. You may,
of course, use this letter in any way you see fit.
Ian Greer
25 October 1996
49 Not printed. Back
50
Annex A not printed. Back
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