Second Investigation into Lobbying Sting MP
Author:
Jacob McKenzie
MP Scott Benton is now facing a second investigation after being caught in a lobbying sting earlier this month. The MP for Blackpool South had the Conservative whip suspended after being caught on camera offering to lobby for gambling interests in exchange for money. Parliament’s standards watchdog is now assessing whether the MP’s actions caused damage to the reputation of the House.
MPs are forbidden from accepting money to raise issues in the House of Commons or with the government.
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Fake Gambling Firm
Tory MP Scott Benton is under investigation for potentially causing damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons. The investigation is the second to be launched into the MP for Blackpool South, after he was caught offering to lobby ministers on behalf of gambling industry investors in exchange for money.
Benton had the party whip removed after being caught in a newspaper sting orchestrated by the Times earlier this month. Reporters posing as gambling industry investors at a fake company offered Benton a paid advisory role. Benton did not pursue the role, and so did not break rules in that regard.
However, the MP was secretly filmed explaining how he could table parliamentary questions and leak a confidential policy paper. Benton implied that he would be willing to break lobbying rules for financial gain and exploit his position in an attempt to limit gambling reforms.
Secretly filmed video footage shows Benton boasting of his easy access to ministers and ability to call in favors from colleagues. The MP claimed that he could speak to ministers in between votes, or sit outside a minister’s office if the company needed an urgent answer to a question.
MPs are prohibited from accepting money to raise issues with ministers or ask questions in parliament on behalf of clients, a practice known as lobbying. Following the Times exposé, Benton referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Commons Registrar. After his party suspension, a spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said that following his self-referral the whip had been removed whilst the investigation was ongoing.
Code of Conduct
Benton has since issued a statement briefly explaining his view of the events that unfolded. He said that he met with two individuals claiming to represent the company to find out more about the expert advisory role. After the meeting, Benton was asked to provide his CV and some personal details.
At this point, the MP declined the request as he was not sure that the role aligned with Parliamentary rules. He then referred himself to the parliamentary standards watchdog, which has resulted in the two subsequent investigations. According to Benton:
“I contacted the Commons Registrar and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who clarified these rules for me and had no further contact with the company. I did this before being made aware that the company did not exist and the individuals claiming to represent it were journalists.”
The MP, who is now standing as an independent, was first placed under investigation by the parliament’s standards watchdog for allegedly misusing his email address. Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg launched the investigation into use of facilities provided from the public purse on April 11th.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an independent officer tasked with investigating cases in which MPs are alleged to have breached the code of conduct. If an investigation finds that an MP has breached the code, the case can be put before MPs sitting on the Committee on Standards, which will decide upon any sanctions.
This second investigation, opened on April 20th, questions whether the MP’s actions may have caused significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or its members. Benton has not yet commented on the latest investigation.
Lobbying Scandals
Ministers from the Labor and Liberal Democrat parties had previously called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend Benton from the parliamentary Conservative party. Speaking to the BBC, Labor shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said that it was ‘absolutely wrong’ for any MP to attempt to serve themselves over their constituents.
The Liberal Democrats stated that Sunak’s failure to remove the whip from Benton would ‘make a mockery of his claim to restore integrity’. Lobbying rules were overhauled in February after former MP Owen Paterson was caught out in a scandal over paid advocacy work in 2021.
Paterson resigned as an MP after an investigation found that he had met with officials at the Food Standards Agency and ministers at the Department for International Development numerous times. The former MP also failed to declare his interests in some meetings and used his parliamentary office and stationery for consultancy work.
A sting operation similar to that carried out by the Times was organized by political campaign group Led by Donkeys earlier this year. High-level MPs including former cabinet ministers Kwasi Kwarteng and Matt Hancock were caught on film agreeing to work for a fake company for around ￡10,000 pounds a day. The former ministers were not found to have broken any rules.
This month also saw Prime Minister Rishi Sunak himself placed under investigation by the commissioner after allegedly failing to adequately declare an interest in parliament. Sunak’s wife is part-owner of a childcare agency that is expected to benefit from changes announced in the budget. The Prime Minister failed to raise this interest in a committee hearing despite being asked.
At present there are eight open investigations into current and former Tory MPs being carried out by the ethics watchdog. Recent years have seen increasingly heated discussions over MPs having second jobs. Repeated calls for reforms have been heard following a spate of high-profile cases in the media.
