Michael Gove placed under investigation by Commons standards watchdog
Cabinet minister Michael Gove has been placed under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog.
The probe, opened on Wednesday, relates to the Housing Secretary’s register of financial interests, according to the Standards Commissioner’s website.
It is not known what the investigation relates to.
The details of investigations by the Standards Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, are kept confidential until the inquiry is concluded and those under investigation are barred from discussing the allegations.
VIP hospitality
But the Guardian last week reported that Mr Gove failed to register VIP hospitality he enjoyed at a football match with a Conservative donor whose firm he had recommended for multimillion-pound personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was entertained at a Queens Park Rangers match in 2021 with David Meller, whose company Meller Designs was awarded six PPE contracts worth £164 million following the then-Cabinet Office minister’s referral in 2020, according to the newspaper.
Oversight
Mr Gove’s spokesperson told the Guardian Mr Gove’s failure to declare the two complimentary tickets he received was an “oversight” and that he had written to parliamentary authorities to inform them of the potential omission.
The MPs’ code of conduct requires them to register gifts, benefits and hospitality over a value of £300.
The senior Tory is one of six MPs currently being investigated by the Standards Commissioner, all Conservatives.
These include Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing, Sir Bernard Jenkin and Virginia Crosbie, who are believed to be under investigation for allegedly attending a birthday drinks event in breach of lockdown rules.
The Metropolitan Police closed their investigation into the same allegations in December with no action being taken against any individuals.
Other Conservative MPs under investigation include Bob Stewart and Miriam Cates, who is facing claims that she has caused “significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its members generally”.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
“Oh those tickets!”
They will let him off.
Wonder what line Gove will take, apart from a powdery white one. (how does he get let into the US?)
The Tory party in Westminster is corrupt to the core. Recent issues within the Welsh government is also giving it a bad reputation too. No wonder people no longer trust politicians. However, I don’t think this is actually anything new, the UK, in particular aspects related to the City in London and parliamentary links to it, has been corrupt for years and years. Unlike in some African countries or banana republics, where the corruption is open and blatant, here its all behind closed doors and has been largely hidden from us until now. In an independent Cymru we’d have the… Read more »
Corruption is built-in to the establishment from the monarch at the top at a uk level all the way down to local council level throughout all the nations of the uk.
Corbyn intended major reform to improve things for the better but thanks to the efforts of those that opposed him (inside and outside of the labour party at the time) the electorate preferred the offerings of the habitual liar instead and the uk as a whole continues to suffer as a result with no prospect of improvement!
John Crace of the Guardian must be very sure of his ground…
How can they carry on in Government when one of its top ministers is called a ‘crack head’ without comeback in a national newspaper…
Then there is hung-over Downing Street making life and death laws reeking of last night’s wine and spirits…