Mr Simon Danczuk 1

Contents

1. Letter from Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 23 October 2014 2 2. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 30 October 2014 4 3. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 30 October 2014 4 4. Letter from Mr Simon Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 18 November 2014 7 5. Letter from the Commissioner to the Registrar, 24 November 2014 8 6. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 24 November 2014 9 7. Letter from the Registrar to the Commissioner, 26 November 2014 9 8. Enclosures to letter of 26 Nov ember 2014 10 9. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 16 December 2014 13 10. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 12 January 2015 14 11. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 14 January 2015 16 12. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 14 January 2015 17 13. Email from Mr Danczuk MP’s office to the Commissioner’s office, 26 January 201517 14. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 26 January 2015 17 15. Telephone call from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 29 January 2015 18 16. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 29 January 2015 18 17. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Danczuk MP, 2 February 2015 20 18. Extract from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as of 6 January 2015 20 19. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 16 February 2015 22 20. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Assistant Registrar, 20 February 2015 22 21. Transcript of oral evidence: 10 February 2015 23

Mr Simon Danczuk 2

1. Letter from Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 23 October 2014

I wish to make a formal complaint that the above named Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and its associated rules.

On or around 16 April 2014 the above named Member and his Senior Parliamentary Aide , Matthew Baker, had published a book ‘Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith’ by Biteback Publishing.

However, prior thereto, the Daily Mail serialised the said book with a number of consecutive front page stories.

I was told by Mr Baker when he was writing the book that he co-authored that the revenue derived from both the serialisation and the royalties from publication would be split equally between himself and the Member.

Upon commencement of the serialisation by the Daily Mail, Mr Baker who was a former close friend, advised me personally that the rights had been sold for substantial and significant sum of money which would be paid under contract 3 months later.

In July 2014, I personally spoke with Mr Baker who advised me that they have at that juncture received collectively between them the sum of £30,000.00.

The Member has, so far, refused to answer constituents regarding the said payment.

Paragraph 13 of the Code of Conduct expressly provides “Members of Parliament are required to complete a registration form and submit it to the Commissioner within one month of their election to the House….After the initial publication of the Register… it is the responsibility of Members to notify changes in their registrable interests within four weeks of each change occurring.”

The Member therefore in compliance with the Code, had 4 weeks to declare the payment.

Having perused and considered the latest online update, to date, the Members has so far failed, refused and/or neglected to make disclosure in breach of the Code of Conduct. This Member has worked tirelessly exposing sexual abuse and pursuing the case of justice for Mr Simon Danczuk 3

the victims. He should be commended for that. However, in terms of independent enquiries and the like, he has been explicit in his views for the need for openness and transparency.

Such openness and transparency must, given the Code of Conduct, apply to declarations but in this particular case, the Member must show the same openness and transparency that he is campaigning for to the actual victims himself which he has failed to do.

In an interview with the online press locally at the book launch, the following question and answer was asked/given:

RO “What do you intend to do with the financial proceeds from the book?”

SD/MB “Some it will go to children’s charities.” http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/86655/cyril-smith- book-an-interview-with-authors-simon-danczuk-and-matt-baker

The non-declaration of the proceeds from serialisation is a serious concern given the pledge made within the constituency that some of it would go to children’s charities.

I hope the Commissioner will also be able to establish over and above the non-declaration, how much exactly of the £30,000.00 has/will be given to children’s charities, the name of the said charity or charities and the date of any payments.

Victims of child abuse deserve the same openness and transparency from Mr Danczuk over his financial affairs that, for example, he is demanding of Fiona Woolf of the Chair of the Government’s independent inquiry.

23 October 2014 Mr Simon Danczuk 4

2. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 30 October 2014

Thank you for your letter of 23 October 2014 with your complaint concerning Mr Danczuk in respect of the registration and declaration of his financial interests. I have decided to begin an inquiry into your allegation.

In essence, the allegation I have accepted for investigation is that Mr Danczuk has failed to register in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, within the 28 days determined by the House, receipt of remuneration in connection with the publication and serialisation of a book ‘Smile for the Camera’.

I enclose a note which sets out the procedure I follow. I have written to the Member, enclosing a copy of your letter, to invite his comments. When I have his response, I will decide how best to proceed.

Your letter of 23 October is now part of the evidence for this inquiry. While my inquiry is ongoing the information used in the inquiry has parliamentary privilege. This means it should not be disclosed, in any form, to third parties. That bar on disclosure will lapse only after the House has had the opportunity to consider it.

You should not circulate the contents of our correspondence (including any emails exchanged with my office) more widely.

Although I will, in the next few days, include on my parliamentary web pages the fact that I am conducting an inquiry into allegations against Mr Danczuk, I will not give progress reports during the course of my inquiry. . I will be in touch again when my inquiry is complete.

30 October 2014

3. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 30 October 2014 I would welcome your help on a complaint which I have received from Mr Turner-Mitchell in respect of the registration of your financial interests. Mr Simon Danczuk 5

I enclose a copy of Mr Turner-Mitchell’s letter of 23 October 2014. In essence, the allegation I have accepted for investigation is that you have failed to register in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, within the 28 days determined by the House, receipt of remuneration in connection with the publication and serialisation of a book ‘Smile for the Camera’.

The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament approved by the House on 12 March 2012 provides in paragraph 13 as follows:

“Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. They shall always be open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its Committees, and in any communications with Ministers, Members, public officials or public office holders.”

The rules relating to the registration of Members’ interests are set out in chapter 1 of the Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members. Chapter 1 of the Guide identifies the categories of registrable interest. In the 2009 Guide, which is still current, Category 2 defines Remunerated employment, office, profession, etc. as follows:

“Employment, office, trade, profession or vocation (apart from membership of the House or ministerial office) which is remunerated or in which the Member has any financial interest….”

Paragraph 24 says:

“All employment outside the House and any sources of remuneration which do not fall clearly within any other Category should be registered here. Members must register under this category the precise amount of each individual payment made, the nature of the work carried on in return for that payment, the number of hours worked during the period to which that payment relates and (except where disclosure of the information would be contrary to any legal or established professional duty of privacy or confidentiality) the name and address of the person, organization or company making that payment.” Mr Simon Danczuk 6

Category 3 defines Clients:

“In respect of any paid employment registered in Category 1 (Directorships) and Category 2 (Remunerated employment, office, profession, etc.), any provision to clients of services should be registered under this Category. All clients to which personal services are provided should be listed together with the nature of the client’s business in each case….”

Paragraph 28 says:

“Members must register under this category the precise amount of each individual payment made, the nature of the work carried on in return for that payment, the number of hours worked during the period to which that payment relates and (except where disclosure of the information would be contrary to any legal or established professional duty of privacy or confidentiality) the name and address of the person, organization or company making that payment.”

Mr Turner-Mitchell alleges that you and the co-author of ‘Smile for the Camera’ received approximately £30,000 in connection with the publication and serialisation rights in July 2014.

I would welcome your response to this complaint taking account of this summary of the relevant rules. In particular, it would be helpful to know:

i. the amounts and dates of receipt of all payments you have received in connection with the publication and serialisation of ‘Smile for the Camera’; ii. whether you at any time consulted the Register of Members’ Financial Interests about the registration of any of these payments; iii. any other information about the factors which may have led you not to register these donations.

Any other points you may wish to make to help me with this inquiry would be most welcome. Mr Simon Danczuk 7

I enclose a note which sets out the procedure which I follow. I am writing to the complainant to let him know that I have accepted his complaint. In due course I will publish on my parliamentary webpages that I am conducting this inquiry and the general category in which it comes. I will not be commenting further on its progress.

I would be grateful if you would regard this inquiry as confidential.

I am most grateful for your help and if you would provide the above information by mid-day on 14 November 2014.

30 October 2014

4. Letter from Mr Simon Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 18 November 2014

Thank you for your letter dated 30 October regarding issues raised by Mr Turner-Mitchell.

If my memory serves me correctly I, or my office, did have a conversation with the Registrar about advance fees some months ago. More recently, I emailed the Registrar explaining that I had not yet registered some payments relating the publication of my work and that I would do so in the very near future.

I was conscious that I had failed to meet the deadline and I was working on the registration when I received your letter.

I have now registered all the monies I have received relating to ‘Smile for the Camera’ and these are set out below:

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession, etc.

Payments received from Biteback Publishing, Westminster Tower, 3 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7SP for a book I co-wrote:

August 2013, £750. Hours: 3 hours (Registered 10 November 2014)

March 2014, £750. Hours: 5 hours (Registered 10 November 2014)

April 2014, £750. Hours: 5 hours (Registered 10 November 2014) Mr Simon Danczuk 8

11 July 2014, received £12,915, for the publication of excerpts from a book I co-wrote, from DMGT PLC, Registered Office: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry St, Kensington, London W8 5TT. Hours: approx. 24 hours over 12 months. (Registered 5 November 2014)

I always had the intention of registering the payments received – there would be no sense in not doing so because it has been such a public enterprise – though I had struggled to find the time to do so. Indeed, I was in the process of registering the payments when I received your letter.

I apologise for the delay in making the registration and I would like to thank Mr Turner- Mitchell for his diligence in observing and reporting on these matters.

I am more than happy to discuss this matter further if I can be of assistance.

18 November 2014

5. Letter from the Commissioner to the Registrar, 24 November 2014 I would like to ask for your advice on a complaint I have received about Mr Simon Danczuk MP. The complaint I have accepted for inquiry is that, contrary to the rules of the House, Mr Danczuk failed to register in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, within the 28 days determined by the House, receipt of remuneration in connection with the publication and serialisation of a book ‘Smile for the Camera’.

I enclose a copy of Mr Danczuk’s letter of 18 November 2014, in response to the complaint. As you will see, Mr Danczuk believes that he spoke with you ‘some months ago’ about fees received in connection with this book. Mr Danczuk also recalls emailing you more recently about his intention to register some payments. It would be most helpful to have:

• a copy of any notes of any relevant conversations you/your team have had with Mr Danczuk since July 2013 (just before the date of receipt of the first of the payments mentioned in his letter); • a copy of any other relevant communications you have had with Mr Danczuk or his staff during this period; • your view on whether the five payments Mr Danczuk has registered in connection with the publication are, indeed, registrable benefits; Mr Simon Danczuk 9

• any other comments you wish to make on Mr Danczuk’s current entry in the register, which I note includes a number of other late entries.

I would welcome any other information or comment which you consider would be relevant to my inquiry.

24 November 2014

6. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 24 November 2014 Thank you for your letter of 18 November 2014 answering my enquiries in connection with Mr Turner-Mitchell’s complaint about late registration of remuneration you have received in connection with your book ’Smile for the Camera’.

I have today written to the Registrar of Members’ Financial Interest and I enclose a copy of my letter to her for your information. I will, of course, share her response with you. I will decide whether I need any further information from you when I have received the Registrar’s response, and will contact you again as soon as I am able.

24 November 2014

7. Letter from the Registrar to the Commissioner, 26 November 2014 Thank you for your letter of 24 November.

You ask for a note of any relevant conversations with Mr Danczuk about registration of payments for ‘Smile for the Camera’. In fact, although I had some correspondence in July/August 2013 with Mr Danczuk about another aspect of his Register entry, the first discussion of this book appears to be on 16-18 December 2013, in an email exchange which I had with Mr Danczuk’s staff (attached). Mr Danczuk’s staff advised that he was “under contract” to Biteback for a book, but gave no further details. I advised that any payment received from his publishers needed to be registered, along with the hours he had worked. I also recommended registering the contract if he had signed one. In the course of this exchange Mr Danczuk’s office told me that the Member was not aware that he had to disclose income from the book, and that income would depend on sales. We received no further information and no register entry was made. Mr Simon Danczuk 10

In April 2014 Mr Danczuk registered a visit to the Grand National for himself and his wife. This aside, the next email received from Mr Danczuk was dated 23 October 2014, when the Member’s office notified us that he was “in the process of registering a number of entries concerning newspaper articles he has written”. His staff member told us that we could expect entries the following week and apologised for the delay.

On 3 November 2014 Mr Danczuk’s staff member submitted an entry relating to hospitality received at Chelsea Flower Show. He apologised for the late registration, saying “This is due to an oversight by myself rather than by the Member.” On 5 November Mr Danczuk sent further entries, relating to a payment for publication of excerpts from his book, and other matters. Again, he apologised for the delay in sending these. Further amendments have followed. I attach Mr Danczuk’s current entry, which takes account of these updates.

Six of the items in Mr Danczuk’s current Register entry, and one update, were recorded outside the 28-day limit agreed by the House, with the oldest being 14 months late. Normally, if a Member has recorded a number of late Register entries, we would ask about the circumstances and we would seek an assurance that remedial measures had been put in place. We would also check that there had been no further omissions. Since you were, by the time we received these, already inquiring into Mr Danczuk’s Register entry, we have not pursued the matter.

26 November 2014

8. Enclosures to letter of 26 November 2014 Enclosure A – Extract from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc

Payments received from Biteback Publishing, Westminster Tower, 3 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7SP for a book I co-wrote: August 2013, £750. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 10 November 2014) March 2014, £750. Hours: 5 hrs. (Registered 10 November 2014) April 2014, £750. Hours: 5 hrs. (Registered 10 November 2014)

DANCZUK, Simon (Rochdale) Mr Simon Danczuk 11

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc

Payment received from DMGT PLC, Registered Office: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry St, Kensington, London W8 5TT: 11 July 2014, received £12,915, for the publication of excerpts from a book I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 24 hrs over 12 months. (Registered 5 November 2014)

23 October 2014, received £350 for training NHS executives, from Cumberlege Eden & Partners, Snells Cottage, The Green, Newick, Lewes BN8 4LA. Hours: approx. 3 hrs. (Registered 13 November 2014)

Payment received from Telegraph Media Group Ltd, 111 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 0DT: 14 November 2014, received £350 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1 hr. (Registered 18 November 2014)

5. Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK)

Name of donor: 4 Ventures Ltd Address of donor: 124 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2TX Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: £800 of hospitality for my spouse and me (£400 each), at the Grand National. Date of receipt of donation: 5 April 2014 Date of acceptance of donation: 5 April 2014 Donor status: company, registration 04106861 (Registered 25 April 2014)

Name of donor: JTI UK Address of donor: Members Hill, Brooklands Road, Weybridge KT13 0QU Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: hospitality for two people to attend the Chelsea Flower Show on 20 May 2014, at a value of £1,404 Date of receipt of donation: 20 May 2014 Date of acceptance of donation: 20 May 2014 Donor status: company, registration 01501573 (Registered 3 November 2014)

9. Shareholdings

(a) Danczuk’s Delicatessen Ltd (until September 2014). (Registered 18 December 2013; updated 7 November 2014) Mr Simon Danczuk 12

(a) Danczuk Media Ltd, from October 2014; a company which will assist in the production of media articles. (Registered 7 November 2014)

Enclosure B - Email from Mr Danczuk’s office to the Registrar, 16 December 2013

“Simon Danczuk MP would like to update his register entry with the following items:

Remunerated employment: I am under contract with Biteback Publishing, 3 Albert Embankment London SE1 7SP, for publication of a book

[redacted]”

Enclosure C – Email from the Registrar to Mr Danczuk’s office, 16 December 2014

“[redacted] Please let me know the amount of any payment from Biteback and the associated hours spent on the book. [redacted].”

Enclosure D – Email from Mr Danczuk’s office to the Registrar, 18 December 2013 “[Redacted] Regarding the book: obviously the income from it will depend on sales, he was not aware that he has to declare this. He notes that the register entry for Alistair Darling (who is next to him in the list) simply reads: Contract with Atlantic Books, Ormond House, 26/27 Boswell Street, London WC1N 3JW for publication of a book. (Registered 25 March 2011).

If anything needed in clarification please let me know.”

Enclosure E – Email from the Registrar to Mr Danczuk, 18 December 2013 “Thank you for this information. [Redacted]

Your contract with the publishers requires registration within 28 days after receiving a first payment, but I would recommend registering it even before you have been paid, if you have signed a contract. When you register the first payment you will need to state how many hours (approximately) you have spent on the book. I mention it at this stage because Members sometimes find it hard to make a retrospective estimate of this.

Even if you have not yet received a payment from your publisher, you should be aware that this interest might require declaration, for example, if it relevant to Mr Simon Danczuk 13

proceedings in the House. That is because you would have an expected future interest. I attach our advice note on the declaration of interests.”

26 November 2014

9. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 16 December 2014 When I wrote to you on 24 November 2014, I enclosed a copy of my letter to the Registrar, Mrs Heather Wood. I have since received her response and I enclose a copy of that letter for your information.

Having considered very carefully your letter of 18 November and Mrs Wood’s of 26 November I would be grateful if you would provide some additional information about your involvement in the writing of Smile for the Camera and its subsequent serialisation, your recent registration of Danczuk Media Ltd, your office systems for ensuring that you make timely registrations of your financial interests and other media articles you have written in the last 12 months. I should emphasise that in asking these questions I am seeking to gain a better understanding of the facts and I have not, at this stage, reached any conclusions. The information I need is as follows.

Smile for the Camera and its subsequent serialisation

You have registered 13 hours of remunerated employment in connection with the writing of this book and 24 hours of remunerated work in connection with the publication of excerpts from it. I am aware that the book was co-authored but, on the face of it, 13 hours seems relatively little time for a 340-page publication, and difficult to understand in the context of what appears to be 24 hours of work preparing the excerpts from that publication. It would be helpful if you could explain why so few hours were involved and if necessary revise your estimate of hours associated with those payments.

Danczuk Media Ltd

I see that you have recently registered a shareholding in Danczuk Media Ltd, “a company which will assist in the production of media articles”. I would be grateful if you would explain to me how this will work. Do you expect that you will be employed or retained by Mr Simon Danczuk 14

the company, either as a director or in some other capacity? Will payments for your media work in future be made to the company? As you will know, such payments should nevertheless be registered.

Your office systems for the timely registration of your financial interests

I note that more than half (6 of 11) of your current entries in the Register were made late. Mrs Wood has told me that where a Member has recorded a number of late entries she or one of her team would normally ask about the circumstances and seek an assurance that remedial measures had been taken. She has not done so only because I have begun an investigation into a complaint. I would, therefore, be grateful if you would provide that information to me.

Other media articles

Having consulted the Nexis News service, I had seen that your by-line has been attached to almost forty media articles in the period from 16 December 2013 to 15 December 2014. I said it would be helpful if you could check whether your registration was fully up-to-date in every Category and to confirm that for me. On 24 December you let the Registrar have details of 7 more payments.

• I asked for an explanation of the circumstances that led to their omission from earlier Registers (as well as for the confirmation that your registration was fully up-to-date).

I would be grateful for a response no later than Friday 16 January 2015.

12 January 2015

11. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 14 January 2015 I'm very sorry for not responding to your letter dated 16th December - I was away over the Christmas period and I've been catching up on work.

I have started declaring some of the payments from newspapers that you mention but I still want to make some further checks. Is it possible for you to send me an electronic copy of the Nexis spread sheet that you provided a paper copy of? I'm having difficulty reading it and I'm keen to ensure everything is correct.

Could I also have a little further time so that I can provide a more full response to your letter? If you would like to talk about this please do phone me on [redacted]. Thanks in anticipation of your help and best wishes. Mr Simon Danczuk 17

14 January 2015

12. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 14 January 2015 Kathryn is out of the office today. She has asked me to thank you for your email and to reply in her absence.

The Nexis service is accessible via the parliamentary intranet. This is the link to the relevant page: http://intranet.parliament.uk/research-online/online-resources/news-and- media/nexis-news/. If you scroll down the page, you’ll see the logging-on details; if you think you may have unregistered payments outside of the period Kathryn quoted, you will be able to set the time parameters accordingly. I think this is probably the easiest way for you to view the material but if you have any difficulties with it, let me know and I will try to assist.

Please can you let Kathryn have a full response by no later than a week Friday, i.e. 23 January.

14 January 2015

13. Email from Mr Danczuk MP’s office to the Commissioner’s office, 26 January 2015

Simon has asked me to drop you a line to say he is very sorry for missing the deadline for responding to the latest letter. He is working on the matter today and should be able to get it to you by the end of the day or tomorrow.

26 January 2015

14. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 26 January 2015 Thank you for letting me know. We’re keen to have this as soon as possible and happy to receive Mr Danczuk’s response in either hard copy or by email to mine or Kathryn Hudson’s email accounts. Mr Simon Danczuk 18

I know that Kathryn would, in case, like to have a short meeting with Mr Danczuk. Might you and I start to look for a convenient time in their diaries now, with a view to organising something in the next week or two? [Redacted]

26 January 2015

15. Telephone call from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 29 January 2015 On 29 January my office telephoned Mr Danczuk’s office to remind them he had promised a response by 27 January.

29 January 2015

16. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 29 January 2015 Let me start by apologising most profusely for the delay in sending this letter. I've been out of the country for some of the time and then very busy with various constituency related issues.

To help structure my response I have followed the outline of your letter dated 16th December.

With regard to the hours worked on writing Smile for the Camera it is correct to say that approximately 90% of the book was written and produced by the co-author. My contribution was around meetings, interviews, discussion and proof reading. I have, perhaps incorrectly, attempted to share the hours I contributed across the payments I received. On reflection it might be wise to say I contributed 35 hours to co-producing the book and two hours to assisting with serialisation.

Concerning Danczuk Media Ltd, this is a company set up by my wife and I to take care of media work that we are both involved with. The business takes care of some of the media opportunities I am involved in. If any payment is received for them then I do, of course, declare them to the Registrar. I am neither an employee nor a director of the company.

Office systems for registering financial interests is really at the crux of this matter and I readily admit that I have failed to ensure effective systems have been put in place. There are Mr Simon Danczuk 19

a number of reasons for this. First, I had a change of staff over 12 months ago in my London office and the previous employee had taken care of registration. With the new appointment I took responsibility but then failed to administer it effectively. Second, I've considered registration, perhaps incorrectly, a private matter for which I should take responsibility, rather than another member of staff. Third, payments from media organisations are sporadic and almost unpredictable, by which I mean they are rarely timely (coming months after the contribution) and can sometimes involve 'kill fees' and/or discussions over final payment - this has made it more difficult for me keep track of payments.

My solution to this administrative problem is to nominate a member of my Rochdale office to take responsibility for registration and for me to email them a description of the payment received and work carried on every occasion. They can then format the information and send to the Registrar.

With reference to other media articles that you mention, I am sure I have registered those where I have now received payment. You are right to say a good number of the articles we write do not attract a fee and, indeed, we were less likely to receive a fee when initially embarking on our writing career. It is also worth pointing out that nearly all my articles are written by Matt Baker who receives half of the fee paid by the media organisation - I therefore declare half of the total fee received. My time on articles is spent brainstorming the content and proof reading the finished article.

It is worth noting that there are a small number of fees still outstanding from work carried out in 2014 for which I am still awaiting payment. I will, of course, declare these as soon as they come in.

Finally, it is important to note that it has never been my intention not to declare any payments I have received, it is simply down to poor administrative systems and my failure to prioritise registration over other aspects of my work.

I hope this letter is helpful and if you wish to discuss any aspect of it please do get in touch. Mr Simon Danczuk 20

29 January 2015

17. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Danczuk MP, 2 February 2015 Thank you for your email of 29 January 2015. While the information you provided is helpful, I do still wish to go ahead with the meeting we have arranged for Tuesday 10 February at 11.00am in [redacted].1

In the meantime, I thought it might be helpful to provide you with a copy of my initial analysis of your registration history over the last year (enclosed). I would be grateful if you would let me have any comments on its factual accuracy when we meet. The main purpose of the meeting is, however, to help me to understand better the arrangements described in your email. For example, I would like to have some more contextual information about the arrangements you made with your co-author for sharing the remuneration from Biteback Publishing and I would like to explore how your new administrative arrangements will improve the timeliness of your registrations. I do need this information before I can conclude my investigation, which I would like to do as soon as possible.

While I have no specific need for documentary evidence, I would be very happy to receive, in the meantime, any supporting evidence that you think might assist my understanding.

I have, of course, noted your assurance that it was never your intention not to register payments that the House required to be registered, and your acknowledgement of both poor administrative systems and a failure to prioritise registration matters.

I look forward to meeting you next week.

2 February 2015

18. Extract from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as of 6 January 2015

DANCZUK, Simon (Rochdale)

2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc

1 Later amended to 13.00 on 10 February 2015 Mr Simon Danczuk 21

Payments received from DMGT PLC, Registered Office: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry St, Kensington, London, W8 5TT: 11 July 2014, re ceived £12,915, for the publication of excerpts from a book I co- wrote. Hours: approx. 24 hrs over 12 months. (Registered 5 November 2014) 29 October 2014, received £350, for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1.5 hrs. (Registered 24 December 2014) 1 December 2014, received £250 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1.5 hrs. (Registered 24 December 2014)

23 October 2014, received £350 for training NHS executives, from Cumberlege Eden & Partners, Snells Cottage, The Green, Newick, Lewes BN8 4LA. Hours: approx. 3 hrs. (Registered 13 November 2014)

Payments received from Telegraph Media Group Ltd, 111 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 0DT: 14 November 2014, received £350 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1 hr. (Registered 18 November 2014) 3 October 2014, received £300 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1 hr. (Registered 24 December 2014)

Payments received from the Guardian Media Group, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU: 2 October 2014, received £142.50 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 1 hr. (Registered 24 December 2014) 10 November 2014, received £207.50 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: approx. 2 hrs. (Registered 24 December 2014)

Payments received from News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF: 30 July 2014, received £125 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: 1 hr. (Registered 24 December 2014) 3 December 2014, received £400 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: 1 hr. (Registered 24 December 2014)

5. Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK)

Date of acceptance of donation: 5 April 2014 Donor status: company, registration 04106861 (Registered 25 April 2014)

9. Shareholdings (a) Danczuk’s Delicatessen Ltd (until September 2014) (Registered 18 December 2013; updated 7 November 2014) (a) Danczuk Media Ltd, from October 2014; a company which will assist in the production of media articles. (Registered 7 November 2014)

19. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 16 February 2015 When you met the Commissioner on Tuesday 10 February, you said that you had some additional entries to make in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and that you would do that by the end of the week.

The Registrar has confirmed that she has not yet received anything from you. Please can you contact the Registrar or the Assistant Registrar as soon as possible, so that the Register can be updated and the Commissioner can complete her draft Memorandum to the Committee.

16 February 2015

20. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Assistant Registrar, 20 February 2015 [Redacted] I'd like to register the following under Remunerated employment, office, profession, etc.

Payment received from DMGT PLC, Registered Office: Northcliffe House, 2 Derry St, Kensington, London, W8 5TT: 13 February 2015, received £200, for an article I co-wrote. Hours: 2 hrs. Mr Simon Danczuk 23

Payment received from News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF: 4 February 2015, received £125 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: 1 hr.

Payment received from This is Global, 30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA: 2 February 2015, received £205 for conducting a broadcast interview. Hours: 4 hrs.

Payment received from British Broadcasting Corporation, 2-22 Portland Pl, London W1A 1AA: 23 January 2015, received £2,050 for an option on producing a drama relating to Smile for the Camera, The Double Life of Cyril Smith. Hours: 4 hrs.

Payment received from News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SW1 9GF: 21 January 2015, received £150 for an article I co-wrote. Hours: 1 hr.

20 February 2015

21. Transcript of oral evidence: 10 February 2015 Present Mr Simon Danczuk MP Ms Kathryn Hudson, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Gwen Harrison, Complaints Manager

KH Thank you for coming in today. We are recording and we will give you a copy of the transcript to check and if necessary, of the tape itself. Really pleased that you have come here to see me today. We’ve had an exchange of correspondence and I have quite a lot of the factual answers from that but it felt to me that we needed to have a slightly wider conversation around the circumstances of the allegations that have been made against you and that’s what I’d like to do with you now.

SD Ok.

KH Two or three areas; we’ll start with one of the more straightforward ones. The original complaint was about one occasion on which you had failed to register in the Register of Members’ Interests a payment that it was thought you had received. What’s become clear to me is that actually there are a number of payments that you have not registered for the last year and I wanted first of all to check with you whether the list that I sent to you in my last letter is correct and whether we now have everything in the Register that we need to have.

SD Yes, I think so. Mr Simon Danczuk 24

KH I’ve got a copy of it, if you want to refresh your memory on it.

SD Yes I think so. I have others to register; more recent ones to register, which currently need registering.

KH Ah, this leads me on to a question which I was going to ask you. I notice the last registration is, I think, 25 December. That’s Christmas day, that can’t be quite right. It’s 24th, I beg your pardon. There is another month since then. So there are some more registrations that you need to make?

SD Yes, that’s right, yes.

KH Can you tell me what they are, roughly, and then I’ll ask you to give me those precisely.

SD Yes. So, I’ve received a payment from the BBC in relation to the book, because they’ve taken an option out on turning the book into a drama, so that’s interesting from a broadcasting perspective. And then there’s a couple of payments in relation to articles that have been written for national newspapers.

KH Right, and those are comparatively recent things, are they?

SD Yes that’s right. Yes, and I think I pointed this out in my last letter, that there is a difference between when the article is written, when it’s commissioned, when it appears, and then when payment is eventually received. And it can be several months in fact. I mean, in terms of late payments, the national media are – some are very good in actual fact – but some are very bad. But, so I pointed that out, didn’t I?

KH And we do understand that. So, have you actually received payments for those things yet?

SD Yes, that’s right.

KH Ok, fine, in that case it would be really helpful if you would let us know as quickly as possible.

SD Well, I ought to do those today. Yes, certainly this week.

KH Well, if you can, that would be helpful. We also wondered. One of the things I just need to say to you is that, to a certain extent, I have widened out the investigation because… we originally had just the one complaint… and we know now that there are other entries. I have put a cut-off point in, I have not gone back further than April of last year so it’s all within this current financial year. But what I did do is to look back at your Register entries beyond that time and see that you have been fairly regular in putting things Mr Simon Danczuk 25

into the Register and that it doesn’t appear to have been much of a problem until just this last year. Is that correct?

SD Yes, that’s right. And the reason for that is that we … and it’s no reflection on the current staff … we’ve changed. The person in the London office moved on to work for another MP and I got this new guy and I didn’t give the new guy the responsibility for doing this job and I think that’s the crux of my problem really, which is that I took that job on myself and it’s because I don’t, and I should, prioritise it but I don’t prioritise it. I prioritise other work. I am not particularly…. I don’t particularly enjoy administration. Not that I don’t see the purpose of it. I completely understand the logic and the importance of declaring such interests. But yes, it falls between two stools and previously, I had a guy that stayed on top of it. So that’s been one of the problems really.

KH Right, and one of the things I was going to ask you towards the end was how you are going to make sure this didn’t happen again. So, what is the system that you had previously that didn’t happen and is that now what you are going to put back in place or something….

SD Yes, I don’t know why. I don’t know, yes, I just used to say to this previous chap “Listen, received this, this, for that”, verbally, and he’d go and do it. That’s what I need to do and I was suggesting in my last letter that I would do that with somebody in the Rochdale office, but I haven’t yet had that conversation with the person who is going to have responsibility for that. So, in terms of the outstanding payments at the moment, I will do those this week but then I need to train somebody up to do it on a regular basis. It’s not an onerous task but they need to know…. This is one of the problems for me, I don’t know where to look for the Register, on the internet. It might sound daft, but it looks complex to me so that when I google Member, Register of Members’ Interests and stuff, you can end up… it seems to take me quite a long time, which I find quite frustrating. And so that puts me off doing the administration myself. So, I need to train someone up in the Rochdale office. And, my wife works in the team part-time, and I think … I’m not sure if I said in the last letter, that I thought… and the previous guy that did it, he was a friend of twenty years and I considered some of this to be of a personal nature, although I know I’m displaying it publicly. So, perhaps that is one of the reasons that I didn’t give it to the new guy in London, because I didn’t really know him, do you know what I mean, on a personal level. And perhaps that’s why I am more comfortable giving this aspect of the work to my wife, who works in the Rochdale office, just because it is of a personal nature. But she needs to be familiar with the system and how it works and what you need to register. But it won’t take much, I mean, just an hour’s discussion and looking on the internet should do it, shouldn’t it. So, I need to do that.

KH Yes, it should. It seems it relied quite heavily on your memory. If you just said to your assistant, oh will you enter this – how did you make sure you didn’t forget anything?

SD Well, I mean, the payments aren’t that extensive. There were some regularity to previous ones when I was doing some work with Shine Bid [Management]. Mr Simon Danczuk 26

KH You must have more coming in now.

SD Now I have. When I first set out as an MP, I would occasionally…. I have always written articles for many years; rarely received payment, but as the time has gone on as Member of Parliament, they have attracted payment. So, initially as an MP they didn’t attract payment and I explained to you that they are written by myself and a colleague, who works three days a week in the team but the other two days a week, he does freelance work, and some of that is working on this sort of thing. And so, yes, so…. I’ve forgotten the point I was making there…

KH I was saying its building up and you may have had difficulty in relying entirely on your memory to say to your assistant “oh enter that”.

SD Yes, well the other possibility is to get the guy who writes them to do it, actually. That might be better than, you know, because I trust him. You know, I work closely with him and he and, in fact, instead of involving [Redacted]; a third person…. Matt is involved, because he receives some of the payment. We split the payment. So, he is as aware of the payment as I am. So, it might be that he’s more of a creative type than an administrator, so that’s perhaps my hesitation in giving him the task, I suppose. I suspect I’m not filling you with a lot of confidence here, but I’m just being open and honest about the process. The other point to make is that I, and I think I have made this in letters, two important points…. One is that, well, I would described it as a vexatious complaint because this guy has made complaints, has attempted to make complaints about a whole range of issues. And, if you go on social media, you will see that he’s trying to attack me left, right and centre. I believe he has set up a parody account on Twitter and lots of mischievousness. I can’t understand why he’s doing it actually, because I have never fallen out with the guy, but this is life, isn’t it. So, that’s an important point to make though I accept that I should have registered. That’s the point – there’s no denying it. I won’t deny that. But the second point is that I don’t have any desire to avoid declaring what’s come in. I mean, I think I might have said this in the initial letter, but, I mean, I was writing a book that’s been received publicly and, you know, you couldn’t hide it, could you? That’s right. And people would ask questions, so it’s just, it’s just poor administration on my part, yes.

KH It does sound like there’s a bit more thinking that needs to go into how you’re going to make sure it’s sorted for the future. That may be something for you to talk to your administrative assistant about and it’s something that the Committee will be concerned about because what they will say is, ok, this happened now, why, we understand that, we understand it got in a mess, we understand that you have apologised. Nevertheless, how do you make sure it doesn’t happen again? So, you might want to give that some thought.

SD Yes, I want to give them some comfort. I don’t want them to think we’re lurching from one crisis to another.

Mr Simon Danczuk 27

KH, No, no, absolutely and it’s not good for you. Just one more thing while we’re on the actual expenses, sorry, registration. I notice that in previous years you have actually done a number of surveys and payments been made for that. You don’t appear to have done any of those in the past year, have you not?

SD I’ve done. I might have done one or something. No, I don’t do them now. Yes, just because, well, yes, why don’t I do them? I’m not sure; they’re quite time-consuming, I don’t particularly enjoy them. I certainly enjoy writing and doing this sort of thing. I am a researcher by trade, so I’m…. I’ve felt an obligation to do some of them. That’s what I used to do before I became an MP; I was a social researcher. So I felt some obligation but I’ve less inclination to do them now.

KH that’s fine, I just wanted to check that there aren’t any missing from that. Ok, I think that covers, provided you’re happy that what we’ve got written down there is an accurate representation. We’re expecting a few more entries to come in from you but otherwise we’re complete on that. So, if we move on now then and think about the remuneration that you received actually for Smile for the Camera. Can you tell me first of all a bit about the process of writing it? It’s been clear from a couple of communications with me that Matt Baker did quite a lot of the work. You did bits and pieces. Can you tell me how it was sorted out?

SD I attributed the hours incorrectly but what I was trying to do there, and I will answer your question. I was trying to attribute the hours to the payment and the payments don’t really match the hours in any sophisticated sort of way. So, I was trying to just share them out across the payments. And, again, I think we’re due a royalties payment on the number of books sold. Now, do I attribute more hours to those? It’s all a bit peculiar really, isn’t it? Then there’s the serialisation, which is really where the money (if you’re going to make any money on a political book) comes from. Which, actually, takes very little effort because all the writing has gone into the book, not onto the serialisation. All you have to do on a serialisation is stop the editor putting in nonsense that’s not in the book. Which is more of a job than you might think, actually. It’s quite peculiar. So there’s all that confusion to have to deal with. I don’t know what other, how other MPs deal with it, because there’s a lot of MPs that write books. Perhaps I need lessons in how to do it. But yes, in terms of the process, yes. I mean, Matt Baker is the guy that wrote the book. I mean, that’s quite clear. All I did was….

KH So it was his time, in fact, that was….

SD Yes, absolutely, yes. And I would proof-read it and things, and we would occasionally have the odd meeting, a brainstorming session but that wouldn’t last more than an hour. I mean, it’s hard to judge some of this. I mean, I’ll be on the train with him one day and we’ll talk about it for ten minutes and we’ll. I mean, but how do you…. I mean some of it is a guesstimate, I can’t pretend that it isn’t. But, yes, he’s the author of it. I mean, I don’t think I wrote, yes, I mean to say I didn’t write a word of it, would be a slight exaggeration but I would correct, amend something, but not large sections. He’s a very Mr Simon Danczuk 28

good writer. It’s his first book but he’s taken to it like a duck to water. He’s a journalist by trade.

KH So, how did he do that then? Did he do it because he was working alongside you and knew what was happening or what you were finding out? Or did he do his own research? Well, you sit there with a blank sheet of paper and think I’m going to write Smile for the Camera… Where did the information come from?

SD Yes, well, some of that…. He does three days a week in the office and two days freelance and so, the writing would take place in the two days freelance.

KH But the information would be because he is working with you?

SD Yes, I suppose it would. Perhaps that means, I should attribute more time to that, I don’t know. And then, are you double-counting it because some of it has come to your knowledge as Member of Parliament as opposed to an author? I don’t know. I don’t know really, it’s quite interesting, Kathryn. You see the point I’m making there?

KH The issue then becomes how to apportion the amount of money between you?

SD It’s been clear with all of these. We’ve always worked on the assumption that it’s half and half. I mean, I think I’ve… You know, if it was a ghost-writer, you might assume… I know of another example where they’ve, they’ve received about 25% of the money and stuff. But that’s not how we work. It’s just always been the… It’s always been based on…. You could argue that he should get more because he has sweated blood and tears, writing the book. Whereas, but then again, my name and reputation helped develop the book.

KH Helps sell it, yes. So, he was writing the book on the days when he wasn’t working for you in the office?

SD Yes

KH But some of the information would have come….

SD …would have been gleaned in the office, yes, I can’t deny that, yes.

KH Was he using other things like library resources?

SD My goodness, yes. I mean lots of research like that, that he would do, yes. You know, from the local archive in Rochdale, through to…. I mean, I read other books. I mean, I read books, political biographies that informed, that helped inform the book. You know, about David Steel, through to David Trippier and other politicians and things but, is that me reading in my leisure time, or is that me contributing to the book?

Mr Simon Danczuk 29

KH It’s very difficult to separate the two out, isn’t it?

SD Well, yes. But I don’t do, I mean everything I do is politics. I don’t have any hobbies outside doing this stuff, really, as my wife complains.

KH Ok, but basically what you’re saying is, the writing was done in the two days when he does not work for you?

SD Yes, and weekends. Sure.

KH But not during the time…. What was his job in the office?

SD Yes, when he goes in the office, he works in Rochdale. He goes in the office and he helps with casework. He does some media work, in terms of my communications.

KH And he works in Rochdale, does he?

SD Yes. Yes.

KH Right, now in terms of when the payment was made…. You have declared in the Register of Members’ Interests half of the amount you were paid, or the whole amount and then given him half?

SD Ah, no. In that instance, that is all the amount that I received and the other half. The other half, and he will have received the amount that I received, that I declared – he will have received half separately. Does that make sense? So, if I received… Whatever that amount is [on the list of payments], he will have received that amount.

GH Here’s the payment, twelve-nine. So, was the total payment around twenty-five, twenty-six thousand?

SD Yes, that’s right. That’s my half and he has got his half.

KH And does that come through the whole of the amount being paid to you, or was it two separate cheques, one of which was made to you and one to him?

SD That’s right.

KH Two separate cheques.

SD Yes.

KH That’s good, that clarifies that.

Mr Simon Danczuk 30

SD And the reason for that is that is that it comes via, all the payments really in relation the book are (I never thought I’d have one of these) my literary agent. And in this instance, in terms of the book, and in terms of the articles, all the payments come via. So, I could, in theory, but I always try. I’ve said I’ve received this payment from the BBC. Well, strictly, well I’m trying to be transparent because, in reality, the payments come from my literary agent. That’s who writes the cheque.

KH Yes.

SD But it’s no good me saying that. That doesn’t help anybody in terms of transparency does it? And it’s the same with, I think I might have declared, this as not coming from the publisher but coming from the Daily Mail Group or whatever it’s called, and that’s because that’s who paid for the serialisation. And so, you know, it’s come from Biteback Publishing in terms of printed copies of the book. I’ve tried to declare that. I could, I’m guessing, I could have declared them in theory as just coming from the literary agent. But I don’t know. I’m trying to be open and transparent. Do you see what I am saying?

KH And the literary agent, just to clarify, is separate from the media agency that you have set up?

SD Yes.

KH Fine. Ok, right so we have clarified absolutely that there were actually two separate cheques and the amount that you have declared is the amount that you personally have received?

SD And I only ever declare what I receive, so if for an article. So, if this is an article here for £350, the total payment will have been £700.

GH Can I just clarify then, because I think that takes us on to another level of question….

SD I’m not sure it’s… I’m not saying I have got all this right, that I’m doing it right but I’m just telling you what I’m doing.

KH And that’s helpful, thanks.

GH That’s helpful. I think we need to understand to make sure we reflect properly in the notes…. The contract with Biteback Publishing. That is what it’s called, isn’t it? Is, a single contract with you for the twenty six thousand and then your literary agent splits it? Or?

SD Now, that’s a good question.

Mr Simon Danczuk 31

GH So, I suppose my question is, do they think they are paying it all to you and then your literary agent splits it?

SD No. They know that it’s being… The contract is between Biteback, me and Matt.

GH SO, it’s three parties to the contract. They pay a figure over to your literary agent, who then splits it on the basis that you’ve agreed with Matt?

SD Yes, but the… I mean the publisher…

GH Biteback know that that is happening?

SD Yes, that’s right.

GH I think that clarifies it, I think from my point of view.

KH That’s tremendously helpful. Right, ok, so we have talked about that. I think that covers all the questions we had about the writing of the book, Gwen and where we were going there. And then brought me on to the question of the media company that you’ve set up. Can you tell me a bit about how that works and whether you have had any payments made into it at all yet?

SD Yes. Have I not declared any yet? Is that?

KH No.

SD Oh, right, well let’s… Perhaps I haven’t identified them as going into Danczuk Media….

KH Well, that’s possible.

SD And, yes, you’ve got me thinking about that. Because what I have tried to do, and I am not sure if this is advice that I was given. Well, I was given advice to declare any payments that went into Danczuk Media, I should declare….

KH At the time that they went in. Yes, that’s right.

SD So, I’ve got a payment from the Sun newspaper recently. I need to declare it. The way that I would have done that had we not had this conversation, and I am happy to be guided, is that I have just received this payment from the Sun newspaper for this article. I wouldn’t have mentioned Danczuk Media. That, because, really, I mean that is just the bank account which the payments go in. Where there would have been a worry, I think, is if I’d have said I’ve just received £300 from Danczuk and declared that, it’s not dissimilar to the agent. But that wouldn’t have been very transparent because people couldn’t have seen that I got that actually for writing for the Sun newspaper. That’s right. Mr Simon Danczuk 32

SD That’s right, yes, so, that’s my intention. That’s the intention I’ve been setting of on.

KH Right, so we maybe need to clarify that then, because it looks to us at the moment as though you have set up Danczuk Media and no payments have gone into it, whereas in fact some of the payments may have gone but you may have declared them separately.

SD Yes. I have certainly declared them though I…

GH We could get [the Registrar] to write on that. We could ask [her] to clarify how that should be done.

SD Yes, I think. I mean, this is just a personal view. I don’t think you should be too worried whether the payments go in there or not, as long as I declare where they’ve come from.

KH Absolutely. But the confusing thing was that you appeared to have set up an agency that didn’t have any payments and I think somewhere in one of your emails you did say something about I declare any payments made into it. Which then left me confused.

SD Yes, no, I understand that. Yes, I can completely understand.

KH And this is really helpful. We are getting a clearer view of it.

SD That’s why we can’t do it by letter, isn’t it? And we’re better doing it in person. Yes, the other point to observe is that my wife, Karen, will make payments into Danczuk Media, as well. She will probably make more, considerably more payments into it as a business than I will.

KH Ok. Well it might be that you need to clarify sometime with the Registrar and we can ask her to write to you and spell out how you ought to be dealing with that. But, in the meantime, we go back to where we started from. We know now that all, all the payments that were made to you during this year, have been registered.

KH Fine, thank you very much. I think that covers Danczuk Media, yes. And then we talked about, and I think we have covered most of this, how you’ve set up an office system that makes sure that somebody is taking responsibility for making sure that all these payments, that are coming from lots of different places, actually do get recorded and it felt like there might be a little more discussion that you….

SD I think the solution on that might be for Matt Baker to do that as part of his three days per week, because he knows everything that’s coming in. I’m not doing anything without him.

KH So most of these things are joint things. Mr Simon Danczuk 33

SD On all of them. All of them, I don’t think there’s…. Yes. I’m not doing the surveys any more, not doing Shine Bid Services. It might have been different…. So he’s probably, and I do trust him. I’ve known him sometime, you know, it’s …. That’s probably a better solution actually.

KH Well, ok, that’s a matter for you to sort out. Were there any other things that you wanted to say?

SD No, I don’t think so. I’m sorry that I’ve put you to all this trouble. I should have been on top of it, and I am apologetic for it. I should have been on top of it. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, the one further point would be in terms of IPSA for example. I’m not on top of that. What I mean by that is that, I’ve having to pay some money back because some of the bills were lost for gas and electric, which I have quite clearly used. There are office bills, you know what I mean? So, I’ve not been siphoning off gas and electric but because I haven’t got the bill, I’m having to pay back about £3,000. So there is, there is a pattern of poor administration. The irony is that the administration of casework is very good. I think we’re pretty…. We do a lot of good casework as a constituency office. You know, in terms of serving the people of Rochdale but we’ve not done a very good job in terms of serving the interest of me, in terms of, you know, recording and I’m claiming expenses and whatever, but that’s where we are, yes.

KH It does sound like you’ve become involved in quite a lot of very important issues recently and maybe that has meant the admin has gone by the board but if you’ve got some really good administrators in your office, use them.

SD That’s right. I think that’s exactly right.

END