'Brazen' Tory grandee Geoffrey Cox is facing calls to appear in public to explain himself, with his current whereabouts remaining shrouded in mystery.
Reporters visiting his West Devon home yesterday were told he was 'abroad'. Meanwhile, a Government source said the Chief Whip had to reprimand Sir Geoffrey by phone, suggesting he was absent from Westminster again on another Parliamentary sitting day.
The former Attorney General has been heavily rebuked following revelations he voted remotely in the Commons while he was in the Caribbean giving legal advice to the British Virgin Islands tax haven over a corruption case brought by the UK Foreign Office.
MailOnline can today reveal the barrister has been advertising for a 'senior caseworker' to help with his workload, in a move many will see as ironic given criticism he has shown insufficient enthusiasm for parliamentary duties himself.
The position involves 'managing a large caseload of complex cases' and calls for 'professionalism, diplomacy, political awareness, attention to detail and excellent communication skills'. The salary is between £28,311 and £39,981 a year.
Reporters visiting Sir Geoffrey Cox's West Devon home yesterday were told he was 'abroad'
Today it emerged the barrister has been advertising for a 'senior caseworker' to help with his workload, in a move many will see as ironic. The advert was in the Tavistock Times
Today it emerged Sir Geoffrey has been referred to the Commons standards tsar over claims he 'broke the rules' by using his parliamentary office to offer legal advice to the British Virgin Islands in a case brought by the UK government.
He has been using his taxpayer-funded Westminster office to participate remotely to advise the island group in a corruption probe launched by the Foreign Office, The Times reports.
The MP, who has been paid more than £1million to work as a lawyer for clients including the BVI, was in the Caribbean in April, May and June this year and participated in Commons votes by proxy while abroad.
New footage shows him based in his Commons office in London while appearing to carry out his second job, offering legal advice on the British Virgin Islands legal case.
MPs should only use their taxpayer-funded offices for parliamentary work.
When contacted by The Times, Sir Geoffrey did not deny doing legal work from the office.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said it was 'an egregious, brazen breach of the rules' and has written to standards commissioner Kathryn Stone asking her for 'guidance on beginning a formal investigation on this matter'.
Ms Rayner said in her letter that the MP's code of conduct was 'very clear' that elected representatives ensure that 'any facilities and services provided from the public purse is... always in support of their parliamentary duties' and 'should not confer any... financial benefit on themselves'.
She added: 'The member has clearly broken this rule based on the media reports we have seen.
'Members must be clear that they cannot use the estate for private financial gain and where there is such a stark conflict with public interest, they must face substantial consequences.'
The most recent register of financial interests showed that Torridge and West Devon MP Sir Geoffrey will earn more than £800,000 from Withers, an international law firm appointed by the British Virgin Islands (BVI) government in January.
Sir Geoffrey also disclosed in the register that from September 28 this year until further notice, he will be paid £400,000 a year by Withers for up to 41 hours of work per month.
In the British Virgin Islands commission of inquiry hearing on September 14, Sir Geoffrey can be heard in the online recording telling the commissioner: 'Forgive my absence during some of the morning - I'm afraid the bell went off.'
Sir Geoffrey has been referred to the Commons standards tsar over claims he 'broke the rules' by using his parliamentary office to offer legal advice to the British Virgin Islands
The former Cabinet minister has been heavily rebuked following revelations he has been working in the Caribbean tax haven
The bell referred to could be the division bell that sounds off across the parliament estate to alert MPs to a vote taking place.
Earlier in the proceedings, Sir Geoffrey appears to vacate his seat for about 20 minutes at around the two-hour mark in the video footage.
His Commons voting record shows that he voted in person on six occasions on September 14 to push through the Government's health and social care levy.
Ms Rayner said: 'This appears to be an egregious, brazen breach of the rules.
'A Conservative MP using a taxpayer funded office in Parliament to work for a tax haven facing allegations of corruption is a slap in the face and an insult to British taxpayers.
'The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards must investigate this, and the Prime Minister needs to explain why he has an MP in his parliamentary party that treats Parliament like a co-working space allowing him to get on with all of his other jobs instead of representing his constituents.
'You can be an MP serving your constituents or a barrister working for a tax haven - you can't be both and Boris Johnson needs to make his mind up as to which one Geoffrey Cox will be.'
The Liberal Democrats also waded in, with the party's chief whip Wendy Chamberlain urging the QC to 'save everyone the time and trouble of an investigation' and 'come clean now'.
New footage shows him based in his Commons office in London while appearing to carry out his second job
Ms Chamberlain added: 'The real slap in the face is that this took place on the very same day he voted through a tax hike on millions of hardworking British people.'
It comes as Cox was ordered to spend more time in Parliament on Tuesday night – as it emerged he made a second trip to a Caribbean tax haven while the Commons was sitting.
The former attorney general was rebuked by Government Chief Whip Mark Spencer following revelations in today's Daily Mail about his lucrative second job.
A Government source said Mr Spencer had 'reminded him he needs to be physically present in Parliament, representing his constituents'.
Downing Street also distanced itself from Mr Cox, with a No 10 spokesman saying an MP's 'primary job' should be serving their constituents.
But the Mail can reveal that Sir Geoffrey made a second trip to the Caribbean in June as he battled to clear the BVI government in a corruption inquiry launched by the British Foreign Office.
Footage from the inquiry shows that Sir Geoffrey was present in the courtroom where the inquiry was held on the largest of the islands – Tortola – on June 22, when Parliament was sitting in London discussing Covid regulations.
It also emerged on Tuesday that Sir Geoffrey had been forced to declare an interest in 2018 after voting against a tightening of anti-money laundering regulations in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, where he defended a former premier against corruption charges. Sir Geoffrey has so far declined to respond to repeated requests for comment on the affair.
The Mail can reveal that Sir Geoffrey made a second trip to the Caribbean in June as he battled to clear the BVI government in a corruption inquiry launched by the British Foreign Office. Footage from the inquiry shows that Sir Geoffrey was present in the courtroom (bottom left and centre) where the inquiry was held on the largest of the islands – Tortola – on June 22, when Parliament was sitting in London discussing Covid regulations
Sir Geoffrey is not accused of breaking the rules in pocketing more than £1million in outside earnings last year on top of his £82,000 MP's salary.
But senior Tories were privately aghast at his decision to decamp to the Caribbean for up to a month at the tail end of the last lockdown in pursuit of a lucrative contract.
One source said: 'It is very sad that we are having to tell MPs that they need to put their constituents first.'
Labour called for an investigation into his conduct, adding that the Prime Minister needed to decide whether Sir Geoffrey was a 'Caribbean-based barrister or a Conservative MP'.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab initially appeared to defend Sir Geoffrey yesterday, saying that his outside work was 'legitimate'.
Mr Raab said it was 'quite important' to have MPs who had 'some knowledge' of British overseas territories like the BVI.
But as anger grew, No 10 later distanced itself from the former Cabinet minister.
A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister believed an MP's 'primary job is and must be to serve their constituents and to represent their interests in Parliament'.
Sir Geoffrey took advantage of lockdown rules to cast votes in the Commons by proxy as he worked 4,000 miles away in the Caribbean during April and May
He added: 'They should be visible in their constituencies and available to help constituents with their constituency matters.
'If they're not doing that, they're not doing their job and will rightly be judged on that by their constituents.'
Labour moved to exploit the crisis. Party chairman Anneliese Dodds wrote to the PM urging him to 'show leadership' and investigate the case.
She said: 'Sir Geoffrey's behaviour means it looks like he'd rather get a tax haven off the hook than represent the interests of his constituents.'
The row over second jobs comes in the wake of a recommendation that former environment secretary Owen Paterson's should be suspended for six weeks after the Commons Standards Committee found he had broken the centuries-old ban on paid
