Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones apologises for 'minor' lobbying rules breach

Labour Pontypridd MP Alex Davies-Jones has apologised for a "minor and inadvertent" breach of lobbying rules.

The shadow culture minister asked a Commons question about the British Council the day after returning from a trip to Japan funded by the body.

In correspondence with Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg she accepted the error.

The Commons Standards Committee has recommended that Ms Davies-Jones should face no further action.

MPs who receive a payment or other benefits such as hospitality or gifts must not use their position in Parliament to benefit the company which gave it to them.

She told Mr Greenberg it was "an inadvertent breach, and one which I am extremely apologetic for".

The committee's report said: "This was a minor and inadvertent breach of the code. Ms Davies-Jones has apologised to the commissioner for breaching the rules."

The MP received a trip to Tokyo valued at nearly £3,000 paid for by the British Council last autumn.

On 8 November, the day after returning, she brought up the trip in the House of Commons, praising the organisation's "brilliant work" in "educating people in our English language and using our arts and culture for the greatest good".

She asked Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan: "What more can the government do to support the British Council, not just in Japan, but across the world?"

Ms Davies-Jones referred herself to the commissioner for investigation and was found to have breached the MPs' code of conduct rules on paid advocacy.

The Standards Committee noted that, from 1 March, visits funded by the British Council, which promotes British culture overseas, would not need to be registered.

"In our view, Ms Davies-Jones would not have been in breach of the code had she taken the same course of action after March 1 2023," the committee said

"In view of this, we recommend no further action be taken."