8 Wednesday November 10 2021 | the times
News
A Tory MP is being investigated by the
parliamentary sleaze watchdog for the
second time in five months and could
face a ban from the House of
Commons.
Daniel Kawczynski, the MP for
Shrewsbury & Atcham, is under scruti-
ny from Kathryn Stone after he admit-
ted making an insincere apology in the
Commons to avoid being suspended.
Stone, the parliamentary commis-
sioner for standards, is investigating
whether he is responsible for “actions
causing significant damage to the repu-
tation of the House as a whole, or of its
By-election No 4 looms as
Tory is at bankruptcy risk
Steven Swinford Political EditorA Conservative MP is facing bankrupt-
cy proceedings over unpaid taxes,
prompting concern among the party
that it could face a fourth by-election.
HMRC has filed a petition for bank-
ruptcy against Adam Afriyie relating to
his past business interests, according to
court records seen by The Guardian.
Afriyie, who has represented Wind-
sor since 2005, said that he is working
towards reaching a settlement with
HMRC and will pay any tax that is due.
MPs who are declared bankrupt have
to step aside if a bankruptcy restrictions
order is made against them. These can
be imposed if someone refuses to co-
operate or had hidden assets.
Afriyie, 56, was brought up on a
council estate in south London. He set
up Connect Support Services, an IT
firm, and gained a reputation as a
successful entrepreneur.
In 2008 he paid £4 million for a house
in his constituency with eight bed-
rooms, an octagonal music room and
an ornamental bell tower. It was rented
out on Airbnb in 2015 for £1,950 a night.
However, Connect Support Services
went into insolvency in 2017, with
reports suggesting that it owed £1.7 mil-
lion to HMRC, which is the lead credit-
or in the forthcoming bankruptcy case.
He was first reported to be facing
bankruptcy proceedings before the
2019 election. A spokesman for Afriyie
said: “The petition arises for complexreasons related to Adam’s past business
interests. Negotiations have been on-
going for several years and the petition
is subject to legal challenge as his advis-
ers are working towards reaching an
agreement.”
Afriyie said: “I will of course pay any
tax that is due.”
He was once a rising Tory star who
was considered by some to be a future
leader. He was behind a rebel plot to
force David Cameron to hold an EU
referendum before the 2015 general
election, arguing that he would not be
able to sleep if people were not given a
say.
He had a number of successful busi-
ness ventures before embarking on his
political career. In 2003 he was a
regional finalist in the Ernst and Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. He
sold his shares in DeHavilland, a polit-
ical monitoring company he co-found-
ed, for about £13 million in 2005.
The Conservatives are facing three
by-elections in safe seats in coming
weeks.
There will be a by-election in North
Shropshire, where the Tories have a
majority of 22,949, after Owen Pater-
son quit as an MP. There will be a by-
election in Old Bexley & Sidcup, the
former seat of James Brokenshire, who
died of cancer last month. He had a
majority of 18,592.
There will also be an uncontested
by-election in Southend West after the
murder of Sir David Amess last month.MP who intimidated staff faces new sanctions
members generally” and her decision
could lead to a temporary suspension.
Kawczynski, 49, was ordered to apol-
ogise in June after he was found by
Stone to have acted in a “threatening
and intimidating” manner towards se-
lect committee staff and abused his
power as an MP. He was told to say sorry
by the Independent Expert Panel, which
decides on sanctions in bullying cases.
He appealed against that decision,
claiming that he had faced “serious dif-
ficulties” as a result of flooding in his
constituency but also because his 6ft
9in height made him “very conspicu-
ous” and subject to “repeated attacks by
members of the public”. The sanctionwas upheld and Kawczynski apologised
in the Commons “unreservedly’’, say-
ing that he “will never repeat such be-
haviour”. He later said that he had apol-
ogised only to avoid being suspended.
On the day he made his apology to
MPs, Kawczynski told BBC Radio
Shropshire: “I must apologise because if
I don’t apologise then I risk the option
of being sanctioned further — namely
being suspended from the House of
Commons or expelled from the House
of Commons.”
He also told the Daily Mirror that
making the apology was “something I
am going to have to do” and that he
would “use the script he had beenprovided”, although he denied that this
meant he was doing it “with his fingers
crossed behind his back”.
Stone’s first inquiry found him guilty
of bullying after he ranted at parlia-
mentary staff when he could not join a
virtual meeting, then made baseless
complaints about them when drunk.
He repeatedly called one of the staff
members, complaining that “this is a
scandal, an outrage” and saying that
they were “useless” and part of the
“snowflake generation”.
Later he telephoned one of
the workers’ managers “whilst
under the influence of alco-
hol” in an “inappropriate” at-
tempt to make a “meritless
complaint” about them.
Stone said that
Kawczynski had showed
“a worrying lack of in-
sight and contrition”
during two interviews
which formed part of
her first investigation
into his conduct.
No 10 refused to
comment on
Kawczynski’s case
yesterday. The
prime minister’s
spokesman said:
“You’ve heard the
prime minister say
before, he expects all minis-
ters to abide by the rules of
conduct as set out.”
In June a Conservative
spokesman said the party did
not tolerate bullying and that
Kawczynski had been spoken to
by the chief whip before his apo-
logy in the Commons.
Kawczynski, who was first
elected to the Commons in 2005,
was among the Tory MPs who
voted last week to block the sus-
pension of Owen Paterson after
he was found guilty of “egregious”
lobbying. Ministers were forced
to backtrack after a vote to haltPaterson’s suspension and review the
system for investigating rule breaches
passed narrowly, provoking criticism
from dissenting MPs and the public.
Paterson, 65, resigned from the Com-
mons after the government withdrew
its support, triggering a by-election in
his seat of North Shropshire. The
former cabinet minister has denied
breaking Commons rules and claimed
to be the victim of an unjust process.
The tumult surrounding Paterson’s
case has led to renewed allegations of
sleaze against the government. There
are calls to toughen the system for
investigating MPs’ rule breaches and
to introduce restrictions on them
holding second jobs as advisers or
consultants.
Kawczynski has faced
criticism in the past over his
support for Saudi Arabia.
He has led delegations to
the country and defended
its role in the war in
Yemen. He also attracted
controversy last year for
appearing at a confer-
ence with Viktor Orban,
the populist right-wing
Hungarian prime minis-
ter, and Matteo Salvini,
the hard-right former
deputy prime minister
of Italy.
Kawczynski is a
prominent Brexiteer
who was born in War-
saw and moved to
Britain with his
mother at the age of
six. In 2019 he tried to
lobby the Polish govern-
ment to veto an extension to
the deadline for Britain to
leave the European Union.
He did not respond to a re-
quest for comment last night.Eleni Courea Political Reporter
Daniel Kawczynski said that
his “unreserved” apology was
to avoid suspension as an MPNews Politics