Ex-ministers discussed £10,000 fees with fake firm

World 21:35 26.03.2023
Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng agreed to work for a fake South Korean company for £10,000 a day, footage from a campaign group appears to show.
 
Ednews reports citing British media that in a sting operation set up by Led By Donkeys, the ex-health secretary and ex-chancellor discussed rates to advise the sham firm, the Observer reported.
 
MPs are allowed to have second jobs, and there is no suggestion of parliamentary rule-breaking.
 
Mr Hancock's spokesperson said he had acted properly and within the rules.
 
Mr Kwarteng has been contacted for comment.
 
Led By Donkeys began as an anti-Brexit group and has regularly criticised government policy.
 
The seven-and-a-half minute video was produced with input from journalist Antony Barnett, who has worked for the Observer newspaper and Channel 4.
 
The group claims to have contacted 20 MPs, primarily Conservatives, and asked if they would consider sitting on the advisory board of a fictional consultancy firm from April, with duties to include attending six board meetings a year and providing political insight.
 
Four of the five MPs who agreed to a meeting with the fake company are Tories.
 
Mr Hancock was suspended from the party in November 2022 after he was announced as a contestant in ITV reality programme I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.
 
Former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, and former health minister Stephen Hammond also feature in the video released by the group.
 
The BBC has not seen the full footage of the meetings and the MPs appear to have been asked different questions.
 
In edited footage, Mr Kwarteng is seen saying he does not need to earn a "king's ransom", adding he "wouldn't do anything less than for about 10,000 dollars a month", later clarifying he meant pounds sterling.
 
When told the company was considering a rate of £8,000 to £12,000, he replied: "We're not a million miles off, yeah, I mean eight to ten thousand a day, that's fine".
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