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Fresh lobbying row after minister fails to declare ownership of PR firm
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A government minister could face a parliamentary inquiry after failing to disclose that he owns a private PR company.
Parliamentary rules require MPs to declare any significant shareholdings, but small business minister Paul Scully has not declared his ownership of a public relations firm that he set up in 2019.
A government spokesman said the company had never traded or paid Scully a salary. But official records say it is “active” – and without any transparency it’s impossible to check what the business has been doing since 2019.
Opposition MPs have criticised Scully for failing to follow parliamentary rules. openDemocracy understands an MP is now considering making a complaint against Scully with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Scully is the owner and sole director of Lamarr Project Ltd, a “public relations and communications” business which he set up in 2019.
Parliament’s transparency rules state that MPs should declare any shareholdings that “amount to more than 15% of the issued share capital of that company” – even if no salary is paid.
It comes amid a growing scandal over David Cameron’s efforts to lobby the government for Greensill, the failed finance company. Seven inquiries are now probing the relationship between ministers and private businesses, while the government has also faced repeated accusations of cronyism and transparency failures.
[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/fresh-lobbying-row-after-minster-fails-declare-ownership-pr-firm/
