Written evidence received by the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards
1. Letter to the Commissioner from
Mr Ben Wallace MP, 5 November 2008
I am writing to ask you investigate whether there
has been a breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament,
under section 6 (registration and declaration of interests) and
a breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act
2000 (Part 4 Section 54 and/or 61), by the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP,
Member of Parliament for Blackburn.
The background to the complaint is as follows:
In 2004 a planning application for the storage of
two million tonnes of natural gas beneath the Wyre Estuary in
Lancashire was laid before Lancashire County Council. This was
a controversial proposition that affected thousands of my constituents
and raised concerns about health and safety as well as environmental
protection. The applicant was a US based company called Canatxx
with no previous ties to Lancashire.
Imagine my surprise when I was informed by members
of the local Labour Party that this company had sponsored a dinner
in 2004 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rt Hon Jack Straw
MP's election as the Member for Blackburn. I tried to ascertain
at the time whether this was the case and searched the register
of Members' Interests. No entry was found. I attempted through
Parliamentary Questions to establish to what extent the sponsorship
had taken place and in April 2006 I received an answer that confirmed
this [WE 2]. I then attempted to seek further details by letter
and received a response five months later revealing a few more
details [WE 3 and WE 4].
Since that time I have established that the dinner
was for over a hundred people and was hosted in the Premier Suite
of Blackburn Rovers and that the catering was done by Northcote.
I am unsure of the exact catering arrangements but the dinner
took place on 25 April 2004 (see attached documentation (Annex
3) [not reproduced here]). Neither the Member nor Blackburn constituency
Labour Party have declared the sponsorship (Annex 4) [not reproduced
here]. My concern to investigate this matter was motivated by
the fact that there was no connection between Canatxx and the
town of Blackburn and that given the sensitivity of the planning
application why they should choose to sponsor a member of the
Government. They are now planning to resubmit an amended application
in December.
The company has a poor reputation in how it conducts
its affairs and has been involved in evicting vulnerable tenants
and aggressive tactics. Most recently their paid adviser in the
Lords, Lord Taylor of Blackburn, was forced to apologise after
failing to declare a relevant interest to the House of Lords.
[WE 5]. Worryingly I have recently established the ownership credentials
of Canatxx which clearly indicate that it is a foreign owned company
with almost solely foreign shareholders. Their UK operation is
merely a front while the addresses supplied in Company House documentation
are false and misleading [not reproduced here]. This new discovery
raises questions over the legitimacy of the sponsorship of the
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP's celebration under Part Four of the Political
Parties, Elections and Referendums Act in that it is not a permissible
donation.
Canatxx's application has caused tremendous upset
to a number of my constituents and I am deeply concerned that
as a new application is submitted the company's political links
could cause further distress. I would be grateful if you could
investigate and set mine and my constituents' minds at rest. I
have copied this letter, out of courtesy, to the Member involved.
5 November 2008
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