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Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith

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Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith Fourth Report of Session 2003–04 Volume II HC 476–II House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith Fourth Report of Session 2003–04 Volume II Written Submissions received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 26 March 2004 HC 476–II Published on 29 March 2004 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 Committee on Standards and Privileges The Committee on Standards and Privileges is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards; to examine the arrangements proposed by the Commissioner for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and any other registers of interest established by the House; to review from time to time the form and content of those registers; to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering or declaring of interests referred to it by the Commissioner; to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches in the Code of Conduct which have been drawn to the Committee’s attention by the Commissioner; and to recommend any modifications to the Code of Conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary. Current membership Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP (Conservative, North West Hampshire) (Chairman) Ross Cranston QC MP (Labour, Dudley North) Mr Andrew Dismore MP (Labour, Hendon) Rt Hon Derek Foster MP (Labour, Bishop Auckland) Mr Michael Jabez Foster MP (Labour, Hastings and Rye) Mr David Heath CBE MP (Liberal Democrat, Somerton and Frome) Rt Hon Andrew Mackay MP (Conservative, Bracknell) Mr Kevin McNamara MP (Labour, Hull North) Richard Ottaway MP (Conservative, Croydon South) Mr Stephen Pound MP (Labour, Ealing North) Mr Simon Thomas MP (Plaid Cymru, Ceredigion) Powers The constitution and powers of the Committee are set out in Standing Order No. 149. In particular, the Committee has power to order the attendance of any Member of Parliament before the committee and to require that specific documents or records in the possession of a Member relating to its inquiries, or to the inquiries of the Commissioner, be laid before the Committee. The Committee has power to refuse to allow its public proceedings to be broadcast. The Law Officers, if they are Members of Parliament, may attend and take part in the Committee’s proceedings, but may not vote. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/ standards_and_privileges.cfm. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Dr Christopher Ward (Clerk), Ms Charlotte Littleboy (Second Clerk) and Lisa Hasell (Secretary). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, Journal Office, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6615. Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith 1 Contents Page Introduction 3 Written Submissions received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 5 1. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Michael Crick, 12 October 2003 5 2. Letter to Mr Iain Duncan Smith from the Commissioner, 13 October 2003 5 3. Commissioner’s note of meeting with Mr Iain Duncan Smith on 13 October 2003 7 4. Letter to Mr Iain Duncan Smith from the Commissioner, 20 October 2003 9 5. Joint written statement by Mr Iain Duncan Smith, Mrs Elizabeth Duncan Smith and Mrs Christine Watson, 13 October 2003 10 6. Written statement by Mrs Elizabeth Duncan Smith, 5 December 2003 12 7. Written statement by Mr Iain Duncan Smith, 9 December 2003 33 7a. Written statement by Mr Paul Baverstock, 15 October 2003 62 8. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Quentin Davies MP, 15 October 2003 63 9. Written statement by Miss Annabelle Eyre, 13 October 2003 64 10. Written statement by Miss Annabelle Eyre, 12 November 2003 65 11. Written statement by Miss Annabelle Eyre, 18 November 2003 73 12. Written statement by Mr Tom Finchett, 3 November 2003 77 13. Written statement by Dr Vanessa Gearson, 16 October 2003 77 14. Letter to the Commissioner from Dr Vanessa Gearson, 5 November 2003 93 15. Written statement by Mr Jonathan Hellewell, 17 October 2003 94 16. E-mail to the Commissioner from Ms Belinda McCammon, 18 November 2003 96 17. E-mail to the Commissioner from Ms Belinda McCammon, 22 December 2003 97 18. Written statement by Mr Mark MacGregor, 18 October 2003 98 19. Written statement by Mr Owen Patterson MP, 21 October 2003 101 20. Written statement by Mr Mike Penning, 16 October 2003 106 21. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Mike Penning, 4 December 2003 107 22. Written statement by Ms Cara Walker, 21 October 2003 108 23. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr W C Walker, 5 November 2003 108 24. Written statement by Mrs Christine Watson, 17 October 2003 109 25. Written statement by Mrs Christine Watson, 19 November 2003 111 26. Letter to the Commissioner from Mrs Christine Watson, 20 January 2004 120 27. Written statement by Mr Andrew Whitby-Collins, 13 October 2003 121 28. Joint written statement by Miss Annabelle Eyre and Mr Andrew Whitby-Collins, 7 January 2004 122 29. Written statement by Mr Tim Wilkinson, 4 December 2003 123 Evidence from Chingford 124 30. Transcripts of telephone conversations between Ms Louise Western and six Chingford Councillors, 29 September 2003 124 31. Transcript of telephone conversation between Mr Neal Dalgleish and Councillor John Gover, 29 September 2003 132 32. Written statement by Mrs Coralie Buckmaster, 12 October 2003 134 2 Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith 33. E-mail to Mr Rikki Radford from Councillor Matthew Davis, 29 September 2003 135 34. Written statement by Councillor John Gover, 13 October 2003 135 35. Letter to Mr Rikki Radford from Councillor Geoff Walker, 12 October 2003 136 36. Written statement by Mrs Lesley Finlayson, 15 October 2003 137 37. Letter to the Commissioner from Councillor John Gover, 20 October 2003 137 38. Letter to the Commissioner from Councillor Linda Huggett, 23 October 2003 138 39. Letter to the Commissioner from Councillor Matthew Davis, October 2003 139 40. Letter to the Commissioner from Councillor Laurie Braham, 25 October 2003 140 41. Letter to the Commissioner from Councillor John Fish, 27 October 2003 141 42. Transcript of telephone conversation between Mr Michael Crick and Mr Rikki Radford, 29 September 2003 141 43. Written statement by Mr Rikki Radford, 13 October 2003 143 44. Notes of contacts in Chingford 145 Other documents 150 45. E-mail to Mr Simon Gordon from the Head of IT Dept, CCO, 2 October 2003 150 46. E-mail to Mr Mark MacGregor, Mrs Theresa May MP and Mr Paul Baverstock from Dr Vanessa Gearson, 30 January 2003 151 47. Draft e-mail to Mr Paul Baverstock, Mrs Theresa May MP and Mr Mark MacGregor from Dr Vanessa Gearson, 31 January 2003, showing manuscript amendments by Mr Iain Duncan Smith 152 48. E-mail to Mr Paul Baverstock, Mrs Theresa May MP and Mr Mark MacGregor from Dr Vanessa Gearson, 31 January 2003 153 49. Memorandum to Dr Vanessa Gearson from Mrs Christine Watson, 24 October 2002 154 50. Written statement, on behalf of Mr Iain Duncan Smith, by Mr Richard Gordon QC, 4 February 2004 158 51. Letter to the Department of Finance and Administration from Mr Iain Duncan Smith, 18 December 2002 179 52. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Iain Duncan Smith, 6 January 2004 179 53. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Iain Duncan Smith, 4 February 2004 181 Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith 3 Introduction This Volume contains all the written evidence appended to the report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on the complaint by Mr Michael Crick against the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP. The written evidence received has been lightly edited to remove personal details or other material irrelevant to a conclusion on the complaints. Page, paragraph and line numbers quoted by the Commissioner or witnesses are those which originally appeared in either written or oral evidence and may no longer apply where the evidence in question has been re-formatted as part of the Commissioner’s report. Stylistic inconsistencies reflect the differences in style of the various authors of the evidence. The exhibits mentioned in some of the statements have not been appended to those statements. Where the Commissioner considered an exhibit critical to his consideration of the complaint, it has been separately appended to the report. Annex 2 of the Commissioner’s report in Volume I lists all those from whom the Commissioner received evidence in the course of his inquiry. It also indicates the relevant position(s) held by those who gave the Commissioner evidence. Conduct of Mr Iain Duncan Smith 5 Written Submissions received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 1. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Michael Crick, 12 October 2003 [See also Volume III, PCS Oral Evidence 1] Mr Iain Duncan Smith MP I enclose a file of material relating to the affairs of Iain Duncan Smith MP. This results from an investigation carried out by the BBC Newsnight programme, for which I have been working as a reporter. This investigation began last May, and concerns the fact that for the period from September 2001 to December 31 2002, Mr Duncan Smith paid his wife Betsy from his Parliamentary Staffing Allowance.
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