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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