House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Conduct of Mr George Galloway Sixth Report of Session 2006-07 Volume I Report and Appendices, together with formal minutes and oral evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 16 July 2007 HC 909-I Published on 17 July 2007 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £22.00 The 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) Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) Rt Hon David Curry MP (Conservative, Skipton & Ripon) Mr Andrew Dismore MP (Labour, Hendon) Nick Harvey MP (Liberal Democrat, North Devon) Mr Brian Jenkins MP (Labour, Tamworth) Mr Elfyn Llwyd MP (Plaid Cymru, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) Mr Chris Mullin MP (Labour, Sunderland South) The Hon Nicholas Soames MP (Conservative, Mid Sussex) Dr Alan Whitehead MP (Labour, Southampton Test) 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/sandp. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Dr Christopher Ward (Clerk), Dr Susan Griffiths (Second Clerk) and Miss Michelle Owens (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 George Galloway 1 Contents Report Page Conduct of Mr George Galloway 3 Introduction 3 The Mariam Appeal 5 The Telegraph documents 7 Introduction 7 How the documents came into the possession of the Telegraph reporter 9 Are the documents authentic? 10 Is what they say true? 12 Mr Galloway’s relationship with Mr Fawaz Zureikat 13 The record of the meeting between Mr Galloway and Saddam Hussein in August 200214 Conclusions 15 Mr Galloway’s obligations to the House 15 Introduction 15 Recommendations to the House 20 Appendix 1: Memorandum from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 21 Appendix 2: Memorandum from Mr George Galloway MP 138 Annex 165 Letter to George W Bush from Studio Legale Internazionale, 14 June 2007 165 Appendix 3: Note to the Committee by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on the authenticity of the note of Mr Galloway’s meeting with Saddam Hussein, 21 June 2007 167 Annex 169 COMBINED MEDIA PROCESSING CENTRE-QATAR / UK CI REPORT 169 Appendix 4: Letter from the Chairman of the Committee to Mr George Galloway, 28 June 2007 175 Appendix 5: e-mail from Mr George Galloway to the Chairman of the Committee, 2 July 2007 176 Appendix 6: Note to the Committee by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, 9 July 2007 177 George Galloway’s letter of 5 July Comment by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 177 Formal minutes 180 2 Optional header Reports from the Committee on Standards and Privileges in the current Parliament 181 Conduct of Mr George Galloway 3 Conduct of Mr George Galloway Introduction 1. We have received a memorandum from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on the outcome of his investigation of complaints made in April 2003 against Mr George Galloway, then the Member for Glasgow, Kelvin and now the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow. The Commissioner’s memorandum is reproduced at Appendix 1. 2. Our duty is to consider the conclusions of the Commissioner and to report to the House, with recommendations if appropriate. 3. In accordance with our usual practice, we showed Mr Galloway a copy of the Commissioner’s memorandum before we started considering it. Mr Galloway’s written comments are reproduced at Appendix 2. We asked Mr Galloway to give oral evidence, and he did so on 26 June.1 . He has subsequently submitted further written evidence. This is reproduced as an appendix to his oral evidence and the Commissioner’s comments on this are reproduced at Appendix 6.2 4. As the Commissioner explains,3 at the heart of his investigation lies a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph in April 2003.45 He received two formal complaints. The first, from Mr Andrew Robathan, Member for Blaby, asked the Commissioner to investigate “the extremely serious allegations made by the Telegraph against George Galloway MP”.6 He added “you will understand that none of the money that was allegedly paid to Mr Galloway was declared in the Register of Members’ Interests.” The second, from Mr Andrew Yale, commented that “recent media reports have raised concerns that Mr Galloway MP has not been open about travel/hotel expenses and put up blocks in the way of Parliament. Parliament’s reputation is now being hurt and the truth is needed one way or the other.”7 5. The central allegation against Mr Galloway made in the Telegraph article was that he had been receiving substantial undeclared personal financial benefit from Saddam Hussein’s regime by way of the Oil for Food Programme. This is an extremely serious allegation, and one which Mr Galloway has consistently denied throughout the Commissioner’s inquiry and in oral evidence to us.8 The Commissioner’s inquiry has 1 See Oral Evidence, pages 3-25. 2 p. 177. 3 Appendix 1, paras 16 to 21. 4 Referred to subsequently in the report as the Telegraph. 5 The principal article is reproduced at WE1, p. 6. 6 WE2, p. 7. 7 WE3, p. 7. 8 Q267. 4 Conduct of Mr George Galloway raised questions not only in relation to Mr Galloway’s compliance with the rules of the House on registration and declaration of interests, and in relation to advocacy, under the rules in force at the time, but also as to whether his conduct has damaged the reputation of the House. 6. The Telegraph articles related to documents alleged to have been found by one of its journalists in the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs building shortly after the fall of Baghdad to Coalition forces in April 2003. Mr Galloway has never accepted that these documents are what they purport to be or that they were found in the circumstances claimed by the journalist concerned.9 As part of his investigation of the complaint, the Commissioner arranged, with the consent of the Telegraph, for them to be forensically examined.10 As part of our consideration of this matter, we have ourselves seen the documents. On June 19th we took oral evidence from the forensic scientist who examined them on behalf of the Commissioner, along with a translator of Arabic.11 7. Mr Galloway strongly disputes some of the evidence received by the Commissioner and has challenged the bona fides of a number of witnesses, both in exchanges with the Commissioner and in evidence to us, and also in the House.12 He has also challenged our own bona fides and those of the Commissioner.13 We comment later in this report on all these aspects of Mr Galloway’s conduct. 8. The Commissioner’s inquiry has been one of the most complex ever undertaken, and has been of unparalleled duration. Its purpose was to investigate the complaint and establish whether Mr Galloway had breached the House’s Code of Conduct. Legal proceedings delayed completion of the Commissioner’s investigation of the complaints for nearly three years.14 The inquiry has also been complicated by the fact that some key potential contributors, notably Mr Fawaz Zureikat, Mr Galloway’s appointed representative in Baghdad in relation to the Mariam Appeal,15 and Dr Amineh Abu- Zayyad, Mr Galloway’s former wife, have not responded to the Commissioner’s repeated invitations to contribute to his investigation. In the course of his investigation, the Commissioner found evidence that led him to conclude that Mr Galloway had indeed breached the Code in a number of respects. 9. We pay tribute to the Commissioner for the fairness, thoroughness and sensitivity with which he has conducted this difficult inquiry. 9 Appendix 1, para 71. 10 See WE 32, p. 31. 11 See Oral Evidence, pages 1-2.