Cairns could lose three paid roles as part of shake-up
VALE of Glamorgan Tory MP Alun Cairns could lose the three extra roles he holds under plans by Boris Johnson to stop MPs working as political consultants or paid advisers.
After days of accusations over sleaze and MPs having second jobs, on Tuesday the Prime Minister backed reform of the rules which allow MPs to have second jobs.
And last night the plan to ban paid consultancy work was approved by MPs after the Commons voted through what has been called “watered-down” proposals to improve standards in politics.
MPs voted down Labour’s plans to introduce new rules to curb their outside business interests, something which has increased tensions between Boris Johnson and Tory backbenchers.
If there is an outright ban on MPs taking up roles as consultants or advisers, there would be around 30 MPs affected.
The Vale of Glamorgan’s Alun Cairns is one of the only Welsh MPs to currently have paid consultancy roles. He receives an extra £60,000 a year on top of his salary of £81,932.
Mr Cairns, who was Welsh secretary until he stepped down over a scandal over one of his staff, has three additional paid roles:
Senior adviser to BBI Group, a global life science and diagnostic firm, earning £15,000 per year for up to 70 hours – registered in July 2020;
senior adviser to private hire transport company Veezu Holdings, earning £15,000 per year for up to 70 hours – registered September 2020; and
adviser to global property investment firm Elite Partners Capital Pte, earning £30,000 per year for up to 84 hours – registered June 2021.
The issue hit the headlines amid a row about Owen Paterson’s role as a paid consultant for Randox Laboratories and Lynn’s Country Foods. The Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards found Mr Paterson approached and met Food Standards Agency officials and ministers at the Department for International Development a number of times on behalf of these companies.
Since then, the huge sums some MPs earn from outside interests have been put in the spotlight. Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Cox was discovered to have cast his ballot in the Commons by proxy while he was abroad working on a legal case in the British Virgin Islands in April, May and June this year.
He has made £1m in the past year working as a lawyer for clients including the British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, reported The Times.
Last night MPs backed the UK Government plans.
Labour’s proposals called for a ban on “any paid work to provide services as a parliamentary strategist, adviser or consultant”.
Crucially, it also included provisions requiring the Commons Standards Committee to come forward with proposals to implement the ban and guaranteeing time on the floor of the House for MPs to debate and vote on them.
In contrast, the more vaguely worded Government amendment simply described the consultancy ban as “the basis of a viable approach” and supports the work of the Standards Committee to update the MPs’ code of conduct.
Labour’s motion was rejected by 282 votes to 231, majority 51. While the Government’s amendment on standards was approved by 297 votes to zero, majority 297.
The division list showed four Conservative MPs rebelled to support Labour’s motion, they were: Peter Bone (Wellingborough), Philip Hollobone (Kettering), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) and Dan Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich).
Speaking after the vote, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “We put forward a plan of action to clean up politics and strengthen standards in politics.
“And if you can believe it, after two weeks of Tory sleaze and corruption, the Prime Minister whipped his MPs against that plan of action, and, frankly, he just doesn’t get it.”
Sir Keir added: “We are not going to back down from these proposals, we’re not prepared to have them watered down, so we will press on with them. But it is unbelievable.”
A Government spokesperson said: “The House of Commons has tonight voted to update the Code of Conduct for MPs.
“This means that MPs will be banned from acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists and that MPs are always prioritising their constituents. This will strengthen our parliamentary system and we will work on a cross-party basis to achieve this.”
However, the move is likely to deepen tensions between Tory MPs, some of whom are furious at attempts to curb their outside earnings.