The Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen faces suspension from the House of Commons and has been asked to apologise after a cross-party committee found that he took a “cavalier” approach to rules about paid lobbying.
The standards committee endorsed findings from Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, that Bridgen breached rules on paid advocacy and on registering interests, after he approached ministers and officials on behalf of a forestry company that gave him a donation and a visit to Ghana.
The committee said that as well as apologising to the Commons, Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire since 2010, should apologise personally to Stone for a “completely unacceptable” attempt to put pressure on her.
The report said Bridgen emailed Stone to ask about what the MP said were rumours that the commissioner would accept a peerage from Boris Johnson, and to suggest that this was dependent on her “arriving at the ‘right’ outcomes” when conducting parliamentary standards investigations.
Bridgen was a noted critic of Johnson.
More details soon …
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