13. Letter to the Commissioner from
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, 21 November 2008
Thank you for your letter of 11 November 2008 regarding
the complaint you have received from Mr Ben Wallace MP about a
dinner held in my constituency to mark the 25th anniversary of
my election as an MP.
You will be aware that I have already written to
you regarding Mr Wallace's complaints (our letters will have crossed
in the post). I enclose a copy for your convenience. I am also
in receipt of your letter dated 13 November, and I hope this reply
answers your questions.
You asked me four specific questions:
1. What were the circumstances which led to
Canatxx making a contribution to the celebratory dinner?
The approach to Canatxx and their attendance at the
dinner was made by Lord Taylor of Blackburn. Lord Taylor is a
long standing friend of mine. He was Leader of the Blackburn Borough
Council in the mid-seventies. He has been a contributor to Blackburn
Labour party's election expenses in respect of my parliamentary
candidature. He is an adviser to Canatxx. I played no part in
the approach. Lord Taylor has said that he is happy to let you
have more details if you wish.
2. What consideration you gave then or subsequently
to the registration of any such donation received from Canatxx
and what your conclusions were?
Though clearly I should have given the matter of
registration of this donation proper consideration at the time
it was made, I am afraid that because of my work load and because
of the nature of the event, which was neither fund-raising nor
partisan, I did not do so. I also assumed with good reason that
the very assiduous officers of the Blackburn Labour party, especially
its then Treasurer Mr Michael Poultney, would ensure compliance
with any registration requirement under the 2000 Act. What I did
not know at the time, nor did Mr Poultney, was (as I explained
in my earlier letter) the cheque from Canatxx was not paid into
the Blackburn Labour party account but instead by my then PA in
into the account which she ran in respect of constituency office
expenses. This meant that Mr Poultney was never aware of the donation.
Had he been he would have registered the donation with the Electoral
Commission and almost certainly have alerted me of the need to
make a registration too.
In April 2006 Mr Wallace asked me a Parliamentary
Question to which I made reference in my earlier letter to you.
Although it was not directly relevant to the answer, I thought
that for the sake of completeness I should make clear to Mr Wallace
that Canatxx had been a sponsor of the celebratory dinner, and
I duly did so. It has therefore been on the public record of Parliament
since then, albeit not on the register.
In September 2006 a letter dated 20 April 2006 from
Mr Wallace was received by my constituency office in Blackburn.
(The letter evidently got mislaid in my move from the Foreign
Office in early May 2006). As you will note from your file both
my Blackburn office and I replied in similar terms to Mr Wallace
on 21 and 22 September.
My then Principal Private Secretary in the Commons
Leader's office, [ ], with whom I have discussed the matter, tells
me that it was I (in light of the correspondence from Mr Wallace)
who asked him to find out from your office whether this donation
should have been registered, or submitted for late registration.
Both his and my recollection of exactly what happened next is,
at this distance, a little hazy. But he and I are clear that in
the light of the advice from your office I said that I should
make a late registration, and he thinks I asked him to send a
letter or email to that effect to the Registrar. As to quite why
that did not happen neither he nor I can shed any light. On 28
September 2006 I received a rather fulsome acknowledgement from
Mr Wallace [WE 14], and thought no more of the matter until Friday
last, 7 November 2008, when my office was contacted by the Sunday
Times.
3. Whether any financial contributions to
this event were made by any other individual, body or institution
at a level above the threshold provided in the Guide to the Rules?
To the best of my knowledge and belief no other contributions
to this event were made by any other individual, body or institution
at a level above the threshold provided in the Guide to the Rules.
4. Whether you consider that any donations
from Canatxx or anyone else should have been registered by you
in the Register of Members' Interests.
As this was a donation "linked to membership
of the House" I recognise that this donation should have
been registered, and I am very sorry that this did not happen.
I should like now to make a late registration under the rectification
procedure specified in the annex to your procedural note.
I hope however that it will be accepted that the
mistake in not registering the donation arose in good faith, and
that you may consider the fact I disclosed the sponsorship quite
voluntarily in answer to Mr Wallace's Parliamentary Question of
April 2006 is a clear indication that at no stage did I have any
intention whatsoever of concealing this donation or acting in
a manner outwith the requirements of the House.
I should like to state for the record that beyond
the sponsorship Canatxx provided for my anniversary event, I have
never had any dealings with them on any matter whatsoever, not
before the dinner, during it or subsequently.
In summary, I think the circumstances here can but
be described as a chapter of accidents. Because the event was
being organised as town event to mark my 25 years in office, and
far from being a partisan political event a very wide cross section
of people involved in the Borough (including the police the NHS,
the Bishop, and those of other political opinions) were attending,
we were not instinctively as alert as we should have been to the
registration requirements. In addition, there were complications
in organising the event because of the time taken off through
sickness of my then Personal Assistant in my constituency office.
May I add this? I have throughout my long parliamentary
and Ministerial career sought to observe the highest standards,
and specifically always to register any benefit which could remotely
come within the regulations. It is a matter therefore of deep
regret to me that for the reasons stated this did not happen,
for which I of course take full responsibility; but the mistakes
were made entirely in good faith.
I hope this is helpful and answers your letter in
full. If you wish for any further information I should of course
be happy to produce it. I am copying this, with a covering letter
to the Electoral Commission.
21 November 2008
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