Select Committee on Standards and Privileges First Report


APPENDIX 62

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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