Hancock’s TV stint is beyond reach of MPS’ watchdog
RULES for MPS would need to be changed to investigate Matt Hancock’s I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! appearance, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner said yesterday, despite suggesting that he had brought the Commons “into disrepute”.
Kathryn Stone, who will step aside from her post in January, revealed her office received dozens of complaints about the former health secretary, who lost the Tory party whip after flying to Australia to take part in the ITV show.
But Ms Stone admitted it was not something she had the power to investigate, adding his appearance had raised “really important questions” about the activities of parliamentarians.
“There is no job description for MPS but we have to think very carefully about the conflict between public and private interests, about bringing the House into disrepute, and so on,” she told the standards committee.
“It doesn’t breach a rule per se, unless we are thinking about the conflict between personal and public interest, and settling that conflict in the interests of the public.”
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak condemned Mr Hancock for his stint on the show, telling reporters at the G20: “I think politics at its best can and should be actually quite noble. Everyone is going to do it in a slightly different way, but I think it’s important that we have our constituents and our country at the forefront of what we do when we go around our day-to-day lives.”
Ms Stone also revealed that she had received abuse from a “minority” of MPS in the wake of her role in the Owen Paterson affair.
A two-year inquiry saw her find Mr Paterson to have broken lobbying rules, which led to an attempt by Boris Johnson’s government to stave off his punishment of a 30-day suspension.
She added that public correspondence with her had “gone from anger to despair” over the actions of “a minority of Members of Parliament”.