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19/10/2011
Second Tory MP Faces 'Adviser' Questions
Another Conservative minister is facing questions accused on the role of an associate who was claiming to be his officially adviser.
Miriam Maes, a Dutch-born environmental expert who also runs Foresee, a company paid to advise multinational companies on climate change policy, is believed to have handed out business cards and to have claimed on her website she was the Minister for Climate Change's adviser.
According to reports, Ms Maes was given a departmental staff pass to enter the building and continued to advise the minister despite her departmental contract expiring in May.
The revelations come only days after Defence Secretary Liam Fox resigned over his association with an unofficial adviser.
On Wednesday, Dr Fox is expected to respond to a damning report published on Tuesday that claims the former Defence Secretary blocked civil servants attending key meetings alongside his adviser Adam Werritty and failed to tell his permanent secretary he had solicited funds to bankroll his close friend's business.
However, Jim Murphy, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary, said the report by Civil Service head Gus O’Donnell hadn't gone far enough and asked the Prime Minister to give a statement on its findings.
"A ten page report into eighteen months of wrongdoing is a superficial and narrow way for the Government to deal with such a deep problem," Mr Murphy said. "This report only scratches the surface of potential wrongdoing. This is a murky business and it has not yet been resolved.
"We need to know the role and influence of Liam Fox’s ‘unofficial adviser’, the nature of any solicited donations and the full extent of Adam Werritty’s funding and the access he had.
"The Prime Minister must give the British public a categoric statement that he is certain that no similar practices are taking place anywhere else in his government, and must confirm that he did not know any of the facts that have come to light since Dr Fox’s statement on 10th October."
David Cameron is expected to face tough questions during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions about how a Minister's friend could gain access to the Defence Department undetected.
(DW/BMcC)
Miriam Maes, a Dutch-born environmental expert who also runs Foresee, a company paid to advise multinational companies on climate change policy, is believed to have handed out business cards and to have claimed on her website she was the Minister for Climate Change's adviser.
According to reports, Ms Maes was given a departmental staff pass to enter the building and continued to advise the minister despite her departmental contract expiring in May.
The revelations come only days after Defence Secretary Liam Fox resigned over his association with an unofficial adviser.
On Wednesday, Dr Fox is expected to respond to a damning report published on Tuesday that claims the former Defence Secretary blocked civil servants attending key meetings alongside his adviser Adam Werritty and failed to tell his permanent secretary he had solicited funds to bankroll his close friend's business.
However, Jim Murphy, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary, said the report by Civil Service head Gus O’Donnell hadn't gone far enough and asked the Prime Minister to give a statement on its findings.
"A ten page report into eighteen months of wrongdoing is a superficial and narrow way for the Government to deal with such a deep problem," Mr Murphy said. "This report only scratches the surface of potential wrongdoing. This is a murky business and it has not yet been resolved.
"We need to know the role and influence of Liam Fox’s ‘unofficial adviser’, the nature of any solicited donations and the full extent of Adam Werritty’s funding and the access he had.
"The Prime Minister must give the British public a categoric statement that he is certain that no similar practices are taking place anywhere else in his government, and must confirm that he did not know any of the facts that have come to light since Dr Fox’s statement on 10th October."
David Cameron is expected to face tough questions during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions about how a Minister's friend could gain access to the Defence Department undetected.
(DW/BMcC)
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