Ten day suspension likely for Derek Conway MP

Breaking news over at BBC Online: "A complaint that Tory MP Derek Conway wrongly paid his son MP allowances has been upheld by MPs on the Commons Standards and Privileges committee.  Mr Conway is accused of paying his son Freddie to work part-time as a researcher while at university.  The committee recommends that the MP is suspended for 10 Commons sitting days.  Mr Conway told the committee that his son worked an average of 17 hours a week for him and that he did not infringe the staffing allowance rules."

3pm: Robert Winnett explains how Google was used to find this out, and asks why Parliamentary authorities block access to details about MPs' staff.

Comments

[Umbrella man]

This is a reminder of why we play with fire when we focus on Labour sleaze instead of developing our own policy agenda.

[London Tory]

Bleeding hole in foot and smoking gun in hand spring to mind.

[The Huntsman]

Some may think it is playing with fire: others may just be pleased that the rules are obeyed and, if not, are enforced in all corners of the House, regardless of partisan interest.

[The Huntsman]

Some may think it is playing with fire: others may just be pleased that the rules are obeyed and, if not, are enforced in all corners of the House, regardless of partisan interest.

[Jon Brown]

If he deliberately employed his son simply to claim the expenses, rather than to get any research done, he is lucky it is not a police matter. I've known people go to prison for less.

[Comstock]

Any situation where people are able to employ members of their own family and have them paid via allowances is always going to be open to question, even if they are geniunely working.

[Iain]

Sometimes you wonder at the sheer stupidity of MP's.

Is Conway going to return the cash?

[Steve R]

Imagine if someone living on a council estate had stolen £25k of taxpayers' money. There would be outrage, and calls for a tough prison sentence. Not for MPs though.

Pretty sickening. Shouldn't he be expelled from the Party?

[Bishop Hill]

Steve R thinks he should be expelled from the party. I agree. And he should be waving bye-bye to his MP's pension too. He has been caught fiddling his expenses and the book should be thrown at him.

[lucas smith]

There is no reason at all for this not to become a criminal enquiry. This is essentially theft and reflects the arrogance and disdain in which some MP'S hold the British public.

[lucas smith]

There is no reason at all for this not to become a criminal enquiry. This is essentially theft and reflects the arrogance and disdain in which some MP'S hold the British public.

[David Strauss]

See here for a further issue:-

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/MPs-claimed-nearly-£4million-in-expenses-newsinkent6298.aspx

[Richard]

He should be expelled from the party immediately. Corruption is never acceptable.

By expelling him it would at least show that such behaviour is not tolerated.

[Malcolm Dunn]

What a fool. If this is true, the Conservative party should not seek to make any excuses at all for him.

[Rod Sellers]

A lot of this comes down to subjective view on whether the work done is worth the money paid - not that he employed his son. This was the problem that IDS had - and was cleared.

Conway should take the mild punishment with good grace and put the spotlight right back on Hain (and Johnson - and Harman - and Alexander and..........

[Adam Jackson]

Apparently his son was "all but invisible", there was no evidence of him working, and was in fact a student away at Newcastle University for most of this time. This really is akin to theft and as Steve R rightly says, an ordinary citizen who acted in this manner would be dismissed from their employer and possibly prosecuted. I also find Conway's 'apology' insulting - refering to "my admistrative shortcomings" - almost identical to the excuse of Peter Hain.

I think he should definately stand down at the next election, or be expelled from the party. We can argue about candidate selection, but the basic principle is that Conservative MPs must be honest and be seen to be so.

[Passing Leftie]

Tory sleaze has always been about personal self-enrichment and nepotism. This is far, far worse than anything Hain did - Conway should be deselected and investigated by the police.

Just keep banging away at so-called Labour sleaze and watch it come round and bite you in the basckside.

[michael m]

If David Cameron is really serious in nailing Labour on this sleaze stuff he should expel NOW conway from the parliamentary party as an example that he will not tolerate this sort of conduct from his MPs. It is no good trying to say that it is a private matter.

otherwise, all we are going to get on the media from the likes of Stephen Pound etc will be reminding people of Conway and making him sound as bad as those who now faced crimial enquiries

For Heavens sake Mr Caneron, show us you will not stand for Conway's behaviour- get rid now

[Serf]

Some may think it is playing with fire: others may just be pleased that the rules are obeyed and, if not, are enforced in all corners of the House, regardless of partisan interest.

I second that. There will always be those on both sides of the house who play fast and loose with the rules. As a Conservative, I expect our party's leaders not to defend the indefensible, thus turning personal failings into party scandal. The public is already tending toward "A Plague on both their houses" in response to a decade of Labour slease.

If he really has been stealing money for his son, we should withdraw the whip at the very least.

DC should go on record that he will deal fast and tough with sinners, thus marking a big difference between him and the strange ditherer in No.10.

[HF]

What a stupid man.

[Tory Wet]

This is a key test for Cameron. If he does nothing and hopes the matter will simply go away, his views on Labour sleaze are worthles and hypocritical.

[The Huntsman]

Passing Leftie's observation shows that he or she is a dunderhead and cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged.

Most of Labour's sleaze - the fund-raising for the party or for personal campaigns - has been about helping to sustain the party in power or to promote the political power of individual labour members which is, most would think, of a far more serious order when compared with the individual acts of personal enrichment, personal gratification or things otherwise personally beneficial(eg acts of perjury).

The former is a species of political corruption the latter of mere personal corruption. The former is considerably more serious and one which some of us are determined to nail.

This provides the leadership with a useful opportunity to make clear that those conservatives caught in this way can expect little sympathy and that, unlike Labour whose sleazebags are encouraged to linger, they will be expected to draw the appropriate conclusion at an early stage.

Why not make an example of him and have him deselected? That ought to send the right message to others so tempted.

[Iain]

"If David Cameron is really serious in nailing Labour on this sleaze stuff he should expel NOW conway from the parliamentary party"

Or at the very least demand that Conway repays all the money he has given to his son, I hear £40k, not just the £10k odd the Parliamentary standards has demanded he returns.

[Edward Giles]

He has been dishonest. He should have the whip withdrawn and be deselected. Cameron should act today and be seen to be decisive.

[Duncan Borrowman]

I have absoluteoly no sympathy with him on this, coupled with the other issues over his expenses he really should be facing a lot more than a 10 day suspension and being asked to give the money back.
http://www.borrowman.org.uk/news/000051/lib_dem_slams_fat_cat_mp.html

Duncan Borrowman
Lib Dem PPC in Derek conway's seat

[Prentiz]

There should be an out and out ban on MPs employing members of their own family - and there's no reason why we shouldn't declare one unilaterally as a party. It has been a ripe cause of suspicion in the past and, even if it is a legitimate job being done, it raises an unacceptable spectre of suspicion. Time for Cameron to ban jobs one expenses for family members.

[Iain]

"There should be an out and out ban on MPs employing members of their own family -"

You might have thought that following the investigation into the employment of IDS's wife MP's would have acted with caution when employing family members, yet here we have another instance of the utter arrogance of MP's where just like the dodgy donations with Labour, they don't bother to take any notice of anything and carry on in their own sweet way.

Conway as the most expensive MP racking up £140k in expenses, debiting the state for a second home even though he only live 12 miles from Westminster, seems to have been in Parliament for self enrichment rather than there to represent his constituents, as such it wouldn't seem to be much of a loss if he was deselected and someone better found to represent his constituents.

[Man in a Shed]

There is always a danger in passing judgement on just reported facts - however this looks very serious.

If this was a benefit claimant rather than an MP the courts would now be involved.

MPs must be held to the same standards that the rest of us are expect to maintain.

There are two ways forward for Mr Conway:
1) Announce he will stand down as a MP.
2) Clear his name.

[Iain]

On thinking about it I wonder if this Conway situation explains why we have such ineffective opposition, an ineffectiveness many of us have complained about.

For here we have Conway trousering £140k in expenses, money which should have been sufficient to propel him right to the front of the media eye with his campaigns and holding the Government to account, yet today is the first day I have heard anything about him.

[Oberon Houston]

Why don't we call the police before some pu-up job is done by the Labour Party?

Regardless of that if I were Party Leader , I would want to investigate this further before making a decision on what to do. At the very least he has made arrangements which look highly improper, and at worst a fraud charge should be brought against him.

This kind of stuff makes me feel sick. If it was a private company being defrauded or made to look corrupt what would happen to the person responsible? They would be sacked and told that their stuff would be brought down to them in the car park in a box.

[Mark Fulford]

Passing Leftie, your insinuation that Conservatives are worse people than Labour is offensive and doesn't stand up to scrutiny. You should have a good look at Prescott's sleaze before making sweeping by-party character judgements.

If this story is as it appears, Cameron should do what Dithering Brown failed to do – act now and act decisively.

[Jim]

He's got to go. Cameron should withdraw the whip immediately. It's an appaling scandal that will wound the Conservative's credibility enormously if left unresolved.

[MartinW]

The Party must investigate this matter with all possible speed, and if deemed guilty of this gross misuse of public funds, then Cameron should act immediately (i.e. within a day) to remove the Whip from this man. Thereafter I hope other measures, such as deselection, will also be considered.

[Yet Another Anon]

There are two ways forward for Mr Conway:
1) Announce he will stand down as a MP.
2) Clear his name.
If there is no evidence then presumably he can't clear his name, he was apparently unable to submit any that his son had done any work at all, however the authorities that be have seen fit to require him to return the monies concerned out of his own pocket and have applied a suspension and surely so far as that goes there is no need for him to inflict a by-election on his constituents though it would be reasonable to deselect him.

[Bexie]

Looking at the reports, there appears to be no evidence that his son did any work for him. That being the case it would be misappropriation of funds and a police matter.

Since the committee on Public Standards has already investigated him and found him guilty as sin he should do the respectable thing and take the Chiltern Hundreds. If no then the party whip should be taken from him.

[Frederick James]

Can I add my voice to the majority view on here? It would be a desperate error to hand our opponents a potent weapon like this. He must be kicked out immediately (and so must anyone else found with their hand in the till, no matter how senior they may be).

Handled properly, it is a golden opportunity to show clear blue water on sleaze between Cameron and Brown.

[Sean Fear]

Passing Leftie, your insinuation that "Conservatives are worse people than Labour is offensive and doesn't stand up to scrutiny. You should have a good look at Prescott's sleaze before making sweeping by-party character judgements."

I read his post slightly differently to you. It seemed to me that the implication was that Labour sleaze was on a much bigger scale than the kind of petty corruption that various Conservatives have been guilty of over the years.

[Malcolm Dunn]

I have to say that this thread contrasts sharply with those of several Labour blogs recently where the antics of Hain,Abrahams, Harman, Alexander etc were either defended (usually badly) or ignored.
Far from Tories being worse people than Labour supporters Passing Leftie, aren't you glad that on the whole we are so much better?!

[Josephine]

1) He should be sacked immediately - I backed Cameron from the start - I believe he wants more open and honest politics - this would only help him.

2) We as a party should start insisting on full recipts for all claims.

3) As long as there is transparency, then I do not have a problem with using family (mostly it comes down to who you trust)

3) Nuff said - to angry to write more - I am having a hard time not to use profanities..
jo

[Annabel Herriott]

My memory is tickling me here. Perhaps you lot can help. What was it about Derek Conway when IDS was being toasted? wrongly as it happens. Wasnt he one of the "persecutors?" If so, pot/kettle/hypocracy comes to mind. It might have been something else, but there was something in print about him a few years ago.

[Mike]

I agree with all above who say that he should have the whip withdrawn at once. This should be regarded as fraudulent misuse of public funds - and taking firm action may result in many other MP's of all parties hastily cleaning up their act, saving money.

[passing leftie]

Passing Leftie's observation shows that he or she is a dunderhead and cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged.

A dunderhead - thank you? You get a better class of insult on Conservative Home! I'll add it to my list.

So, you are suggesting that what Hain did is worse than what Hamilton and ex-Lord Archer did? Wow. Asking questions in parliament for money is something I don't think Labour will come near matching. Thank you for showing the Tory moral compass in full oscillation.

As for you Mr Fulford, you inferred it, I did not insinuate it. The Tory sleaze which instigated the tightening of the rules of donation is of a different (for you droll Mr Dunn) WORSE order than donation issues Labour is involved with.

Labour was stupid to introduce such high donation standards - it's backfired badly.

If any Labour MP does something similar, I'll be the first to put the boot in.

But as individuals, misguided though you all are, I wouldn't say that in general Tories are any "worse people" than Labour supporters, nor did I imply it. I'm pleased that we all appear to be in agreement that he should go.

[Iain]

"What was it about Derek Conway when IDS was being toasted?"

I don't remember any connection, but I am staggered at the stupidity of Conway who having seen the witch hunt IDS was subject to over his wife’s employment, goes and blithely pays his son tax payers money for doing nothing.

If nothing else he should be sacked for being a stupid idiot!

[bedblocker watch]

What is the point of Derek Conway anyway?

[Sean Fear]

"So, you are suggesting that what Hain did is worse than what Hamilton and ex-Lord Archer did? Wow. Asking questions in parliament for money is something I don't think Labour will come near matching. Thank you for showing the Tory moral compass in full oscillation.
."

Hamilton committed no criminal offence, while Hain is currently under investigation by the police, under suspicion of having committed a criminal offence. If Hain is shown to have committed a criminal offence, then, yes, that would be a good deal worse than taking money for asking questions.

"The Tory sleaze which instigated the tightening of the rules of donation is of a different (for you droll Mr Dunn) WORSE order than donation issues Labour is involved with. "

Passing laws which you then violate is actually worse than never having passed such laws in the first place. It shows that you regard yourself as being above the law.

[London Tory]

Conway is the latest in a history of duds from Old Bexley and Sidcup.....

[peter robinson]

Behave like this in any other sphere and one would rightly face charges of theft/embezzlement.Do it as an MP and expect a 10 day suspension.Decency and honest appear to be unknown to this generation of politicians.

[Letters From A Tory]

Scandals both big and small will always haunt the major parties in British politics. The only way to survive them is for the leader of the party to set the tone - and his silence on this issue is very disappointing.

[Iain]

"Conway as the most expensive MP racking up £140k in expenses, "

I think I should correct myself and apologise, for Conway isn't the most expensive MP, there are 20 others who rack up more expenses than he does, most of them Labour MP's

[London Tory]

I found his performance in the House of Commons this afternoon buttock clenchingly poor. Can't we as a Party do better than people like this?