10. Letter to Rt Hon Andrew Mackay
from the Commissioner, 14 December 2009
Thank you for your further letter of 2 December responding
to mine of 23 November in which you raise again the question of
the inquiry which I have instigated following separate complaints
against you and Ms Julie Kirkbride MP.
I recognise your concern about going back over ground
which you may already have covered in the course of Sir Thomas
Legg's audit. But I do not think it would have been reasonable
for me to have refused to accept on these grounds a complaint
properly made to me in accordance with the procedures approved
by the House. Nor do I think it would be reasonable in all the
circumstances for me now to seek to abandon my inquiry, assuming
it was possible under the rules of the House for me to do so.
My reasons for this conclusion are as follows. My
inquiries will relate solely to the complaint and not to any other
matters in relation to your or Ms Kirkbride's Additional Costs
Allowance claims, which may have been considered by Sir Thomas.
If I were to uphold the complaint—and I have obviously formed
no view at all on that—then, unlike Sir Thomas's audit process,
the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the House would
have the opportunity to consider and decide if the rules have
indeed been broken and, if so, what, if any, sanction to make.
In that event, I believe that the Committee would want to take
full account of any repayments you had made as a result of Sir
Thomas's audit. The process is, therefore, different, as is the
scope of the inquiry and the range of consequences.
While recognising your understandable concerns, in
the light of paragraph 18 of the Code of Conduct for Members of
Parliament I do ask that you and Ms Kirkbride agree to co-operate
with my inquiry and respond to my letter of 5 November. I would
be most grateful for your help.
I am copying this letter to Ms Julie Kirkbride MP,
since I know you have written on behalf of you both.
14 December 2009
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