By Phil Informs
CUMBRIAN rural MP, Markus Campbell-Lipservice, was widely lionised in local and national papers this week for, er, doing his job and ‘Standing up for farmers’.
He voted for Labour’s budget and its inheritance tax grab on farms, then stood up in parliament last week to criticise it, and then voted against a motion that Labour had not kept its promises to farmers.
Are we clear amid his smoke and mirrors?
But the Labour member for Penrith & Solway may have to stop polishing his halo for a while and report to the headmaster’s office.
It appears he has some explaining to do to the Standards’ Watchdog for MPs.
The whiter-than-white Markus – usually a stickler for the rule book – is under “investigation” following an allegation that he may have broken the ministerial Code of Conduct.
The accusation is that MCS “failed” to declare earnings in the register maintained by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
The register is designed to shed light on any financial side hustles that our penniless £91,000-a-year MPs might have.
Quite who could have made this complaint about Markus is not known.
However, what’s left of the shattered remains of the Penrith and Solway Conservative Association has been thumping tables about it on Facebook.
The unproven allegation is that Markus received some wonga that has not been declared.
We’re sure it’s little more than a simple administrative oversight rather than a deliberate attempt at concealment.
But the Commissioner for Standards will take his own view once the investigation is complete.
The rules are that MPs have to register “all” current financial interests or registerable benefits in the 12 months before they are elected.
This must be done within one month of an MP being elected. Any changes to these registerable interests must be reported within 28 days.
Like every other MP, Markus has already made several declarations to the PCfS, including how much he received for his election campaign, so ignorance of the process can’t be relied upon as a defence.
Anyway, to give an example of the types of declarations MPs make to the register, let’s quickly look at those of Labour mathematics genius, Diane Abbott MP, who features first on the list alphabetically.
She has registered various earnings including £340 for writing an article for The Grauniad; £2,250 for narrating a book; and a payment of £22,500 from her autobiography.
(The avowed socialist is not totally averse to capitalism, then.)
I believe the book is currently on sale in all good bookshops priced Twelfty Pounds Eight Point Two Policepersons and a groat.
thecumbriachronic.co.uk 
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