According to records, a member of the House of Lords pushed the government to provide millions of pounds in funding for a business venture he was directing. For the second time, former British army commander Richard Dannatt could have broken parliamentary rules on lobbying, the Guardian revealed.
The House of Lords officials are currently looking into him for a different set of allegations after he was captured on camera while working undercover for the Guardian. According to the latest documents, Lord Dannatt personally persuaded a senior official and ministers to provide financial and political support to a business he was chairing that aimed to purchase a plant in Cheshire from a US owner in 2022.
Why did Dannatt push funding for the business venture?
Dannatt put more pressure on the government to assist after the owner declared they planned to close it. The cross-bench peer took three important stances. He first asked a minister he knew to put him in touch with the minister who would be in the greatest position to make the choice. He then emailed a public worker to request that they schedule a meeting.
He wrote,
“I want to step in and take the conversation to a ministerial level.”
Less than two weeks later, Dannatt met with Lee Rowley, the relevant business minister and the bid’s CEO, to request government backing. It is unclear if Dannatt broke the House of Lords’ rules that forbid peers from influencing ministers and officials in return for money or other financial benefits.
Did Dannatt use his title to influence decisions?
Dannatt said he received no compensation for his interactions with the government. He said that since he thought it would benefit the nation and save employment, he assisted a buddy who was a prominent businessman in the consortium in trying to purchase the plant. “To put it simply, I was assisting a friend in achieving a result that was highly beneficial to the country,” he stated.
Later, when he was chairing the venture, Dannatt was paid four times. He refused to disclose the amount he received, but referred to these as “honorarium” payments.
Additionally, he served as the “chairman” and public face of the “embryonic” endeavor. According to Dannatt, the conversations with the US corporation gained legitimacy because of his name and position. He stated that he had accepted the title even though there was “no board to chair, no meetings to attend, or other business to conduct.” “I am not sure how else a retired four-star general who sits in the House of Lords could be described to the Americans,” he remarked.
Since the Guardian reported in March that Dannatt had offered to arrange meetings with politicians for undercover reporters posing as business customers seeking to persuade the government, the House of Lords authorities have been looking into him. He was seen on camera claiming that he could introduce people in the government and that he would “make a point of getting to know” the minister in the best position.
The House of Lords commissioner for standards, the watchdog that examines allegations of misconduct in the upper house, is looking into him. Amid worries that their operations were not adequately monitored, the Lords’ discussion project looked into the members of the House of Lords’ business interests. It was discovered that 91 peers had received compensation for their political or policy assistance from for-profit businesses. Under freedom of information laws, the additional records pertaining to Dannatt’s correspondence with the government in June 2022 were made public.
