Last week, Guido revealed five Labour MPs who were clearly guilty of the same rule breaking their party was levelling at Geoffrey Cox – namely using their taxpayer-funded offices for non-parliamentary work. In Cox’s case it was for a second job, in the five MPs’ cases it was for party political phone-banking. Photo evidence was provided. All five have since been quiet about the accusations, so today Guido has sent each of them questions, putting the allegations to them and asking for a response on behalf of both readers and wider taxpayers. We will let co-conspirators know next week what replies we get. In the meantime we are putting our questions in the public domain.

Sections in bold were included in the emails sent to Helen Hayes, Vicky Foxcroft and Kate Green, all of whom campaigned in the ongoing Bexley & Sidcup by-election. Sections in red were also included in the email to Kate Green, as well as Matt Western and Catherine West, who campaigned in the Batley & Spen by-election from their offices. Guido hopes for a response…

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As Guido pointed out this morning, Labour were quick to report Geoffrey Cox to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for his use of his parliamentary office for non-parliamentary work. A dangerous move given the parliamentary Labour Party has a culture of flouting this same rule.

Part V. Article 16 of the Members Code, as Angela Rayner tells us, insists that “expenses, allowances, facilities and services provided from the public purse is always in support of their parliamentary duties” and should not “confer any undue personal or financial benefit on themselves”. Yet, Labour MPs have been using parliamentary facilities for party political by-election campaigning. Pictured here are former Parliamentary Standards Committee Chair Kate Green, Labour MP Matt Western, Catherine West, and an unknown staffer using parliamentary offices for phone banking during the Batley & Spen by-election last June. A clear violation of the rules…

More difficult for the Labour Party legally is the question of the by-election expenses which have to be declared. If Labour MPs are using their parliamentary offices, office equipment and telecommunications facilities (internet/telephones), that will have to be reported on the official election spending expenses return. The Electoral Commission’s advice is that “notional spending will be incurred where such office space is provided free of charge or at a discount by a political party or a third party”. Under election law, the spending return has to reflect an apportionment of the notional costs, even when the resources are provided free.

Taxpayers should not in any circumstances be bearing the Labour Party’s costs in by-elections. In addition to the law, parliament’s rule as laid out in the Code of Conduct given to every new MP is very clear on this point:

The House provides various facilities and services to Members, the cost of which is either met in full or subsidised by public funds. These include, for example: accommodation, including offices and meeting rooms, research support, ICT equipment and services, catering facilities and stationery.

These facilities and services are provided in order to assist Members in their parliamentary work. They should be used appropriately, in such a way as to ensure that the reputation of the House is not put at risk. They should not be used for party political campaigning or private business activity. You must make yourself aware of the Code of Conduct which has been agreed by the House of Commons.

Parliament’s resources should not be subsidising private business conference calls for Geoffrey Cox, nor should taxpayers be funding Labour’s by-election campaign phone banking in Bexley & Sidcup or Batley & Spen. It is not one rule for Tory MPs and another for Labour MPs…  

See also: Labour MPs Caught Red Handed Using Parliamentary Offices for Phone Banking 

Red Lion patrons enjoyed some prime entertainment last night from the shadow education secretary Kate Green, who clearly needs to learn to hold her drink better. After regaling people on the need for a left-wing Labour leader and the merits of Lisa Nandy, she was seen by around three dozen patrons “face planting” in the pub “after one too many”, with Steerpike reporting – without naming her – that she tripped up a flight of stairs and collapsed flat on the ground, “smashing [her] glass in the process.” 

An audio recording of just after her fall, passed to Guido, has Green being asked by an aide “oh my God are you OK” to which she replies “yeah I’m fine”. When asked again a few seconds later however she concludes “errm no…”. 

She was subsequently carted off by a bag carrier. Thankfully for Green, fellow Labour MP Charlotte Nichols is also in the news this morning for getting so drunk on a recent parliamentary trip she had to be carted off from the airport in a wheelchair, so could be worse…

Labour is keen to fuel the sleaze claims against Geoffrey Cox, even though Guido’s pointed out Sir Keir was just as keen on the lucrative legal advisory game. Yesterday the party went in hard on the story that Geoffrey Cox had used his parliamentary office for non-parliamentary work, writing to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner demanding an investigation. The letter from Angela Rayner cited the MPs’ Code of Conduct:

“Part V. Article 16 of the Members Code of Conduct is very clear that “members are personally responsible and accountable for ensuring that their use of an expenses, allowances, facilities and services provided from the public purse is; always in support of their parliamentary duties. It should not confer any undue personal or financial benefit on themselves”. My understanding of this rule has always been that members were never to use the facilities gifted to them by Parliament and their constituents for their private interests.”

This has always excluded using taxpayer-funded facilities for party political campaigning, over the years MPs have been reprimanded over and over again and had to repay the costs of their abuse of the system. A classic example would be partisan campaigning mailshots sent via the free parliamentary postage facility.

Guido suggests the Labour Party gets their own house in order on this issue first. A preliminary search – more to come – has turned up a number of Labour MPs using parliamentary facilities for non-parliamentary work. Pictured here is the former chair of the Parliamentary Standards Committee Kate Green with shadow disabilities minister Vicky Foxcroft, phone banking for a by-election from their parliamentary offices:

Here Helen Hayes can be seen clearly sitting in a Parliamentary chair while also phone banking for Old Bexley & Sidcup:

Guido is certain this is just the tip of the iceberg. The pandemic moving many events on to Zoom has made it easier to gather the evidence. Guido is equally certain that if Geoffrey Cox has broken the rules on using his office facilities for non-parliamentary work, whatever punishment he is given should also be given to the likes of Kate Green, Vicky Foxcroft and Helen Hayes. Using taxpayer funded facilities for private or partisan advantage is rightly against the rules. Phone-banking from parliamentary offices is blatantly abusing the system. Labour may come to regret going down this path…

Brillo will no doubt want to take the chance to explain recent developments…

Yesterday on LBC, Gavin Williamson failed to reveal what he scored in his A-Levels, resorting instead to typical dog-ate-my-homework excuses. This morning, when the same question was posed to Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green, she proudly revealed that (using the Scottish grading system) she scored 4As and 2Bs at Higher and 2As at Six Year Studies whilst a pupil at the comprehensive Currie High School, before going on to read law at the University of Edinburgh. It’s clearly easier for politicians to remember good results…