Appendix 2: Exchange of correspondence
between Mr Jonathan Sayeed and the Clerk relating to his speech
in the House on 8 February 2005
Letter to Mr Jonathan Sayeed from the Clerk of
the Committee
In the debate in the House last night on the Third
Report of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, you commented,
at Col. 1464, as follows:
"The report contains a few errors of fact.
Paragraph 12 is materially inaccurate, the concluding line of
paragraph 13 is wrong, and in paragraph 14 it is clear that there
has been a misunderstanding between the Committee and myself.
Specifically, paragraph 11 states that the programme
was circulated in advance to the group leader. That is wrong.
The programme was not circulated in advance to anyone.".
I should be grateful if you could let me have a full
and precise statement of the errors of fact that you were referring
to, and the grounds on which you consider them to be errors, in
order that I can bring them to the Committee's attention.
9 February 2005
Reply to the Clerk of the Committee from Mr Jonathan
Sayeed
In your letter of 9 February you have asked me for
a full and precise statement of the errors of fact I was referring
to. These are listed below.
I stated that:
1. 'Paragraph 12 is materially inaccurate'.
a) Mrs Messervy has stated as follows:
"Likewise, a second visit citied by the
Committee seeks to imply that this was arranged by The English
Manner. Evidence shows that this visit was organised by Alexandra
Messervy personally and sponsored by Jonathan Sayeed in
the same way that Jonathan Sayeed is hosting a dinner for the
St Albans Cathedral Appeal with Alistair Burt and John Gummer
on 10 March. The group did not make payment to the company's
US bank account, one member of the party, the organiser, made
the payment purely to save on transfer fees. The group
visited Jonathan Sayeed at their request having met him previously
and to discuss the possibility of an international celebration
between our two countries in 2007. This was a case of fostering
Anglo-US relations.".
I would refer the Committee to item 7v) on page 99
also 6) and page 97 and 26viii) on page 73 of the report.[22]
b) Each member of the group knew that the arrangements
had been made by Alexandra Messervy personally, not by
The English Manner and that the time I spent with them was on
a personal basis. As far as I am aware, The English Manner was
never mentioned at any stage, except the organiser said to Alexandra
Messervy—'How can I best get the money to you'. It is therefore
not "entirely understandable if they assume that
The English Manner was responsible for the arrangements"
as they would have understood that it was Alexandra Messervy personally
who had organised everything and The English Manner was not a
company that anyone, except the organiser for payment purposes,
knew anything about. Alexandra Messervy confirms that this is
the case.
2. 'The concluding line of paragraph 13 is wrong'.
a) This refers to the familiarisation visit dinner.
Mrs Messervy has stated that:
"the dinner guests could, would and did
draw a clear distinction between 'promoting the commercial interest
of The English Manner' and a purely interesting visit to Parliament.
The evidence given on several occasions has clearly stated that
those on this visit were mainly directors and potential staff
members. The guests were in England to visit the stately homes
and partners of The English Manner with whom they would be working.
The purpose was not promotion of any kind".
b) Mrs Messervy continues
"The Committee states that Mr Sayeed
has confirmed that as far as he knew 'there was no discussion
with guests that might help them to appreciate the distinctive
status of their visit to the House'. I can categorically state
that this is wrong. Though Mr Sayeed may not remember making it
clear that these visitors were his personal guests, I remember
him doing so and furthermore when I had contact with each and
every visitor I personally made very clear to them prior to every
occasion that invitations to dine or visit Parliament were on
a purely personal basis and formed no part of any programme which
they may pursue during their stay.".
3. Paragraph 14—'It is clear that there has
been a misunderstanding between the Committee and myself'.
The first part of paragraph 14 is dealt with in 2b)
above. The second part did not occur as the person I suggested
joining me, in the event did not join me at dinner.
4. Finally I stated that 'Specifically, paragraph
11 states that the wrong programme was circulated in advance to
the group leader. That is wrong. The programme was not
circulated in advance to anyone.'.
What the Committee have quoted from is an item circulated
with a Christmas card AFTER the visit had taken place. It was
along the lines of 'look at what we can arrange'. It should not
have been written or circulated and as the evidence shows I was
not aware of it. However the critical point is that not one of
those who came on the garden visit saw that item before they arrived
nor did they see any written programme nor were they told that
there would be anything involving Parliament.
The FIRST time that they saw a programme was on their
arrival in London on Thursday 20 May and even then I am informed
that the programme did not include anything to do with Parliament.
When I met the visitors I was not introduced as a Member of Parliament
nor did I then offer them a visit to Parliament. I refer the Committee
to section 7iii) on pages 98 and 99 of their report.
The reason that a dinner scheduled to be held in
the Goring Hotel was switched, at the last moment to Parliament
was a) there was a dining room free after an earlier cancellation
and b) as I was chairing the Energy Bill it was more convenient
for me to meet in the Palace rather than away from it. The tour
of the House was only requested by them and offered after the
group had arrived for dinner in the House.
I trust that this answers your letter but if you
have any further queries please let me know.
24 February 2005
22 Committee on Standards and Privileges, Third Report
of Session 2004-05, HC 233. Back
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