Two long-serving peers are to be suspended from the House of Lords after a parliamentary watchdog ruled that they had broken lobbying rules.
Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, and David Evans (Lord Evans of Watford), were filmed breaking the rules in undercover footage recorded by the Guardian.
Lord Dannatt is to be suspended for four months after he was found to have broken the rules, having offered to secure meetings with ministers for a potential commercial client who wanted to lobby the government.
He was secretly filmed telling undercover reporters he could make introductions to ministers and that he would “make a point of getting to know” the best-placed politician.
After he was exposed in the undercover footage, the Guardian uncovered three further cases in which he had provided parliamentary services in return for payment. These involved corresponding with ministers and officials, and in two cases attending a meeting with a minister or senior official.
In a separate case, Evans, who is to be suspended for five months, was recorded offering access to ministers during discussions about a commercial deal worth tens of thousands of pounds.
The Labour peer was also caught offering to introduce undercover reporters – who were posing as property developers hoping to lobby the government – to fellow parliamentarians.
The Lords conduct committee ruled that although no money exchanged hands, Evans had shown a “clear willingness to undertake activity that would have amounted to paid parliamentary services”, thereby breaching the requirement that members of the House of Lords act always on their personal honour.
Neither peer challenged their punishments.
More details soon …