Geoffrey Cox: Labour calls for probe into MP's work for British Virgin Islands
- Published
Video of a remote inquiry hearing shows Sir Geoffrey in what appears to be his Commons office
Labour has called for a standards investigation into a possible rule breach by Sir Geoffrey Cox - after a clip appeared to show him using his MP's office to carry out private work for the British Virgin Islands inquiry.
The Conservative MP has earned more than £700,000 for advising the inquiry.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said he appeared to be in "brazen breach of the rules".
The BBC has contacted Sir Geoffrey, a former attorney general, for comment.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said MPs should not use "anything that is funded by the taxpayer", including their parliamentary offices, for outside work.
MPs are forbidden, under their code of conduct,, external from using any "public resources" to confer "personal or financial benefit on themselves or anyone else".
Last month, Conservative Owen Paterson was found to have broken rules by lobbying the government on behalf of companies who were paying him - and for using his Commons office for business meetings, which is prohibited.
His case has raised questions about the extra work some MPs do on top of their parliamentary jobs.
The Commons is in recess this week, meaning Boris Johnson will not be facing questions in Parliament at Prime Minister's Questions later.
MPs are allowed to do extra jobs - for example, some work as doctors or lawyers, while others write books or give speeches - but they must declare their additional income along with gifts and donations.
Sir Geoffrey, 61, the MP for Torridge and West Devon since 2005, has continued to practise as a barrister - earning almost £900,000 for this in the past year.
His work includes advising the British Virgin Islands government inquiry into alleged corruption.
Sir Geoffrey is the MP for Torridge and West Devon
Video footage from September is available online, external of Sir Geoffrey participating in a virtual hearing for the inquiry from what appears to be his Commons office.
At one point he gets up from his chair, returning to it around half an hour later. His absence occurred at about the same time as MPs, including Sir Geoffrey, were voting on the government's health and social care funding reforms.
At a later point, he excuses himself for the rest of the hearing, saying: "Would you forgive me for not being present this afternoon? I'm afraid I have compelling other commitments...
"Forgive my absence during some of the morning. I'm afraid the bell went off."
This appears to be a reference to the division bell, which rings when MPs are summoned to the Commons to vote.
Labour has suggested that, in apparently using his Commons office for outside work, Sir Geoffrey breached the parliamentary code of conduct,, external which states that MPs should ensure facilities paid for by the public purse "always support their parliamentary duties".
It adds that the use of public resources should not "confer any undue personal or financial benefit on themselves".
Mr Javid told BBC Breakfast: "For any MP, if they do have external interests, they should of course be open and transparent about that. They should be following all the rules all the time, including no lobbying."
"If you have an external interest, I can't see why you would be using anything that is funded by the taxpayer... I think that would include your office space," he added.
'Slap in the face'
Last month, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone found that Mr Paterson had breached these rules by holding meetings in his parliamentary office with companies who were paying him.
Labour has now asked Ms Stone to carry out an investigation into Sir Geoffrey.
Ms Rayner said: "A Conservative MP using a taxpayer funded office in Parliament to work for a tax haven facing allegations of corruption is a slap in the face and an insult to British taxpayers.
"The prime minister needs to explain why he has an MP in his parliamentary party that treats Parliament like a co-working space allowing him to get on with all of his other jobs instead of representing his constituents."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has earned more than £100,000 from legal work since he became an MP in 2015.
Asked on BBC Radio Leicester whether MPs should have a second job, and whether he had had one himself, Sir Keir said there were "different types of second jobs".
He added: "There's a million miles between what Owen Paterson was doing and Rosena Allin-Khan, one of our MPs in Tooting (south London).
"She is a qualified health professional. She's been working on the front line during Covid in A&E in her local hospital. So I think we need to have a clear distinction between those two types of cases."
The Liberal Democrats' chief whip Wendy Chamberlain urged Sir Geoffrey to "save everyone the time and trouble of an investigation" and "come clean now".