Andrew Bridgen should be suspended for five days, the parliamentary committee that oversees the standards commissioner’s work has said. The committee found the MP had breached the Code of Conduct by making multiple approaches to ministers and public officials on behalf of Mere Plantations, a Cheshire-based teak reforestation company with forests in Ghana for which he was initially paid £12,000 a year as a consultant. He failed to declare his interest in the company within the time frame set by the code, with the committee saying he was “too cavalier” about the rules. The committee also found that Mr Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire since 2010, had tried to improperly influence Standards Commissioner Catherine Stone during her investigation. He emailed the commissioner shortly after the inquiry began and suggested he could be influenced by peers, claiming he was hearing a “rumour” that he would only get one if she ruled against him because he was an outspoken critic of then-prime minister Boris Johnson. . Mr Bridgen faces a two-day suspension for three breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct and a further three for the “assault” on Ms Stone. MPs will now have to vote on whether to accept this recommendation. Image: Mr Bridgen has been accused of ‘attacking’ Standards Commissioner Catherine Stone. Photo: Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
“Unacceptable behavior” The MP wrote to Ms Stone: “I have been distressed to hear on several occasions an unfounded rumor that your contract as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is due to expire in the coming months and that there are advanced plans to offer you peers, possibly as soon as the Prime Minister’s resignation list honors “There is also some suggestion among colleagues that these plans are dependent on getting the ‘right’ results in a parliamentary standards inquiry. “Obviously my own troubles with Number 10 and the former Prime Minister have been well documented and obviously a small part of me is naturally concerned to hear such rumours. “I apologize if you find the content of this letter offensive, certainly not my intention, but I would be grateful if you could provide me with an assurance that you will not be offered an honor or a peerage and that the rumors are indeed malicious and unfounded.” He told the committee the email was purely “he sought reassurance”, but they dismissed it, saying he “apparently did not need to seek official reassurance from anyone for rumors he described as ‘baseless’ and possibly ‘malicious and unfounded’”. They said he failed to apologize for the email or acknowledge that he shouldn’t have emailed the commissioner the way he did. The committee added that Mr Bridgen’s email “appears to be an attempt to put completely inappropriate pressure on the Commissioner. This was completely unacceptable behaviour”. Image: Andrew Bridgen was a fierce critic of Boris Johnson Significant litany of errors In relation to the lobbying offences, the commission said Mr Bridgen should have told ministers and officials that he had received a donation to the North West Leicestershire Conservative Association and a sponsored visit to Ghana from Mere Plantations as well as the consultancy contract of 12,000 pounds. Mr Bridgen told the commission he decided not to receive payment from the company or take up his duties a year and a half after accepting the role, but the commission said he had not amended the contract or had any written exchange with the company to confirm that . He was found to have made a “significant litany of errors” by failing to declare his interest in the company in eight emails to ministers and in five meetings with ministers or public officials about carbon offsets that would financially or materially benefit Mere Plantations. Reacting to the decision, Mr Bridgen said: “While I am extremely disappointed with the committee’s recommendations, I accept them and will comply with them as necessary to do so.”