Jacob Rees-Mogg may have breached parliamentary rules by not declaring £6 million in personal loans from his Cayman Islands-linked company, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
He is the first Cabinet Minister to be dragged into the row over MPs’ outside interests, and led the Government’s botched attempt to soften parliamentary sleaze rules.
The Leader of the Commons borrowed up to £2.94 million a year in ‘director’s loans’ from his UK-based Saliston Ltd between 2018 and 2020.
Parliamentary rules require MPs to be ‘open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest’.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal Jacob Rees-Mogg may have breached parliamentary rules by not declaring £6 million in personal loans from his Cayman Islands-linked company. Pictured November 8 in the House of Commons
Although it does not explicitly cover director’s loans, the code of conduct requires directors to declare ‘taxable expenses, allowances and benefits’.
In the MPs’ Register of Interests, Mr Rees-Mogg disclosed himself as an ‘unremunerated director’ and shareholder of the firm, but did not say he had taken out the loans.
By using ‘director’s loans’ – classed by the Government as a taxable benefit – he was able to borrow the large sum at very low interest.
Mr Rees-Mogg insisted last night as the loans were not earnings, he was not required to declare them to Parliament and he had not broken any rules.
He said the 2018 loan was ‘primarily’ used to buy and refurbish his £5.6 million home in Westminster. He would not say what the rest of the money was for.
But a source in the Commons sleaze watchdog said the loans should ‘absolutely’ have been declared in the Register of Interests, adding: ‘The whole point of registration is the public should be able to know what is governing your decision-making and the actions that you take.’
Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Leader of the Commons, urged Mr Rees-Mogg to ‘come clean’
