Welsh MP accused of getting ‘cash for access’
CARDIFF Central MP Jo Stevens is one of eight Labour MPs facing new “cash for access” claims after giving Commons passes to union officials whose organisations bankrolled their election campaigns.
An investigation by the Daily Telegraph confirmed that the eight MPs including five frontbenchers, who collectively registered donations of more than £60,000 from individual unions to help fight the 2017 election, have sponsored passes for representatives of the same unions.
Commons rules state that the passes must only be used for individuals employed as a member of the MP’s staff, to support their “parliamentary duties”.
Parliamentary passes are prized because they allow those holding them access to the Commons and the Lords, including bars, restaurants and meeting rooms.
They can also bring guests onto the parliamentary estate.
Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and an ex trade union leader, told the Telegraph: “This looks like a fiddle and is unacceptable.
“When I was a trade union leader we had Frank Field as our parliamentary adviser, but he didn’t issue any passes to the House of Commons.
“Trade unions were passionately opposed to cash for honours so they should be equally opposed to cash for privileged access to the House of Commons.”
Ms Stevens was first elected in 2015 and re-elected at last year’s General Election, with a majority of more than 17,000 votes.
She is a former Shadow Welsh Secretary, but resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s Cabinet because she wanted to vote against Article 50. Her constituents voted to remain in the EU.
Her constituency party received £4,000 from the Communication Workers Union on April 28, 2017, 10 days after Theresa May called last year’s General Election.
Ms Stevens sponsors a pass for Andrew Towers, the union’s head of political strategy.
The other MPs named in the Telegraph report are Ian Lavery, the Labour Party chairman, Dan Carden, Louise Haigh, Afzal Khan, Karl Turner, Ruth Smeeth and Ian Mearns. Mr Lavery registered a £10,000 donation from Unite in July 2017. He sponsors a pass for Roisin McDermott, a parliamentary liaison officer for Unite, Britain’s largest union.
Ms McDermott’s profile on the LinkedIn networking website describes her as “parliamentary officer” to the “trade union group of MPs” – but makes no mention of Mr Lavery or any work she carries out for him specifically.
Mr Carden registered a £20,000 donation from Unite in July last year, when he was elected to the Commons for the first time. He sponsors a pass for Steve Turner, the union’s assistant general secretary.
Unite also donated £8,000 towards the 2017 election campaign of Ian Mearns, the Labour MP for Gateshead since 2010. Mr Mearns sponsors a pass for Anneliese Midgley, Unite’s political director, who joined the union in 2016 after acting as Jeremy Corbyn’s deputy chief of staff.
The GMB union donated a total of £20,000 to the election campaigns of Louise Haigh, Afzal Khan and Ruth Smeeth. These MPs sponsor a pass for individuals who declare themselves as “political officers” for GMB and are listed as staff on the union’s website.
Karl Turner sponsors a pass for Daniel Crimes, a policy officer at the RMT.
Mr Turner, the MP for Hull East, registered a £2,365 donation from the RMT at the 2017 election.
The application form MPs and peers must complete and sign to obtain staff passes states: “I declare that the applicant is to be employed to meet a genuine need and personal assistance in supporting my parliamentary duties and will use the pass for one of the following purposes: Researcher; Intern; Carer; Secretary; Chauffeur; Party Official; Work Experience.”
Neither Ms Stevens nor her press officer responded to requests for comment over two days.
A spokesmen for Mr Carden told the Telegraph that Steve Turner “carries out a key role as an unpaid adviser to Dan Carden MP on the automotive sector and precarious work as declared to House authorities”.
A spokesman for Mr Lavery told the Telegraph: “This is in accordance with the rules and meets all the transparency declarations required by the House of Commons.”