20 JUNE 2022 | NEWS
Another member of the Shadow Cabinet is being investigated by a parliamentary standards group over a breach of the Code of Conduct for MPs.
David Lammy, who is currently serving in the Labour Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Foreign Secretary, is being investigated by a parliamentary standards watchdog over undeclared financial interests.
Mr Lammy joins the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, who is under investigation for a similar offence.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary is being investigated for missing a deadline for declaring earnings from non- parliamentary sources. Parliamentarians are required to note any financial interests that they have received within 28 days. Mr Lammy is alleged to have missed the deadline.
A spokesman for the Shadow Foreign Secretary said that Mr Lammy apologises “for the administrative errors” that led to the missed deadline.
Mr Lammy reportedly received over three thousand pounds for a speech to the Canary Wharf Group, which appears to have been recorded after the deadline.
The spokesperson added in a statement: “David Lammy takes his declaration responsibilities seriously and, as soon as this was brought to his attention, he wrote to Registrar of Members’ Financial Interests to apologise for the administrative errors in his office which led to late declarations in December last year.
“He has assured the Registrar that he has put revised systems in place so that declarations are made in a timely manner.”
This is the second Labour Shadow Cabinet Minister to fall foul of parliamentary procedure in recent weeks, with Mr Lammy joining Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in being subject to investigation.
It is alleged that Sir Keir has also missed deadlines when reporting earnings from outside Parliament, as well as breaching the code for accepting gifts. It is suspected that the breach of the code stems from the Labour leader’s failure to note an £18,000 advance for a book he is writing for publisher HarperCollins.
According to the UK Parliament website, Sir Keir Starmer is under investigation for breaching “Registration of interests under Category 1 of the Guide to the Rules (Employment and earnings]” and “Registration of interests under Category 3 of the Guide to the Rules [Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources]”.
A spokesman for the Leader of the Opposition said at the time: “Keir Starmer takes his declaration responsibilities very seriously and has already apologised for the fact that administrative errors in his office have led to a small number of late declarations.
“The Standards Commissioner has asked for more information, which we are happy to provide.”
One Labour source has told Wolves that Starmer’s omission could be put down to an error on the part of his administration team, and not the Labour leader himself. No comment was offered as to the case of Mr Lammy.
