Mr Jack Straw - Standards and Privileges Committee Contents


16.  Letter to Rt Hon Jack Straw MP from the Commissioner, 26 November 2008

Thank you for your letter of 21 November in response to my letters of 11 and 13 November about this complaint in respect of a dinner held in your constituency to mark the 25th anniversary of your election as a Member of Parliament.

I was most grateful to receive this. I believe that I have nearly all the information I need in order to reach my conclusion on this complaint. There are two final points, however, on which your clarification would be most helpful. Could you first confirm my understanding of your answer to the second question I asked, which is that you were aware of the company's donation of £3,000 to the dinner at or near the time it was made, in April 2004?

Secondly, I see from the Registrar's files that you were sent a copy of your full register entry following a new entry you made on 30 January 2007. I enclose a copy. That entry did not of course include any reference to the donation for your 2004 dinner. Could you let me know whether you recall checking that entry and, if you did so, can you help me on why you think the absence of the donation was not picked up at that stage?

I have decided that I should prepare a short memorandum for the Committee on Standards and Privileges on this complaint. Once I have your response to this letter, I shall start preparing the factual sections of my memorandum. I will show you these sections in draft so that you can comment on their accuracy. Once I have your response, I will then add my conclusions and submit the full memorandum to the Clerk to the Committee, who will let you have a copy in advance of the Committee's meeting for any comments you may wish to make.

I note that you would like to make a late registration under the rectification procedure. Rectification at this stage would not be possible since I will be submitting a memorandum to the Committee on Standards and Privileges. You may, however, make an ordinary late entry if you so wish. Such an entry would not be in heavy type and would not be identified as having been made under the rectification procedure. I am asking the Registrar to get in touch with you to discuss this.

I am not copying my correspondence to the Electoral Commission since, as you will appreciate, I am considering only the requirements under the Code of Conduct for Members and the associated rules of the House and because of course our exchanges are at this stage subject to Parliamentary privilege.

I am grateful for your help on this matter.

26 November 2008


 
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