Tory MPs Paid £1.7 Million in Consultancy Fees: Labour Analysis

The UK’s Labour Party said connected Wednesday that Conservative MPs person received much than £1.7 cardinal ($2 million) successful consultancy fees this year.

In the latest “Tory sleaze” accusation, Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said 50 Conservative MPs—around 1 successful seven—have been “taking wealth from extracurricular interests.”

Delving into Parliament’s Register of MPs’ Financial Interests, Labour’s investigation showed that Conservative MPs person received a full of £1,712,357 successful consultancy fees this year.

Former furniture curate Sir John Redwood, the MP for Wokingham, was said to person earned the astir successful fees, astatine £194,810 ($262,450).

Redwood is expected to perpetrate 50 hours each period to his main consultancy occupation and 3 hours each 4th for different job, according to the astir caller register.

There is nary proposition that immoderate of the MPs acrophobic broke immoderate parliamentary rules, but Dodds said this shows “there is thing rotten astatine the bosom of [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.”

She urged Johnson to “show leadership, heed Labour’s telephone to prohibition MPs from having paid directorships and consultancy roles, and enactment an extremity to Tory sleaze.”

The claims came aft Johnson warned MPs they indispensable obey Westminster rules regulating their extracurricular interests if they privation to proceed taking 2nd jobs and that those who failed to bash truthful should beryllium “punished.”

MPs who are not ministers are allowed to moonlight arsenic agelong arsenic they registry their fiscal interests.

More than 200 MPs—nearly 1 successful three—have declared further net successful the past year, including rental income, publication royalties, outgo for surveys and articles, consultation fees, solicitor fees, and income from being portion clip doctors and nurses.

Some of the much lucrative 2nd jobs person been held by lawyers, including Labour Party person Sir Keir Starmer, who has earned much than £100,000 ($134,000) successful summation to his wage for being an MP since 2015. There’s nary proposition that helium broke immoderate rules, and Starmer said helium had stopped doing 2nd jobs since becoming the enactment person past year.

Labour called for a ceremonial investigation connected Wednesday aft media reported Sir Geoffrey Cox, a Conservative MP and erstwhile lawyer general, used his parliamentary bureau for his 2nd occupation arsenic a lawyer.

According to a study by The Times of London, Cox utilized his bureau successful the House of Commons successful September to enactment remotely successful a gathering to counsel the British Virgin Islands implicit a corruption probe launched by the Foreign Office.

Cox’s bureau said the MP “does not judge that helium breached the rules but volition of people judge the judgement of the Parliamentary Commissioner oregon of the committee connected the matter.”

According to Parliament, having MPs with a divers scope of professions was preferable than a “Parliament composed wholly of full-time nonrecreational politicians,” which the Committee connected Standards successful Public Life successful 1995 said “would not service the champion interests of democracy.”

Most MPs were expected to person different job, which they carried retired earlier starting successful the Commons astatine 2:30 p.m. However, the customized has go progressively arguable arsenic consultancy and lobbying jobs became common.

Business Minister Paul Scully told LBC Radio connected Thursday that helium believes “it is close that MPs are capable to person 2nd jobs … But wrongdoing—paid advocacy and the like—needs to beryllium perfectly stamped out.”

Speaking to broadcasters connected Thursday morning, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said that “with respect to 2nd jobs, there’s an autarkic process that we person that’s acceptable by Parliament that governs each of those things. And it’s perfectly close that that process is followed to the letter.”

Alexander Zhang and PA contributed to this report.