Three Labour MPs - Chris Smith, Doug Hoyle, and Gwyneth Dunwoody - also received money from Mr Greer, together with one Liberal Democrat, Alan Beith. The Tories are: Robert Atkins, Vivian Bendall, John Bowis, Sir Graham Bright, Sir Anthony Durant, David Mellor, Michael Portillo, David Shaw, Sir Malcolm Thornton, Sir Gerard Vaughan and Sir John Wheeler.Sir Gordon says that the rules current at the 1987 and 1992 elections, required registration of donations - in the Members' Interest Register - where these exceeded 25 per cent of the member's election expenses. The implication is that the amounts received by these MPs were below this limit.The remaining MPs include the five which have been most closely associated with Mr Greer: Sir Michael Grylls - who is not standing - Michael Brown, Sir Andrew Bowden, Tim Smith and Neil Hamilton. All are alleged either to have asked cash for questions or not declared interests. Mr Hamilton has denied receiving money for asking questions in the House.Tim Smith, who received pounds 18,000 from Mr Greer, said in a statement : "Although Mr Al Fayed paid me fees, there was never any suggestion of specific amount per question and it cannot, therefore, be described, as far as I am concerned, as `cash for questions'. In January 1995, I told the executive council of Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association that the total amount was in the order of pounds 18,000."Sir Gordon is also continuing investigations into three MPs whose campaigns received donations from Mr Greer in the 1987 election.
They are: Norman Lamont, the former Chancellor, whose fund received pounds 2,000, Gerry Malone, the health minister, whose campaign got pounds 1,000 and Nirj Deva, the MP for Brentford and Isleworth who received pounds 500 and who confirmed that he was one of those still being investigated by Sir Gordon.The two others still being investigated are Sir Peter Hordern, who is standing down and who is alleged to have received money in exchange for asking questions about Lonrho arms deals, and Lady Olga Maitland, who is alleged to have received "commissions" from Mr Greer.Former members of Parliament who are also alleged to have received money from Mr Greer include Lady Chalker and Lord Moynihan, but Sir Gordon has no jurisdiction over them.The report, agreed by the Standards and Privileges Committee on Wednesday night, and which only consisted of three paragraphs, says that the MPs regret that Sir Gordon has not managed to complete his full report in time, saying this was because of "the complexity of the web of accusations that have been made against certain members".It also appears to give succour to the Government's argument that there was not time to have a proper discussion of the report by arguing that even if Sir Gordon had managed to complete his inquiry, there may have been the need for "further hearings" which could take "considerable time".. The Prime Minister may be "hitting the ground running" with his election campaign, but some of his MPs are preparing to fight the elections on the beaches or the ski slopes until after the Easter break. While John Major and Tony Blair are preparing to enter the second week of their election campaign, many voters will see no sign of their MPs in their constituencies. At least one minister has told his constituency association he will taking a short break in the Alps. "You can see too much of your constituents," he has told his friends. Other favourite destinations for MPs over Easter are city breaks on the Eurostar train to Paris and - although it will not appeal to the Euro-sceptics - Brussels.Others are preparing for a short holiday in Britain before getting down to the business of winning their seats. "I am going to my in-laws with my wife for a few days, and I will be reading lots of novels," said one ministerial aide.The MPs fear the six-week campaign to polling day on 1 May - the longest this century - could backfire if they begin now "It's like door-to-door selling You don't want to talk yourself out of a sale.
If we start too soon, it will turn off the voters," said a whip.But many MPs are also worried about exceeding their allowance, of about pounds 7,500 for election expenses, before polling day. They fear they could be challenged by the minor parties, including Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party.One MP said he was staying around Parliament next week, although the House will be in recess, to enable him to write letters on House of Commons notepaper to constituents who have signed petitions in the past. All the cost of the postage will be born by the taxpayer.Once the MP starts campaigning, the cost of the postage would have to come out of his election expenses. "The moment I start campaigning, the clock starts ticking on our expenses. So I'm not starting until after Easter," he said.Most MPs are holding back until 1 April before hitting the streets with campaign leaflets. The party manifestos will be published around 3 April, creating a lull in the phoney war next week. The only exception will be in the marginal seats where all the parties are already campaigning hard.However, to avoid election expenses being triggered, they are campaigning under the cover of "constituency surveys" until their candidates are formally adopted and up and running after Easter.
One MP said: "Providing we don't mention the name of the candidate, we won't incur election expenses."Whitehall is also likely to be in limbo next week. Civil servants were told this week by Sir Robin Butler, the Cabinet Secretary, not to indulge in party political campaigning. They have been warned that from the moment Mr Major called the election, they have not to allow ministers to take any executive decisions which may bind the next government.Sir Robin also briefed all the heads of the Whitehall press offices to reinforce the message. Although the wheels of Government are kept turning, ministers have stopped operating through the Whitehall machinery and will be making the most of Easter break..
A helpline for parents seeking information about nursery vouchers has been replaced with pre-recorded information on an answering machine in case civil servants made comments on the future of the scheme. With just days to go before the voucher scheme's nationwide launch on 1 April, machines replaced people on the end of the freephone line to meet guidelines on the separation of government and politics during the election campaign. The Department for Education and Employment, which runs the line, said Cabinet Office rules meant civil servants could not be exposed to questions such as whether vouchers would continue in 1998.Under the scheme, parents of four-year-olds will be entitled to apply for vouchers for approved nursery care worth pounds 1,100. More than half a million have already applied, but about 100,000 have yet to do so.Labour has pledged to discontinue nursery vouchers after their first year if it wins power.. Simon Hughes yesterday set out his vision for a Liberal Democrat government. Mr Hughes, the party's health spokesman, emphasised the commitment to restoring free eye tests which were abolished in 1989. He said the number of people registered as partly sighted rose by one- quarter in the four years since free check-ups were scrapped.
Comments are closed.