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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
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| Tim Yeo rejects committee coaching claim | Tim Yeo rejects committee coaching claim |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Conservative MP Tim Yeo has rejected claims he used his position as chairman of a Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee to help a private company influence Parliament. | Conservative MP Tim Yeo has rejected claims he used his position as chairman of a Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee to help a private company influence Parliament. |
| Sunday Times investigators secretly filmed the former environment minister. | Sunday Times investigators secretly filmed the former environment minister. |
| The paper alleges Mr Yeo told them that he had advised the boss of a firm owned by a company paying the MP what to say when giving evidence to the committee. | The paper alleges Mr Yeo told them that he had advised the boss of a firm owned by a company paying the MP what to say when giving evidence to the committee. |
| Mr Yeo denies "coaching" the executive and says he will contest the claims. | Mr Yeo denies "coaching" the executive and says he will contest the claims. |
| The MP has referred himself to the Parliamentary standards commissioner. | The MP has referred himself to the Parliamentary standards commissioner. |
| Interviews cancelled | Interviews cancelled |
| The allegations come amid calls for a tightening of the rules around lobbying of ministers and MPs to ensure greater transparency, with the government promising to bring forward legislation in the coming weeks. | The allegations come amid calls for a tightening of the rules around lobbying of ministers and MPs to ensure greater transparency, with the government promising to bring forward legislation in the coming weeks. |
| The Sunday Times says its undercover reporters posed as representatives of a green energy company offering to hire Mr Yeo. | The Sunday Times says its undercover reporters posed as representatives of a green energy company offering to hire Mr Yeo. |
| He appears to tell them - in a conversation the paper videoed - that he had coached a representative of a firm that is a subsidiary of a company he is paid to work for, on what that representative should say when appearing in front of his committee. | He appears to tell them - in a conversation the paper videoed - that he had coached a representative of a firm that is a subsidiary of a company he is paid to work for, on what that representative should say when appearing in front of his committee. |
| In the committee hearing last month, Mr Yeo publicly excused himself from questioning GB Railfreight managing director John Smith because of his acknowledged conflict of interest as a non-executive director and shareholder in its parent firm Eurotunnel. | In the committee hearing last month, Mr Yeo publicly excused himself from questioning GB Railfreight managing director John Smith because of his acknowledged conflict of interest as a non-executive director and shareholder in its parent firm Eurotunnel. |
| But in the recording, the MP claims what he did for GB Railfreight "in private was another matter altogether obviously". | But in the recording, the MP claims what he did for GB Railfreight "in private was another matter altogether obviously". |
| Asked what this meant, he said he "was able to tell him (Mr Smith) in advance what he should say" before the committee during its ongoing inquiry into the bio-energy industry. | Asked what this meant, he said he "was able to tell him (Mr Smith) in advance what he should say" before the committee during its ongoing inquiry into the bio-energy industry. |
| The MP cancelled a number of planned broadcast interviews on Sunday in which he was expected to respond to the allegations but, in a statement, he said he "totally rejected" them. | The MP cancelled a number of planned broadcast interviews on Sunday in which he was expected to respond to the allegations but, in a statement, he said he "totally rejected" them. |
| "The Sunday Times has chosen to quote very selectively from a recording obtained clandestinely during a conversation of nearly an hour-and-a-half in a restaurant with two undercover reporters, who purported to be representing a client from South Korea," he said. | "The Sunday Times has chosen to quote very selectively from a recording obtained clandestinely during a conversation of nearly an hour-and-a-half in a restaurant with two undercover reporters, who purported to be representing a client from South Korea," he said. |
| "The whole recording would show the context of the conversation and demonstrate clearly that at no stage did I agree or offer to work for the fictitious company these undercover reporters claimed to be representing, still less did I commit to doing so for a day a month as the article claims." | "The whole recording would show the context of the conversation and demonstrate clearly that at no stage did I agree or offer to work for the fictitious company these undercover reporters claimed to be representing, still less did I commit to doing so for a day a month as the article claims." |
| Meeting | Meeting |
| Mr Yeo said he had met Mr Smith five days before he gave evidence during a visit to one of the firm's freight trains. | Mr Yeo said he had met Mr Smith five days before he gave evidence during a visit to one of the firm's freight trains. |
| "I spoke briefly to Mr Smith about his forthcoming appearance in front of the committee to explain that because of the business connection between us, I would not take part in questioning him. | "I spoke briefly to Mr Smith about his forthcoming appearance in front of the committee to explain that because of the business connection between us, I would not take part in questioning him. |
| "I did not want him to think that my silence indicated a lack of interest in what he was saying." | "I did not want him to think that my silence indicated a lack of interest in what he was saying." |
| He added: "I did not 'coach' John Smith on this or any other occasion. | He added: "I did not 'coach' John Smith on this or any other occasion. |
| "He is not a 'paying client' as the Sunday Times alleges but a business colleague. Like many business executives giving evidence to select committees, he sought advice from the public affairs company retained for the purpose by GB Rail Freight." | "He is not a 'paying client' as the Sunday Times alleges but a business colleague. Like many business executives giving evidence to select committees, he sought advice from the public affairs company retained for the purpose by GB Rail Freight." |
| There is no suggestion GB Railfreight did anything wrong. | There is no suggestion GB Railfreight did anything wrong. |
| The firm, a leading haulier which transports coal, biomass, steel and other materials by rail around the country, said in a statement that its managing director made the same arguments the company has made regularly. | The firm, a leading haulier which transports coal, biomass, steel and other materials by rail around the country, said in a statement that its managing director made the same arguments the company has made regularly. |