Annex 154
Letter to Finers Stephens Innocent, Solicitors,
from the Chairman of the Committee on Standards and Privileges
Thank you for your letter of 26 June about Mr
Jaffer Kapasi.
You raised the question of the Commissioner's
dealings with Sir Peter Soulsby. The Commissioner has told me
that her only connection with Sir Peter Soulsby is through membership
of the Audit Commission, to which she was appointed last year.
Sir Peter made no approach to the Commissioner—she approached
him after being informed that he might have relevant information—and
has been entirely open about his disagreements with Mr Vaz. No
question of improper influence arises.
The Commissioner is well aware that Mr Kapasi
is neither the source nor the subject of any complaint, and his
own conduct is not under investigation. The Commissioner wishes
to see him because there is some evidence which might suggest
that statements he has made on other occasions are inconsistent
with statements he has made to her, and in order to be fair to
him, she wishes to give him an opportunity to deal with this other
evidence. But in order to be fair to the Member who is the subject
of the complaint the Commissioner needs to make her report to
the Standards and Privileges Committee without any further delay.
The Commissioner would like to see Mr Kapasi
very soon, and she is prepared to go to Leicester to see him if
it is not possible for him to come to London. If he will not commit
himself to a meeting in the very near future, the Commissioner
will have to reach her own conclusions on the basis of the evidence
she has assembled about where the truth lies, and she will submit
her report to the Standards and Privileges Committee.
Mr Kapasi should be aware of the possibility
that, once it has received the Commissioner's report, the Committee
may decide that he should appear before it.
27 June 2000
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