Latest news with #cashforquestions
Telegraph
30-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Tory ‘cash for questions' MP suspended from government role
A Conservative MP accused of taking 'cash for questions' in Parliament has been suspended from a government job while he is under investigation. Downing Street said on Monday that George Freeman had been 'asked to step back' from his role as a trade envoy to Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Brunei. Mr Freeman reported himself to the parliamentary standards watchdog after it was alleged at the weekend that he asked questions of Labour ministers on behalf of a company that has paid him. The Sunday Times published leaked emails that allegedly showed Mr Freeman asking the director of GHGSat, an environmental monitoring company, 'what to ask about'. He also allegedly asked the firm to help him 'get the wording right' and said he would convert the queries into 'parliamentary language'. The former Tory science minister was paid £5,000 a month by GHGSat between April 2024 and March this year. Previous government employees are usually banned from lobbying the Government for a specified period after leaving office, while MPs are not allowed to take payments from companies to table questions in the Commons. At the time he took the advisory role, Mr Freeman was told by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) not to lobby the Government on behalf of GHGSat. Self-referral to standards watchdog The MP referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after the allegations were made public, and said he did not believe he had done anything 'inappropriate'. A No 10 spokesman said: 'Parliamentary standards are a matter for the House and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. 'And you can see the individual has referred himself to that process. 'While that investigation takes place, it is right he has been asked to step back from the role, and he has been suspended in representing the UK as a trade envoy until that process has been concluded.' Trade envoys are the lowest rank of government office for MPs, and are unpaid. Their role is to travel to the countries in their brief to drum up investment in the UK. Mr Freeman was appointed to the role in February this year. He could face sanctions including a suspension from the Commons if the standards commissioner finds he has broken the rules.
Times
28-06-2025
- Business
- Times
‘Tell me what to ask about' — MP faces cash for questions claims
A former Conservative minister allowed a company that paid him £60,000 a year to effectively write several of his parliamentary questions, leaked emails have revealed. George Freeman submitted queries to Labour ministers about the sector the firm operates in, potentially handing the company a commercial advantage. He also asked a director at the environmental monitoring company to tell him 'what to ask about', in exchanges that may have breached ethics rules and are likely to see Freeman accused of taking 'cash for questions'. In one exchange, he asked if they could help him 'get the wording right', which he could then 'convert into parliamentary language'. In some examples, the phrases used by the company's director are copied word for word by Freeman in his submitted questions to ministers. The Mid Norfolk MP is also alleged to have held virtual business meetings using his office in Portcullis House. An email appears to show that in one of these meetings he discussed various business objectives with the firm. Freeman, 57, who was first elected as an MP in 2010, resigned as science minister from Rishi Sunak's government in November 2023. He later complained he could not afford to pay his £2,000 a month mortgage on a ministerial salary of £118,300. In April last year, he began acting as a paid adviser to GHGSat Limited, which uses satellites and aircraft sensors to measure greenhouse gases, including methane, from industrial sites and helps businesses monitor and reduce their emissions. Freeman appears to have broken multiple rules set out in the MPs' code of conduct, including lobbying on behalf of a private company he was paid by and using the parliamentary estate for his private business interests. He also appears to have failed to follow the advice issued to him by the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba), the watchdog that regulates the private sector roles ex-ministers and civil servants can take up after leaving office. Approached on Saturday, Freeman said that, while he did not believe he had done anything wrong, he was immediately referring himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, the watchdog responsible for policing MPs' conduct. As science and space minister, Freeman was heavily involved in the sector that GHGSat operates in, although he does not appear to have dealt with the firm while in office or presided over policies, regulation or commercial decisions that would have benefited it. He is now a member of the Commons science and technology committee, as well as a UK trade envoy. The company paid him £5,000 a month for eight hours of work between April last year and March this year. Leaked emails suggest that, while on the payroll, he tabled written parliamentary questions to government departments with the help of the managing director, Dan Wicks. Written parliamentary questions are seen as a vital tool for MPs, allowing them to seek data or information not in the public domain, or press the government to take action. They are only supposed to be tabled as part of their parliamentary duties and not their private business interests. At 11.35am on November 27 last year, Freeman emailed Wicks to notify him that 'following our latest catch up I'm preparing some written parliamentary questions to table on the DSIT [Department for Science and Technology] space data and Desnz [Department for Energy Security and Net Zero] emissions tracking platforms. 'So that I get the wording right can you email me the key technical terms / names of the projects / frameworks and what to ask about & I'll then convert into the right parliamentary language.' At 4.29pm, Wicks replied that Freeman should ask questions of the DSIT to better understand whether it would continue 'investment in national space data activities'. He then listed three specific areas he could ask about. The first was to ask the DSIT whether it would continue to invest in 'the Earth observation Data Pilot run by the Geospatial Commission and whether that will be extended or grown into a pan-government purchasing mechanism'. This was a government-run pilot launched in 2023, when Freeman was still science minister, which was testing ways public bodies could access satellite data to better inform 'analysis in key policy areas, including land use, environmental monitoring and emergency response'. Wicks's second proposal was for Freeman to ask the DSIT whether it planned to 'continue funding the Earth observation data hub as a tool for public sector to access and make use of different Earth observation data'. This was another programme funded by the DSIT, and uses a mix of public and paid-for commercial space data to inform decision making within government, businesses and academia. On GHGSat's website, it stated it supplies data to the hub. Outlining his third proposed question, Wicks added: 'And of course, the Methane programme run by UK Space Agency that makes use of GHGSat data.' Freeman was responsible for the UK Space Agency when he was a minister. He also suggested Freeman ask the agency's chief executive about his recent commitment to 'prioritise 'supporting development of methane emissions measurement best-practices'.' Wicks then suggested Freeman submit a separate question to Ed Miliband's Desnz department to work out whether it would 'start integrating more GHG [greenhouse gas] measurement data' into its methodology for calculating emissions which he said would build on 'investments such as Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement and Modelling Advancement (Gemma) to explore the added value of satellite data.' All of the proposals set out in Wicks's email appear to be aimed at obtaining information from ministers that would be beneficial to GHGSat: The following day, at 12.51pm, Freeman emailed a member of his parliamentary staff and asked them to submit questions to ministers via the clerks who formally process written questions on behalf of MPs. He asked his staffer to tick 'any 'interest declaration' box if there is one' — a process which flags that an MP has asked a question that relates to one of their publicly registered interests. While this was done, it was not disclosed that the company had shaped his questions. Freeman then listed five questions for DSIT, all of which draw on the proposals Wicks had made the day before: Freeman also requested three questions be submitted to Desnz and a final question be tabled to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: A search of the parliament's website shows eight of these questions were formally tabled by Freeman over several days in December last year, with ministers responding several weeks later to each of them. The MPs' code of conduct makes clear that 'taking payment in return for advocating a particular matter in the House is strictly forbidden'. It adds that they may not speak in the Commons, vote or initiate parliamentary proceedings, or make approaches to ministers in return for payment — and must not initiate proceedings which would provide financial or material benefit to an organisation or individual from whom they have received financial reward. It also prohibits MPs from pursuing interests which are 'wholly personal', 'such as may arise from a profession or occupation outside the House'. Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government think tank, who previously served as secretary to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said: 'Commons rules are intended to prevent any public perception that 'outside individuals or organisations' might pay an MP in order to benefit from their actions in Parliament. The evidence suggests there are clear questions to answer about whether these rules have been breached.' The Sunday Times has also seen extracts from Freeman's online work calendar showing he had regular meetings with GHGSat and Wicks via Zoom calls from at least July last year until March this year. One, on October 22 between 4.45pm and 5.45pm, listed Freeman as the organiser and the location as 'PCH', short for parliament's Portcullis House, where Freeman's parliamentary office is based. It is alleged by a source that he held several meetings with businesses that are listed on his register of interests using his parliamentary computer. In an email attached to this meeting, Wicks asked Freeman whether he would be able to meet with him and GHGSat's president, Stéphane Germain, 'in person next week' and that they should schedule 'regular' 30-minute catch-ups twice a week. Wicks then outlined priorities they had 'discussed on the call', one of which was 'UK Gov engagement', and another 'engagement strategies with senior officials'. The MPs' code of conduct states that 'excepting modest and reasonable personal use, members must ensure that the use of facilities and services provided to them by parliament, including an office, is in support of their parliamentary activities, and is in accordance with all relevant rules'. When Freeman took up his adviser role with GHGSat, he also received advice from Acoba, the appointments watchdog. It noted that 'there are risks associated with your influence and network of contacts gained whilst in ministerial office', adding: 'In particular, this is a company that is interested in government policy and decisions relating to the civil space sector and emissions.' According to Acoba, Freeman had assured the watchdog that he had 'made it clear to the company that you will not lobby government on its behalf, and this will not form part of your role.' It imposed conditions on the appointment, including a two-year ban on him being 'personally involved in lobbying the UK government or any of its arm's length bodies on behalf of GHGSat Ltd'. Freeman said: 'As a longstanding advocate of important new technologies, companies and industries, working cross-party through APPGs [All-Party Parliamentary Groups] and the select committee, I regularly ask experts for clarification on technical points and terminology, and deeply respect and try to assiduously follow the code of conduct for MPs and the need to act always in the public interest. 'Throughout my 15 years in parliament (and government) I have always understood the need to be transparent in the work I have done for and with commercial clients and charities and am always willing to answer any criticism. I don't believe I have done anything wrong but I am immediately referring myself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and will accept his judgment in due course.' A spokesman for GHGSat said: 'GHGSat retained George Freeman MP for a brief period to help GHGSat understand and navigate the geopolitical environment in the UK and Europe. GHGSat signed a services agreement with Mr Freeman that did not include any lobbying activities and was concluded on the basis of the terms laid out by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. GHGSat takes all applicable laws and regulations concerning lobbying extremely seriously.'
