Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party Chair, has written to asking whether is a Caribbean-based barrister
or a Conservative MP.
Labour is calling for an urgent investigation into the former
Attorney General working for a Caribbean tax haven during the
height of the pandemic, despite the BVI government facing an
ongoing UK Foreign Office inquiry into alleged corruption. Dodds
writes: “It appears that your former Attorney General is
profiting from advising an administration accused of corruption
and tax avoidance.”
Dodds calls the matter “a question of leadership” for the Prime
Minister and a question of priorities for the Conservatives,
writing that “Sir Geoffrey’s behaviour means it looks like he’d
rather get a tax haven off the hook than represent the interests
of his constituents”.
Ends
Notes to editors
I am writing to ask you to launch an urgent independent
investigation into former Attorney General Sir and his second job acting on
behalf of a known tax haven which is being investigated for
corruption.
It’s time to show leadership. In fact, it’s past time – you
should have come to the House of Commons yesterday to answer
questions, apologise and act to clean up the sleaze that is
drowning your party and toxifying public life.
We know that Sir Geoffrey made over a million pounds last year
alone from legal work outside of his role as an MP, including
acting on behalf of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in a case
where it has been accused of corruption.
Incredibly, it seems Sir Geoffrey took advantage of COVID-related
parliamentary rules and flew out to the BVI to vote by proxy from
the other side of the Atlantic. The irony is not lost on me that
he arrived in the Caribbean on the day that those MPs who
actually feel a sense of duty to their constituents were debating
global anti-corruption standards. The people of Torridge and West
Devon must be wondering if is a Caribbean-based barrister
or a Conservative MP.
I can only assume that you didn’t know about this arrangement and
were as shocked as everyone else to discover what Sir Geoffrey
has been up to, because the alternative – that you knew and were
content for one of your MPs and a former Minister to be acting in
this way – would be a total dereliction of your duty as both
leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.
As we saw with just last week, Geoffrey
Cox’s behaviour raises serious questions about the conflicts of
interest between MPs having second jobs that involve them
lobbying or otherwise directly engaging with the Government. Sir
Geoffrey has been advising the Government of the BVI on behalf of
Withersworldwide LLP (‘Withers’) during an inquiry into possible
“corruption, abuse of office or other serious dishonesty that has
taken place in public office in recent years” – an inquiry that
was initiated by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office, part of the Government Sir Geoffrey himself
served in as recently as February 2020.
When approving his role at Withers, the Advisory Committee on
Business Appointments (ACOBA) attached specific conditions to Sir
Geoffrey’s appointment “to mitigate the potential risks to the
Government associated with this appointment” noting that in his
case there were “unknown risks” as to what he might be asked to
do on behalf of his new employer. He was required to “consult the
AGO at the earliest possible opportunity to seek advice in any
case in which a risk might reasonably be considered to arise from
a perception of overlap between your previous role and your new
appointment”. He was also required not to draw on any privileged
information available to him from his time in Ministerial office,
and for two years from his last day in Ministerial office not to
become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government, not to
make use – directly or indirectly – of his contacts in the
Government and/or Crown Service to influence policy, not to
undertake any work with that involves providing advice on bids or
contracts relating directly to the work of the UK Government, nor
directly engage with the Attorney General’s Office on any other
matters relating to Withers or their clients. ACOBA was clear
that where Sir Geoffrey was in doubt he “must consult the
Attorney General’s Office as to the appropriateness of any
particular assignment”.
It is hard to see how those terms can have been met if Sir
Geoffrey has been advising a known tax haven in relation to a
corruption investigation opened by the UK Government itself. We
need answers as to what’s been happening here. We need to
know:
-
How was Sir Geoffrey appointed to work on the BVI inquiry in
the first place?
-
The details of every meeting he has attended in relation to
the inquiry
-
The minutes of every conversation he had with other MPs about
the inquiry
-
What advice he has given in relation to the inquiry
-
What contact he has had with people whose businesses are
based in the BVI for tax purposes – in particular those who
have given donations to the Conservative Party
Without answers to those questions it appears that your former
Attorney General is profiting from advising an administration
accused of corruption and tax avoidance. Sir Geoffrey’s behaviour
means it looks like he’d rather get a tax haven off the hook than
represent the interests of his constituents. Are you comfortable
with one of your own MPs acting in this way?
The longer you fail to get a grip on the sleaze which is swamping
your Government, the more it becomes apparent that there’s one
rule for senior Conservatives and another for everyone else.
One MP found guilty by a cross-party committee of an egregious
breach of standards rules. Another jetting halfway round the
world to help an administration accused of corruption in an
inquiry initiated by the British government. All on your watch.
This is a question of leadership, Prime Minister. It’s time to
act.
Yours sincerely,
Chair of the Labour Party
