Statement on Sir Iain Blair's comments regarding Derek Conway

8.54.00pm GMT Thu 28th Feb 2008

Commenting on the statement by Sir Ian Blair regarding a possible police investigation into Derek Conway. Duncan Borrowman, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Old Bexley & Sidcup said: "I asked Scotland Yard to investigate the case a month ago, and they should get on with that investigation. They should not be waiting for the protocol of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner inviting them to look at the case. The Parliamentary Commissioner does not have the ability to undertake the same investigations as the police, it should be for the police to decide whether there is a criminal case to investigate following the report of the Standards and Privileges Committee."

The relevant sections of the report that should be investigated are:

21. One major difficulty in this case is that no records appear to exist of either actual work that FC did for his father, or of the work he was required to undertake. Mr Conway attributes this to his personal style of working, and the way in which FC worked.[28] Nor does anybody outside the Conway family appear to have been aware of whether, how and when FC did this work. We note the Commissioner's surprise[29] that Mr Conway was unable to supply any specific evidence of his son's work. While we recognise that neither the complainant nor the associated newspaper article advanced any specific evidence in this respect, and it was not for Mr Conway to establish his innocence, we are astonished that there appears to be no evidence, independent or otherwise, of any aspect of FC's work for his father.

29. We note that FC seems to have been all but invisible during the period of his employment. For the majority of that time he was based at Newcastle where he was engaged in a full time degree course at the university. He had little or no contact with his father's office, either in the House or in the constituency. No record exists of the work he is supposed to have carried out, or the hours kept. The only evidence available to us of work carried out was that provided by FC and his family.

30. This arrangement was, at the least, an improper use of Parliamentary allowances: at worst it was a serious diversion of public funds. Our view is that the reality may well be somewhere between the two.