APPENDIX 4
Letter to Mr Geoffrey Robinson MP from
the
Chairman of the Committee on Standards
and Privileges
The Committee on Standards and Privileges is considering
a report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on
complaints made against Mr Peter Mandelson, some of which relate
to the loan he received from you towards the purchase of a house
in London.
The Committee is seeking further information about
the circumstances in which the loan came to be made, and I would
be grateful if you could respond in writing to the questions set
out in this letter. Your reply should be received by the Clerk
of the Committee by 12 noon on Monday 17 May. At its meeting the
following morning the Committee will consider your reply, and
it will also decide whether or not to invite you to give oral
evidence in private at its meeting on the Tuesday afternoon in
Committee Room 13. I would therefore be grateful if for the present
you could keep the period between 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm on Tuesday
18 May free of other commitments.
The Committee's questions are as follows.
1. When did you first consider making a
loan to Mr Mandelson?
2. When was the possibility of your making
a loan to Mr Mandelson first discussed between you?
3. In what terms was it first discussed?
Please give details of the conversation.
4. Was it your intention that the loan should
tide Mr Mandelson over until he came into an inheritance?
5. Did you have a meeting with Mr Mandelson
in the annexe of the Grosvenor House Hotel at which the loan was
discussed? If so, what was the date of the meeting?
6. At what date did you know that Mr Mandelson
was considering buying the house in Northumberland Place?
7. At what date were you first involved
in discussions of the financing of the house in Northumberland
Place?
8. At what date did it become clear to you
that Mr Mandelson would be unable to proceed with the purchase
of the house in Northumberland Place without a loan from you?
9. If you are unsure of the date, was it
before or after 30 August 1996 (when Mr Mandelson completed his
mortgage application form)?
10. The terms of your loan to Mr Mandelson were
set down in writing on 15 October 1996. When did you first reach
agreement with Mr Mandelson on them?
11. Were you aware that the Britannia Building
Society was not informed about the loan?
12. Did you ask Mr Mandelson not to inform Britannia
about the loan?
13. If you asked Mr Mandelson to keep the loan
private, at what point did you release him from that obligation,
and why?
The Committee is anxious to have a full picture of
these events so that it can come to an informed view of the matters
before it, and would be grateful for any other relevant information
which you might have.
12 May 1999
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