The former attorney general Geoffrey Cox has said he will submit to the judgment of the parliamentary watchdog over whether he breached a rule by working on his second job from the House of Commons, as he defended his right to advise the British Virgin Islands (BVI) authorities while a Tory MP. The MP for Torridge and West Devon has been under fire for appearing to conduct a public hearing as a lawyer while in parliament, and using a proxy vote while working in the BVI. In a statement, he said he had consulted the chief whip about voting in the Commons from abroad during lockdown and was “advised that it was appropriate”. He also said his work for the BVI authorities was “not to ‘defend’ a tax haven or, as has been inaccurately reported, to defend any wrongdoing but to assist the public inquiry in getting to the truth”. “No evidence of tax evasion or personal corruption has been adduced before the inquiry and if it had been, that person would have been required to seek their own representation,” he said. On the issue of appearing at a public hearing as a lawyer while in his parliamentary office, Cox did not take the opportunity to deny that this had taken place. His statement said: “As for the allegation that he breached the parliamentary code of conduct on one occasion, on 14 September 2021, by being in his office while participating in an online hearing in the public inquiry and voting in the House of Commons, he understands that the matter has been referred to the parliamentary commissioner and he will fully cooperate with her investigation. He does not believe that he breached the rules but will of course accept the judgment of the parliamentary commissioner or of the committee on the matter.” More generally, Cox said he had made “no secret of his professional activities” and regularly worked 70-hour weeks, always ensuring his casework for constituents was given primary importance. Cox released the statement after ministers distanced themselves from his activities, with Sajid Javid, the health secretary, saying MPs should not be using parliament for private jobs and ought to be devoting the vast majority of their time to their constituents. Javid defended the right of MPs to have second jobs but gave a clear answer that they should not be using Commons facilities to do that. He also expressed regret about having supported the government’s motion to change the standards system last week. The government has been in crisis for a week over allegations of financial sleaze after a failed attempt by No 10 to overhaul the rules around investigations into MPs, the resignation of the Tory MP Owen Paterson after he was found to have broken lobbying rules, and the latest furore over Cox. Additionally, the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith is facing questions over his £25,000-a-year second job advising a multimillion-pound hand sanitiser company after he chaired a government taskforce that recommended new rules benefiting the firm. After Boris Johnson’s failed attempt to overhaul the standards rules, Andrew Bowie, a Conservative party vice-chair with portfolios for youth and the union, handed in his resignation, though he has agreed to stay in the role until a replacement is found. With Paterson having quit, the pressure is now on Cox, who is under scrutiny over his lucrative legal work on top of his job as an MP. Footage of Cox reportedly at a hearing in September showed a background similar to those of MPs’ offices. After it surfaced, Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, urged the standards commissioner to investigate, and called it “a slap in the face and an insult to British taxpayers”.
Javid said he would not get into the specific case of Cox, and praised him as having been a “fantastic cabinet minister”, but said it was important that MPs “continue to spend the vast majority of their time on their parliamentary affairs and their constituency affairs”. Cox has been paid about £1m over the course of a year for legal work, including that for the BVI authorities advising on a public inquiry into corruption allegations brought by the UK Foreign Office. Javid defended the principle of second jobs but said MPs should be “completely transparent and open”.
When asked by Sky News whether MPs should use their parliamentary offices for private work, he said: “No.” He added: “Of course you shouldn’t be using, whether it’s your parliamentary office … parliamentary stationery or anything that’s funded or supported by the taxpayer, of course that should not be used. I think the rules are clear and of course all MPs would be expected to observe that at all times. “I’m not the judge of this, nor should I be – it should independently judged by the parliamentary standards commissioner, so if there are particular cases then I will trust the commissioner to look at that and come to the right decision.” Cox, 61, declared his extra earnings as a barrister. But he faced criticism for the many hours spent on work unrelated to the Commons and the £150,000 he was paid for giving legal advice to the BVI. On Monday the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said Cox’s work overseas was “a legitimate thing to do as long as it’s properly declared” and it was quite important to have “some knowledge of what’s going on” in the BVI.