Bureau Recommends: Disgraced MPs still have Commons passes
Convicted former MP Jim Devine still has a parliamentary pass
The Independent reveals that a number of disgraced former MPs still have parliamentary passes, offering them and their guests access to the House of Commons – including those who have served prison sentences.
The news follows a Bureau investigation showing that around a fifth of MPs who applied for Former Member Passes after the 2010 election work for companies or organisations with an interest in lobbying.
Former Labour MP Jim Devine was jailed in March for 16 months for false expenses totalling £8,000. Now released, he still wears an electronic tag, yet he still has free access to the Palace of Westminster.
Former Conservative defence minister Jonathan Aitken, jailed in 1999 for perverting the course of justice, also has a parliamentary pass. He told the Independent he had held the pass for eight or nine years, and had used it to chair a committee on rehabilitation for former offenders.
A Former Member Pass allows the holder access to the House of Commons to meet current MPs, and they can dine at restaurants within the Houses of Parliament with their families. But there are few safeguards to ensure that the passes are not used to lobby parliamentarians in secret.
Labour MP John Mann, who has campaigned for reform of the system, told the Independent: “This just underlines the case that the whole system needs to be reformed. These passes reinforce the image of the Commons as a gentleman’s club and that undermines our democracy.”
