Lib Dems condemn MP in new second job scandal

Lib Dems have reacted angrily to the news that Torridge and Tavistock MP, Sir Geoffrey Cox, has taken on another controversial legal case for a foreign client, squeezing the time available for representing his constituents. 

Sir Geoffrey is reported to be representing West Cumbria Mining in their suit against the UK Government through a holding company based in Singapore. If they win their case, challenging a High Court ruling to block the development of a new coal mine, the taxpayer could be left with a huge bill. 

Phil Hutty, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Torridge and Tavistock, said:

'Yet again our absentee MP has chosen to prioritise his career interests over his duty to constituents. An MP's salary is already very generous. It cannot be right to be raking in eight or nine times that through representing foreign interests. It makes my blood boil that if he is successful in winning this case, the British taxpayer will have to foot the bill.'

Sir Geoffrey has regularly hit the headlines as one of the top-earning MPs for work outside Parliament. He was criticised in 2021 for representing Caribbean tax havens against the Conservative government, which was seeking to clamp down on corruption. During the Covid crisis he caused a scandal by voting remotely from the British Virgin Islands and last year missed an important vote on the winter fuel allowance because he was in Mauritius. 

'Geoffrey Cox has some serious questions to answer', continued Mr Hutty. 'He seems to have a history of raking in the cash from dodgy foreign clients rather than focusing on the job he was elected to do. We need a full time MP who is visible and present in the community and puts their constituents first.'