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MP told to say sorry and pay up
Chesterfield MP Paul Holmes has been ordered to apologise and repay money after breaching Commons' rules over a windfall payment relating to his second home.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon said Mr Holmes made a "serious misjudgement" when he accepted a lump sum of 9,439 in exchange for relinquishing tenancy rights at Dolphin Square where he rented a flat.
One-off payments were made by the complex's new owners in 2006 to a number of MPs who agreed to pay higher rent - charged to the tax payer- in return.
Mr Holmes and several other Lib Dem MPs referred themselves to the Standards' Commissioner when the matter came to light last year.
He maintained that his actions were consistent with Commons' rules and with the public interest.
But the report said the fact that two of Mr Holmes' colleagues separately considered whether to accept a similar offer and rejected it on grounds of principle was not helpful to this defence.
It concluded that "Mr Holmes made a serious misjudgement when he decided to accept the principal offer of a lump sum without sharing it with the public purse and that in doing so he breached the code of conduct by putting his personal interest before the public interest.
The Standards and Privileges Committee recommended that Mr Holmes pay one quarter of the sum he received from the new owners of Dolphin Square, after deducting any capital gains tax he paid, to the House. He was also asked to apologise to the House in writing.
Party leader Nick Clegg said he was "very pleased" that his MPs had referred themselves.
"In stark contrast, nearly a year later, Labour and Conservative MPs who accepted the offer from the Dolphin Square landlord have neither referred themselves nor been referred by their parties," he said.
Toby Perkins, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Chesterfield, claimed many local people would feel that Paul Holmes had got off "very lightly" by only having to repay a quarter of the money he received.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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