Trade minister Conor Burns has resigned, after a committee of MPs found he had mis-used his parliamentary status to intimidate a member of the public who had a loan dispute with his father
The committee on standards has released a report relating to an inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for into a letter the Bournemouth West MP sent which included what it called ‘a threat of the consequences if [the complainant] did not do as Mr Burns wished’.
Kathryn Stone, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, said his words would have been protected from challenge through legal proceedings.
The Commissioner added that within this correspondence he referred to parliamentary privilege, stating ‘my role in the public eye could well attract interest especially if I were to use parliamentary privilege to raise the case’.
The Commissioner found that Burns acted in breach of the code of conduct in his use of official stationery to write to the complainant, a member of the public, whose name was not disclosed, and who was connected with an unnamed company with which Burns’ father was in dispute over repayment of a loan.
The letter breached the rules, as it was concerned solely with a personal financial situation and was not sent in support of Burns’ parliamentary activities.
Stone concluded that Burns ‘put personal interest before the public interest by suggesting that he would take advantage of his public office to pursue his father's financial dispute’.
The Commissioner found that Burns had acted in breach of the code through his implied threat to use parliamentary privilege.
He had also breached the code by making comments to her during the investigation which were ‘not think were respectful of the standards system of the House’, and through his misleading claim to have consulted parliamentary authorities about this potential use of privilege.
Stone noted that his actions ‘gives fuel to the belief that members are able and willing to use the privileges accorded them by their membership of the House to benefit their own personal interests’.
As ordered by the committee, Burns apologised in a letter, stating: ‘I absolutely should not have written to the complainant in the terms I did or used House stationery to do so’.
The committee recommended suspending Burns from Parliament for seven days.
His successor as trade minister is yet to be appointed.
Full report:
House of Commons Committee on Standards Conor Burns Fourth Report of Session 2019–21
