London (EFE)
Despite the fact that in principle the offer of the false company would not violate the legislation, the group Led by Donkeys (“Directed by donkeys”) wanted to highlight the frequent incompatibilities in their interests of which British legislators are accused.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Matt Hancock, the former Chancellor of Health, responded that their fees for traveling to South Korea to attend meetings of the alleged Hanseong Consulting company would be £10,000 a day.
Two other Conservative deputies, Graham Brady -leader of the parliamentary group- and Stephen Hammond, also agreed to work for the false company, although in the case of the former for an amount of 6,000 pounds a day (6,800 euros).
Led by Donkeys sent a total of 20 emails to members of the House of Commons, both Tories and opposition Labor and Liberal Democrats: 12 did not respond, two declined, another expressed interest and then withdrew it, and others five agreed to an exploratory interview.
In the video call with an alleged executive of the company -distributed by the group on social networks-, Kwarteng proposed charging 10,000 pounds a day after the woman told him that normally the rates used to vary between 8,000 and 12,000 pounds.
Kwarteng came under heavy criticism in the five weeks he headed Economy in Liz Truss’s Executive, from September to October 2022, after his plan to cut taxes unleashed a financial storm that plunged the pound.
Similarly, Hancock, who resigned after violating social distancing rules in an affair with a co-worker revealed by the press, replied that his fee would be 10,000 pounds when asked by the alleged person responsible.
In recent months, the debate has intensified about the parallel jobs that deputies carry out outside their legislative activity, something that the Labor Party plans to restrict if it wins the next elections.
The British media, which today cover the controversy with Hancock and Kwarteng, also highlight the questions raised by the lack of rigor of the deputies when finding out about the supposed company interested in them, which only had a rudimentary web page as the only proof of its existence. .
A Hancock spokesman said that “the failed attempt to catch” the deputy shows that he acted “within the letter and spirit of the law”, and argued that it is “completely expected” that he thinks about his future, since he plans to leave his seat in the next elections.
For his part, Brady pointed out that he made it clear in his interview that any agreement should be “transparent” and that he would only accept something that would fit within the Code of Conduct by which parliamentarians are governed.
