Dozens of MPs are engaged in second jobs where their ultimate paymaster is unclear, whether that's being paid through a broker or a communications firm. Some MPs told Sky News they'd even signed contracts restricting them from revealing who they have worked for.
The intervention from Stephen Flynn, leader of the third biggest party in parliament, suggests there is something of a pincer movement going on.
His powerful case for change, delivered in an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, has really kicked off this debate. It is notable that it has been opposition MPs, perhaps most robustly led by the new SNP leader today, adopting the charge as well. Boris Johnson tried to take on his backbenchers on the subject of second jobs but abandoned serious reform early in 2022. Another fight over changes to the rules and a greater drive to transparency at this point looks unlikely.
However, he did not answer when asked whether it was right that some MPs are being given six-figure donations. Asked about the prospect of reforms, he insisted the UK has one of the most transparent systems"in the world".'We have a lot of transparency' - chancellorBut the chair of parliament's ethics watchdog said the Westminster Accounts project has shown thatPraising the investigation, Lord Pickles told Sky News that MPs should have to know and declare a named individual as the originator of a donation, even if the funds come from a company.
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