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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (19929)	12/14/2003 10:09:51 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793723

Galloway inquiry suspended pending libel action Press Association Thursday December 4, 2003 A parliamentary investigation into claims that controversial MP George Galloway received £375,000 from Saddam Hussein's former Iraqi regime has been suspended pending the outcome of his libel action against the Daily Telegraph, it was announced today. The Commons standards and privileges committee - which rules on complaints against MPs - said it accepted that it could be prejudicial to continue with the inquiry while Mr Galloway's libel action was still outstanding. But it warned the Glasgow Kelvin MP - who was expelled from the Labour party over his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq - that he should conclude the case as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary delay to the investigation. "The house will expect him to pursue his legal action with all due urgency, in order to minimise this delay," it said in report published today. The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Sir Philip Mawer, who investigates complaints for the committee, announced in May that he was launching a preliminary inquiry into complaints that Mr Galloway failed to declare payments from the Iraqis in the register of members' interests. The complaints followed a report in the Daily Telegraph based on documents found by one of its reporters in the Iraqi foreign ministry in Baghdad. Mr Galloway has denied receiving the alleged payments. In a memorandum to the committee, Sir Philip said that he had been advised that it could be prejudicial to continue with his investigation until Mr Galloway's libel action had been dealt with. He had also been informed by Mr Galloway's solicitor that he had advised the MP not to supply him with any further information until the libel case was over, and so it would not be practicable for him to carry on. "It must be a shared concern of the committee and of any commissioner that a member should not be able to block the investigation of a complaint under the processes approved by the house simply by threatening, or starting, a libel action," he said. "On the other hand, the house has always had a proper concern to avoid the appearance (or the fact) of proceedings in the house influencing the judiciary or a jury." Sir Philip said that he would be monitoring the course of Mr Galloway's action as well as pursuing any other lines of inquiry which would not affect the case. "If there appears to be any delay by Mr Galloway in pursuing legal proceedings, I shall seek further direction from the committee," he said. politics.guardian.co.uk