Select Committee on Standards and Privileges Fifth Report


Annex v13

File note by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

KEITH VAZ MP

10 NOVEMBER 2001

TELEPHONE CALL FROM MS COKER OF COKER VIS SOLICITORS

Ms Coker said she has only returned to the country on 9 November 2001 but had received a message from her secretary to telephone me urgently. I thanked her for telephoning me at the weekend. I explained that I was anxious that my inquiry into complaints against a Member of Parliament was being delayed. She apologised for the time it has taken for her send me a letter. She undertook to contact Mrs Matin on Monday and respond to my letter urgently. She said this might take some time as she would have to ask Mrs Matin to come into her office. I said I was somewhat surprised by this delay as I felt that the questions that I had asked Mrs Matin were ones to which she would know the answer directly.

I explained to Ms Coker that I was not looking into any matter concerning Mrs Matin. For example her immigration status was not a matter for me. I said my only concern was whether an allegation made against Mr Vaz was correct or not.

I said to Ms Coker that her colleague had informed me that some papers were awaited in her practice from Bindmans but had not yet been received. Ms Coker responded that those papers were not relevant as they were only about Mrs Matin's immigration issues.

I thanked Ms Coker for telephoning me and she said that if Mrs Matin came to see her on Monday she might have a telephone conversation with me with Mrs Matin in the office so that she could be sure that she was replying fully to my questions.

I thanked her for the telephone call and said I look forward to receiving a reply to my questions.





 
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