Mr Peter Hain - Standards and Privileges Committee Contents


10.  Letter to Rt Hon Peter Hain MP from the Commissioner, 9 December 2008

I am writing to let you know that, following consultation with the Committee on Standards and Privileges, I am resuming my consideration of the complaints I received in January about the registration of donations in the Register of Members' Interests in respect of your campaign for election as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

In essence, the complaints from Mr David Davies MP, and from Mr W F Fry and Mr J E Wotherspoon, are that you failed to register in the Register of Members' Interests within the time limit required all the donations you received in respect of your campaign for election as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

As you know, with the support of the Committee, I suspended my inquiries into these complaints following the Electoral Commission's decision to refer your case to the Metropolitan Police in respect of a potential offence under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Committee reported this decision to the House on 6 February 2008 (Fifth Report of Session 2007-08, HC 324). I note that the Crown Prosecution Service announced on 5 December that there was insufficient evidence for a charge to be made in this case.

I would now welcome your help in responding to the complaints. I attach copies of the letters from the complainants, together with a copy of my letter to you of 11 January which sets out the relevant rules of the House and the matters on which I would welcome your help. I have already received your letter to me of 11 January which gives in its attachment most of the details of the donations which I had sought: but some information about the benefits you received in kind would be helpful. Any further or additional points you wish to make would, of course, also be very welcome.

I intend to follow the normal agreed procedures in respect of complaints against Members and I enclose a copy of a note which sets out the processes I follow. I have informed the complainants that I am resuming my consideration of their complaints. I appreciate that you have probably given much of this information in a different context, but it would be very helpful if you could let me have your response to these matters. If it were possible to let me have a reply within the next few weeks that would be most helpful to me in resolving this matter without further delay. If there is any difficulty about any of this, or you would like a word, please contact me at the House.

Thank you for your help on this matter.

9 December 2008


 
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