ClwstwrMP's work in Caribbean opens up second jobs controversy

The Labour party has called for an investigation into the former minister Sir Geoffrey Cox, after a video clip suggested he was using his parliamentary office to do private work.

In the video, the Conservative MP was seen advising the British Virgin Islands government during an inquiry into alleged corruption. Sir Geoffrey has earned more than £700,000 for that work.

He also appears to have spent a significant amount of time working in the Caribbean, taking advantage of remote working guidance during the pandemic. 

• Sir Geoffrey Cox is the MP for Torridge and West Devon, but has continued to work as a lawyer.
• He has earned almost £900,000 a year for this second job. That in itself is not against the rules, as all the legal work he did was registered in the register of MPs’ interests
• MPs are not allowed to us their parliamentary offices for private work or to “confer any undue personal or financial benefit on themselves”.
• The video from September apparently shows Sir Geoffrey using his MP’s office to attend a remote inquiry of the British Virgin Islands’ inquiry into alleged corruption. If proven, that would be against the rules.
• Labour has asked the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate Sir Geoffrey

A number of recent stories have raised questions about the extra work some MPs do on top of their jobs in parliament. Concerns have been raised about the amount of money MPs are making out of their second jobs, but also the amount of time they’re spending on them, when they could be supporting constituents.