London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 12, 2025

Tory MP Steve Brine being investigated over lobbying claims

Tory MP Steve Brine being investigated over lobbying claims

Senior Tory MP Steve Brine is being investigated over claims he lobbied the NHS on behalf of a recruitment firm.

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg will carry it out.

Leaked messages from 2021 show Mr Brine had been "trying for months" to contact health bosses while acting as a paid consultant for Remedium Partners.

The MP, who chairs the Commons health committee, said he was responding to a call from ministers to help the NHS during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Brine has yet to comment on Mr Greenberg's inquiry.

The WhatsApp texts show Remedium wanted to supply the NHS with anaesthetists.

In a statement last week to The Daily Telegraph, which published the messages, Mr Brine said he had been "responding in the national interest" during a "national crisis".

"Ultimately, it led nowhere let alone secure any business for Remedium," he added.


Leaked messages


The texts were some of the more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages involving former Health Secretary Matt Hancock that were leaked to the newspaper by journalist Isabel Oakeshott. The messages have not been seen by the BBC.

In an exchange from 2 February 2021 published by the Telegraph, then Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove forwarded a message he said he had received from Mr Brine to Mr Hancock.

In his message to Mr Gove, Mr Brine wrote: "Sorry to raise this but having tried the Dept of Health (seemed logical) and the Chief Exec of [NHS England] (ditto) I am at a loss."

"I have been trying for months to help the NHS through a company I am connected with - called 'Remedium'," he added.

"They have 50 anaesthetists right now who can be in the country and on the ground in the NHS if someone only said let's us help. They just want to assist and asked me how they might.

In the message, Mr Brine said that he had "had nothing," adding this was "despite the PM telling the [Commons] Liaison Committee this is his biggest problem".

"How might I progress this or does the NHS just not need the help?" he added.


Call to step down


Mr Hancock is shown responding to Mr Gove that Mr Brine had not texted him, before later replying: "This is already in hand. Thanks for pinging on."

Mr Brine, the MP for Winchester, was a junior minister at the health department between June 2017 and March 2019. He has chaired the Commons health select committee since November.

The parliamentary register of interests show he was paid £1,600 a month as a "strategic adviser" to Remedium Partners from July 2020. He held the role until December 2021, 10 months after his message to Mr Gove.

The rulebook for MPs says they should not lobby - try to influence - ministers on behalf of companies that are paying them.

A breach of the ban on paid lobbying led to the resignation from the Commons of former cabinet minister Owen Paterson in November 2021.

Separately, the appointment rules for former ministers say they should not lobby the government within two years of leaving their ministerial post.

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds, who referred the matter to the Standards Commissioner, said the allegations were "very serious" and the public were "rightly sick of this constant slew of Conservative sleaze".

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said Mr Brine should step down from the health committee while the investigation takes place.

"It is absurd for an MP who may have wrongly lobbied the NHS to now be in charge of holding them to account. The evidence against him looks damning and is clear for all to see."

When approached by the BBC last week, the health department said it did not comment on leaks.

Mr Brine has previously been reprimanded by Acoba, the watchdog that oversees appointment rules, for inviting then-vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi to take part in an event in 2021 hosted by a different company, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, where he was a paid adviser.

Acoba also criticised him for failing to inform them he was taking up the role with Sigma until after it started, something he blamed on "poor admin on my part".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
×