Cox claimed for car trips to Commons but then voted in person just
provided between 12 November and 4 December 2020” totalling “12 hrs approx”. The firm paid him £8,875 “for legal services provided in November 2020” totalling “10 hrs approx”.
Khan paid him another “£9,750 for legal services provided in October 2020” totalling 12 hours “approx”. At the end of September 2020, Mr Cox received the first quarterly payment of £117,000 from Withers LLP for “up to 48 hours a month”. He continues to receive a quarterly payment from the London firm. Mr Cox did not respond to a request for comment.
But a source close to the politician said: “During this period, Geoffrey was visiting London and the House of Commons approximately twice a month for one or two days to hold meetings with staff, MPs and deal with issues arising in his office.”
Mr Cox has earned £930,588 from extra work as a lawyer in 2021 so far.
He earned tens of thousands from the British Virgin Islands, advising the government of the Caribbean tax haven on corruption, while voting remotely in the Commons.
On Thursday, the Mirror revealed that Mr Cox was earning tens of thousands of pounds a year renting out his
London second home, while charging the taxpayer £1,900 a month in rent for another place in the capital, which, like his extra work, is within the rules.
But Labour has asked the standards commissioner to investigate after it emerged Mr Cox had appeared to attend an online hearing of the British Virgin Islands corruption inquiry from his Commons office.
Quizzed about Mr Cox on Sky News, Business Minister Paul Scully said: “I’m not going to defend Geoffrey. Absolutely, I can see how it looks.”
On his website Mr Cox said he “does not believe he breached the rules”.
The Met Police have ruled out an investigation into “cash for honours” claims that the Tories give peerages to donors who give the party huge sums.