12. Letter to the Commissioner from
Mr Ben Wallace MP, 19 November 2008
Thank you for your letter dated 17 November. You
ask me to clarify two points: first whether I was aware of the
matter since 2006: secondly why I made the complaint now. Let
me say from the outset that I do not consider these questions
to have any material relevance as to whether a Member broke Parliamentary
rules or not. While a motive behind a complaint may be of passing
interest to those who seek political excuse it should not be reason
to escape justice or in this case the upholding of a complaint.
However, in order to demonstrate my good will towards
yourself and, if needs be, the Committee I am happy to answer
the questions.
When was I first aware of the case?
After being informed by a local resident I asked
a PQ of the Member for Blackburn and wrote a letter asking for
details. The Member responded to the PQ only informing me that
Canatxx had sponsored the dinner. No location, exact date, or
cost was intimated. In addition I sent a letter on 26 April 2006
asking for further details, which was answered five months later
detailing which MPs attended.
Why did I make the complaint now?
I made the complaint because it took considerable
time to track down further evidence as to the scale of contribution
to the Member for Blackburn. I had to embark on a proper investigation.
In addition, Canatxx started to meet with Government and politicians
in December 2007 in order to begin the process of submitting a
fresh application to Lancashire County Council, which is likely
to be lodged next month or in January 2009.
Last month a paid adviser to Canatxx, Lord Taylor
of Blackburn, was forced to apologise to the House of Lords for
failing to declare his interest when pressing the Government on
the issue of gas storage. Consequently these two recent actions
accelerated me to seek full transparency of the Company's past
behaviour in order that my constituents and I can be assured that
nothing untoward could happen this time.
19 November 2008
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