| Synopsis: |
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has submitted a memorandum to the Committee on Standards and Privileges, reporting on his investigation of a complaint made by Mr Ben Wallace, the Member for Lancaster and Wyre, against Mr Jack Straw, the Member for Blackburn. Mr Wallace complained that Mr Straw failed to register in the Register of Members' Interests a donation from a company, Canatxx Energy Ventures Limited. The donation was in the form of sponsorship of a dinner held in 2004 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mr Straw's election to Parliament. The Commissioner has concluded that Canatxx sponsored the dinner held for Mr Straw by donating the sum of GBP 3,000, which was paid into Mr Straw's constituency office account. Mr Straw should have registered this donation in the Register of Members' Interests, but he has admitted that he did not give proper consideration to doing so at the time. The Commissioner notes that, following correspondence with Mr Wallace, Mr Straw concluded in October 2006 that he should register the donation. This was when Mr Straw was Leader of the House of Commons.Unfortunately, Mr Straw's intention to register the donation in 2006 was not acted upon, and when Mr Straw was sent a copy of his Register entry in early 2007, he failed to notice that the donation had still not been registered. Mr Straw eventually registered the donation in December 2008, following the formal complaint made to the Commissioner by Mr Wallace. The Commissioner concludes: Mr Straw recognises that this donation should have been registered. He has apologised that the registration was not made within the required timescale. He takes full responsibility, but considers that the mistakes were made entirely in good faith. The Commissioner finds that there has been a clear breach of the Rules of the House, in that Mr Straw unintentionally overlooked his obligation to register a donation in the Register of Members' Interests. The Committee supports the Commissioner's decision to submit a memorandum to us on this case and we agree with his findings and conclusions. Mr Straw's failure to register a donation made to him in 2004 was a clear, albeit inadvertent, breach of the Rules of the House.Notwithstanding the above, Mr Straw has apologised unreservedly and he has rectified his omission. For these reasons, the Committee does not recommend any further action. |