Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative MP and lawyer who successfully defended former Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush in his three-week corruption trial in 2014, has come under fire in the UK for his legal work in the overseas territories.
The former UK attorney general has been referred to the parliamentary commissioner for standards in the House of Commons for appearing to conduct private business from his Westminster office.
Cox allegedly used his parliamentary office to advise the government of the British Virgin Islands in a Commission of Inquiry, an ongoing corruption probe set up by the UK government in the territory.
Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner wrote to standards commissioner Kathryn Stone to ask for “guidance on beginning a formal investigation”.
Rayner called the use of the parliamentary office “an egregious, brazen breach of rules”.
As a successful barrister, Cox has become Britain’s highest-earning MP.
In addition to his GBP82,000 salary as a parliamentarian for the Torridge and West Devon constituency, he has earned more than GBP1 million in legal work in the last year alone, including for his client the BVI government.
According to footage obtained by The Times, Cox appeared in a remote hearing to defend the BVI in the corruption case from his parliamentary office.
This could violate the code of conduct for MPs which states: “Members shall ensure that their use of public resources is always in support of their parliamentary duties.”
Cox in a statement on his website defended his work in the overseas territory, noting that he obtained the approval of the attorney general’s office prior to accepting the role.
“This is not to ‘defend’ a tax haven or, as has been inaccurately reported, to defend any wrongdoing but to assist the public inquiry in getting to the truth,” the statement said.
Cox does “not believe that he breached the rules” when he participated in an online hearing in the public inquiry from his Westminster office but he would cooperate with any investigation, the statement added.
The issue comes in the wake of standard commissioner Stone’s suspension of another Tory MP, Owen Paterson, who was found to have used his parliamentary office and stationery for private consultancy work.
Advocated for Cayman in parliamentary debate
The Labour deputy leader Rayner accused Cox of a further conflict of interest because of his parliamentary intervention in 2018 against an order in council that threatened to establish public registers of beneficial ownership in the overseas territories.
Cox opposed the section in the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act stating that it broke a promise to the Cayman Islands that the UK government would not impose legislation without its consent.
During the debate of the bill Cox said: “In 2009, we gave the people of the Cayman Islands a solemn pledge in this House. We said, ‘We will not legislate for you in these areas of public responsibility without your consent.’ By this measure today [endorsing public ownership registers for the territories] we are breaking that promise to them, and it is beneath the dignity of this Parliament to do away with that promise and that pledge of good faith.”
Newspaper The Guardian reported this intervention on behalf of the Cayman Islands came only a few months after he earned more than GBP43,000 for work carried out for two Cayman law firms.
According to the UK parliament’s register of interest, cited by the Guardian, Cox received GBP40,000 for 60 hours of work between September 2017 and February 2018 from Travers Thorp Alberga, and GBP3,135 from Bradys Attorneys-at-Law for 25 hours of work between January 2016 and July 2017.
During the 2018 debate Cox referred to his legal work stating: “I should have made it clear … that I have on occasions practised in some of the Caribbean countries that formed the basis of our discussion in my capacity as a member of the Bar. I have done that for more than 20 years and I have a familiarity with those jurisdictions as a result.”
Labour deputy leader Rayner said it appeared the Tory MP was “trying to prevent a crackdown on tax avoidance”, claiming that it was a “glaring conflict of interest and an insult to British taxpayers”.
“You can be an MP serving your constituents or a barrister working for a tax haven – you can’t be both, and [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson needs to make his mind up as to which one Cox will be,” Rayner said.
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