London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

MPs Layla Moran and Crispin Blunt admit using offices for paid meeting

MPs Layla Moran and Crispin Blunt admit using offices for paid meeting

Two MPs have admitted using their Commons offices for non-parliamentary paid meetings.

Layla Moran insisted "it will not happen again"

Liberal Democrat Layla Moran and Conservative Crispin Blunt appeared via video link on a panel discussing political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.

The event last November was organised by law firm Bindmans LLP.

According to the register of financial interests for MPs, Ms Moran was paid £3,000 by the firm and Mr Blunt received £6,000.

Bindmans described the meeting as an "evidence session", which heard from human rights organisations and family members of detained Saudi Arabian activists.

Under House of Commons rules, MPs must not use the parliamentary facilities for non-parliamentary work.

Ms Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has apologised and said she "deeply regretted" it.

In a statement, Ms Moran said: "With MPs from other parties, I worked on the detention of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia with Bindmans.

"I deeply regret that I 'zoomed' in for one meeting from my office in Parliament when Covid restrictions were in place.

"I take full responsibility for this and it will not happen again."

Crispin Blunt said MPs were being subjected to an "absurd feeding frenzy"


Mr Blunt, who represents Reigate, told the BBC it did not occur to him that there would be an issue using a room in Parliament at no cost to the taxpayer.

He said the MPs on the panel were discussing a matter of "serious public concern" and emphasised he would accept the findings of any investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner if a complaint was made.

He told the BBC: "It was a parliamentary panel, although one not formed as either an all-party-parliamentary group or a select committee.

He added: "I have chaired three of these detention review panels over recent years and as the panel members were all parliamentarians, each panel cross party, advised by legal counsel, examining matters of serious public and human rights concern - that on any reasonable interpretation the work would meet a definition of being 'parliamentary'."

Mr Blunt continued that while the panel members had been paid a fee for their time and expertise devoted to the work, it had been declared in the usual way, and the process was open to public scrutiny throughout.

He said he thought MPs were being subjected to an "absurd feeding frenzy" by the media in relation to their additional work that was now "doing wider damage to the institution of Parliament by creating a wholly inaccurate image in the mind of the wider public".

Politicians are allowed to have second jobs outside Westminster but the work they do has come under the spotlight since Tory MP Owen Paterson, who has since stood down, broke lobbying rules when working as a consultant.

And questions have been raised about Conservative MP and former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox, who earned about £900,000 last year through his work outside Parliament.

He notched up the wage bill in his work as a lawyer, including travelling to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to advise on a corruption inquiry.

Labour chair Anneliese Dodds previously accused him of taking advantage of Covid restrictions to work remotely from the Caribbean.

No 10 said MPs should be "visible in their constituencies and available to help constituents with their constituency matters".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×