Complaint
by John Mann & Kevan Jones
Thank you for your letter dated December 7th
about the above.
I see that their letter refers to "actual and
possible misuses" of Parliamentary facilities. So far as
the events on June 29th 1999 are concerned, there appears
to be no evidence of any misuse. Rule 5.3 that applied at the
time says that it is appropriate for the private dining rooms
to be used for party political functions—subject to the
declaration of interest and to rule 5.1 (which was more loosely
drawn than the current one).
As the photocopy of my diary makes clear, I attended
a large number of functions in 1999—as indeed other MP's
would have done. With the passage of time, I fear my recollection
of the event has faded. But, with the help of my diary, I believe
the following to be what happened.
Basingstoke had its own Conservative MP at that time—Andrew
Hunter. I believe he would have booked the room, sponsored the
event, and sent out the invitations for his Patrons Club. His
Association is an entirely separate organisation from my own (North
West Hants) and I have never had any direct involvement in its
organisation or fund-raising. I would not normally have attended
his Patrons' events and certainly had no direct interest in them.
Looking at my diary for June 29th 1999—a
copy of which I enclose[102]—I
see I was scheduled to have lunch with [….], from the Sunday
Express. This has been crossed out and "Hunters Patrons"
inserted. What I believe may have happened is that, at short notice,
Andrew Hunter found he was unable to attend himself. The event
needed an MP to be present—otherwise it would have had to
be cancelled—and he asked me to stand in for him. This I
did, cancelling my lunch with the journalist, and I subsequently
put the event, along with all my other engagements, on my diary
on my website.
I hope this enables you to deal with the complaint,
Andrew Hunter, as you know, is no longer in the House but his
address is [….].
102 
