'Without saying too much, you’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295.” Mr Benton added: “It normally works for the company. He said “a lot of companies try to be quite cute” about the level of the hospitality so MPs did not have to declare it. The committee agreed with the commissioner’s finding that Mr Benton “made statements that he would be willing to breach and/or circumvent the House’s rules for the company in return for payment”.ĭuring his conversations with the undercover journalists, Mr Benton also suggested there was widespread abuse of rules on declaring hospitality worth more than £300. The MP insisted that “at no point during the meeting did he agree to undertake activity that would be in breach of the rules” and referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg when the Times published its story in April.īut the Standards Committee said Mr Benton suggested MPs could lobby ministers, set up meetings with government advisers, table parliamentary questions and provide access to confidential documents.īlackpool South MP Scott Benton.

Mr Benton was chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Betting and Gaming when he was approached by undercover reporters posing as representatives from fictitious betting firm Tahr Partners in March. They recommended that he should be suspended for 35 days – something which could trigger a by-election. We condemn Mr Benton for his comments which unjustifiably tarnish the reputation of all MPs.” “He communicated a toxic message about standards in Parliament.

The message he gave to the undercover reporters was “that he was corrupt and ‘for sale’, and that so were many other members of the House”, the Standards Committee’s report said. MoD fined over data breach that put Afghan interpreters' lives at risk

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