The investigation relates to the housing secretary’s register of financial interests
Tory minister Michael Gove is under investigation by the standards watchdog.
The investigation relates to the housing secretary’s register of financial interests – however the exact details have as of yet not been disclosed. That means that the total number of MPs now under investigation by the standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, is at six, all of whom are Tories.
The latest investigation will once more give rise to allegations of Tory sleaze. Although specific details in regards to the investigation will remain confidential until it is concluded, last week the Guardian revealed that Gove failed to declare VIP hospitality he had enjoyed at a football match with a Conservative donor in his register of interests. Gove had recommended the donor’s firm for multimillion-pound personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gove, the levelling up secretary, enjoyed entertainment at a Queens Park Rangers football match in 2021 with David Meller, whose company Meller Designs was awarded six PPE contracts worth £164m following Mr Gove’s referral, the newspaper reported.
Responding to the allegations at the time, a spokesperson for Mr Gove said: “Mr Gove is grateful to the Guardian for bringing this matter to his attention. He has written to the relevant parliamentary authorities to inform them of a potential omission from the register of members’ financial interests regarding two complimentary tickets he received from Queens Park Rangers Football Club to a match in August 2021.”
Gove apologised for an ‘oversight’ on his part.
News of the latest investigation also comes after Tory MP Scott Benton was suspended from the Commons for 35 days over his role in a lobbying sting, creating another by-election headache for Sunak.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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