Inquiry call over his failure to declare trip

THE Labour leader faces an investigation into why he failed to register his controversial trip to Tunisia with Parliamentary authorities.

Jeremy Corbyn’s office originally refused to say who paid for his flights and accommodation as he attended a conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Last night a Labour spokesman revealed it was the Tunisian government.

The 2014 visit was not declared in the Register of Members’ Interests at the time. The spokesman said this was because the costs fell below the threshold for declarations, which was then £660. Last night the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said it was referring the case to the Parliamentary standards watchdog. A letter was also submitted by Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who said the controversy had caused significant damage to the reputation of the House of Commons.

It comes a month after DUP MP Ian Paisley was suspended after he failed to declare two family holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government. The conference in Tunis was also attended by Lord Sheikh, a Tory peer and founder of the Conservative Muslim Foundation.

Lord Sheikh, who last week demanded the expulsion of Boris Johnson from the Tory Party in the burka row, admitted that members of the terror group Hamas may have been in attendance.

He did declare the trip in the Lords’ version of the Register of Members’ Interests - but did not reveal its value. Stephen Silverman, of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: ‘The public needs to know why Jeremy Corbyn did not declare the money he allegedly received from the Tunisian government. He has a track record of receiving donations from people with close links to terrorist organisations and extremists. We need to know who is pulling his strings.’

Labour insisted the trip’s cost did not meet the declaration threshold.

But a party source said: ‘Unless he got the deal of the decade, it seems highly unlikely a return flight, hotel accommodation and meals would have come under the threshold.’