Annex ii59
Letter to Mr Mohammed Pathan from the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Transcript of meeting on 4th July 2001
You should have received a telephone message from
my office reminding you that we have not received a corrected
transcript from you. I have today received the transcript corrected
by Ms Fernandes. In your letter of 2nd August 2001 you said you
had contacted Ms Fernandes and there were a number of points in
the transcript which needed clarification. Please would you confirm
that the transcript as returned by Ms Fernandes includes all the
corrections you wish to suggest.
Connaught Rooms Booking
I now turn to a further point on which I need clarification
from you arising out of our meeting on 4th July.
During our meeting I asked you about a possible connection
between Mapesbury Communications and Coleridge House. As you will
have seen from the transcript of our discussion, the exchange
between us ran:
EF: "How is Mapesbury Communications
connected with Coleridge House?"
MP: "Coleridge House?"
EF: "It is not?"
MP: "No."
EF: "That does not mean anything to
you"
MP: "No"
Later on, another exchange took place, as follows:
EF: "Mapesbury Communications booked
an event on 23 June 1999 for the Asian Business Network at the
New Connaught Rooms. Did you book that event?"
MP: "Sorry, say that again?"
EF: "I believe that Mapesbury Communications
booked an event at the New Connaught Rooms on 23 June 1999 for
the Asian Business Network. I was asking whether you were involved
in booking that event?"
MP: "No, nothing I know about, no. The event,
no."
I have been provided with information that the booking
for an event held in the New Connaught Rooms by the Asian Business
Network on 23rd June 1999 was made by Mr Hanif Pathan of Coleridge
House, 4/5 Coleridge Gardens, London NW6. I understand that you
collected the fees for this events. I have also been told that
Mapesbury Communications were involved in a meeting at Coleridge
Gardens around October 1988[178]
and that you were present at that meeting.
I understand that in June 1999 you had an office
in Mr Vaz's Leicester constituency office where you collected
the fees for the conference held on 23 June 1999. On what basis
were you employed in Mr Vaz's office? Over what period did you
work at that office? Into which account were the conference fees
paid?
In the light of the information I have set out above
I would be grateful for your explanation of these apparent discrepancies,
and would you let me know whether there is anything you would
like to say adding to or altering anything which appears on the
transcript?
I would be grateful for an urgent reply now that
two months have elapsed. You may prefer to discuss these matters
with me and, if so, please telephone my office.
10 September 2001
178 Correctly 1998, but see answer in Annex ii67. Back
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