House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram Ninth Report of Session 2010–11 Volume II HC 654–II House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram Ninth Report of Session 2010–11 Volume II Appendices, written and oral evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 7 December 2010 HC 654–II Published on 9 December 2010 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 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 Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) (Chair) Sir Paul Beresford MP (Conservative, Mole Valley) Tom Blenkinsop MP (Labour, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) Annette Brooke MP (Liberal Democrat, Mid Dorset and North Poole) Rt hon Tom Clarke MP (Labour, Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) Mr Geoffrey Cox MP (Conservative, Torridge and West Devon) Matthew Hancock MP (Conservative, West Suffolk) Mr Oliver Heald MP (Conservative, North East Hertfordshire) Heather Wheeler MP (Conservative, South Derbyshire) 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. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Mr Steve Priestley (Clerk), Miss Rhiannon Hollis (Second Clerk) and Ms Jane Cooper (Committee Assistant). 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. Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram 1 Page Appendix 1: Memorandum from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 7 Sir John Butterfill, Rt hon Stephen Byers, Rt hon Patricia Hewitt, Rt hon Geoff Hoon, Rt hon Richard Caborn and Rt hon Adam Ingram 7 Introduction 7 Background 7 The Allegations 11 Relevant Rules of the House 11 My Inquiries 16 General issues 16 Sir John Butterfill: My Inquiries 17 Findings of Fact 27 Rt Hon Stephen Byers: My Inquiries 32 Findings of Fact 47 Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt: My Inquiries 54 Findings of Fact 72 Rt Hon Geoff Hoon: My Inquiries 77 Findings of Fact 94 Rt Hon Richard Caborn: My Inquiries 99 Findings of Fact 114 Rt Hon Adam Ingram: My Inquiries 121 Findings of Fact 140 Findings of Fact: General 144 Conclusions 145 Sir John Butterfill 150 Rt Hon Stephen Byers 152 Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt 156 Rt Hon Geoff Hoon 158 Rt Hon Richard Caborn 162 Rt Hon Adam Ingram 166 Concluding observations 169 Written evidence received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards 172 1. Extract from Sunday Times article, 21 March 2010 172 2. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, 22 March 2010176 3. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP from the Commissioner, 22 March 2010176 4. Second e-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, 22 March 2010 176 5. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, 22 March 2010177 6. Letter to Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP from the Commissioner, 22 March 2010177 7. Letter to the Commissioner from Ms Justine Greening MP, 22 March 2010 177 8. E-mail to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill MP, 22 March 2010 178 9. Extract from Sunday Times article, 28 March 2010 178 10. Letter to the Commissioner from Mr Greg Hands MP, 28 March 2010 181 1 Sir John Butterfill 183 11. Letter to Sir John Butterfill MP from the Commissioner, 23 March 2010 183 2 Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram 12. Letter to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill MP, 24 March 2010 185 13. E-mail to Sir John Butterfill MP from Anderson Perry Associates, 16 February 2010 187 14. Letter to Sir John Butterfill MP from the Commissioner, 25 March 2010 187 15. Letter to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill MP, 6 April 2010 188 16. Letter to Sir John Butterfill from the Commissioner, 2 June 2010 188 17. Dispatches ‘Politicians for Hire’—Transcript of Telephone Conversation with Sir John Butterfill MP on 16 February 2010 189 18. Dispatches ‘Politicians for Hire’—Transcript of Sir John Butterfill MP meeting 24 February 2010 191 19. Letter to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill, 22 June 2010 204 20. Letter to Sir John Butterfill from the Commissioner, 25 June 2010 205 21. Letter to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill, 15 July 2010 206 22. Letter to Sir John Butterfill from the Commissioner, 20 July 2010 207 23. Letter to the Commissioner from Sir John Butterfill, received 2 August 2010 208 2 Rt Hon Stephen Byers 209 24. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP from the Commissioner, 23 March 2010 209 25. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 2 June 2010 212 26. Dispatches ‘Politicians for Hire’—Transcript of Telephone Conversation with Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP on 17 February 2010 213 27. Dispatches ‘Politicians for Hire’—Transcript of Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP meeting, 23 February 2010 215 28. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 29 June 2010 230 29. Rt Hon Stephen Byers’ response to the questions raised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, sent to the Commissioner 29 June 2010 230 30. E-mail to Claire Webster, Anderson Perry Associates, from Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, 24 February 2010 232 31. E-mail to Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP from Claire Webster, Anderson Perry Associates, 24 February 2010 232 32. E-mail to Claire Webster, Anderson Perry Associates, from Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, 25 February 2010 232 33. E-mail to Claire Webster, Anderson Perry Associates, from Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, 11 March 2010 232 34. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 1 July 2010 233 35. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 13 July 2010 233 36. Supplementary Response by Rt Hon Stephen Byers to the Questions raised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, 12 July 2010 234 37. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 14 July 2010 235 38. Official Report, House of Lords, HL Deb 22 March 2010, cols 754–756 235 39. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 20 July 2010 237 40. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 20 July 2010 237 41. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 12 August 2010237 42. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 12 August 2010238 43. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 31 August 2010239 Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram 3 44. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 1 September 2010239 45. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 5 September 2010240 46. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 6 September 2010240 47. Letter to Director of Catering and Retail Services, House of Commons, from the Commissioner, 14 July 2010 240 48. Letter to the Commissioner from the Director of Catering and Retail Services, 27 August 2010 241 49. Letter to Department of Catering and Retail Services from the Commissioner, 1 September 2010 241 50. Letter to the Commissioner from Director of Catering and Retail Services, 6 September 2010 242 51. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 7 September 2010242 52. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 16 September 2010 242 53. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 16 September 2010 243 54. E-mail to the Commissioner from Rt Hon Stephen Byers, 20 September 2010 243 55. Letter to Rt Hon Stephen Byers from the Commissioner, 29 September 2010 244 56.