Labour’s Jess under fire over extra income
A SENIOR Labour MP has been reprimanded by the sleaze watchdog for repeatedly breaking rules on declaring earnings outside Parliament.
Jess Phillips was accused by the standards commissioner of having a ‘longstanding inattention to administrative detail’. An investigation found she was late registering private income 17 times since the last election.
The payments – totalling tens of thousands of pounds – covered articles, speeches and books. She also failed to declare £1,500 for appearing on BBC 1’s Have I Got News For You.
Miss Phillips was told to apologise, and warned she only narrowly avoided more serious punishment. However, standards commissioner Kathryn Stone said ‘there was no deliberate attempt to mislead’.