SNP's Stephen Flynn heckled at PMQs
The SNP’s Westminster leader broke Commons rules around the use of taxpayer-funded stationery, the house’s top rules enforcer has concluded.
Daniel Greenberg, the Commons’ standards chief, was forced to investigate the SNP boss after a complaint was made following an anti-Labour stunt.
Ahead of a PMQs session in July, Stephen Flynn sent Westminster journalists a mug reading “Controls on family sizes: what’s the point of Labour?” after Sir Keir Starmer refused to back the abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
Accompanying the mugs was a slip of Commons headed note paper, reading: “The Labour Party has a new range of mugs in production. They're made in China - just like Sir Keir Starmer's latest policy”.
MP rules state that taxpayer-funded materials such as stationery cannot be used for party political purposes.
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READ MORE: SNP Westminster leader faces probe for misusing taxpayer-funded stationery
Stephen Flynn denied any rule breaking (Image: Parliament TV)
After being placed under investigation in August - first revealed by the Express - today Mr Greenberg published his conclusion.
On September 20 he wrote to Mr Flynn informing him the stunt had amounted “to a breach of paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct”.
Typically such breaches are considered fairly minor, and Mr Greenberg gave the SNP Westminster leader the opportunity to avoid further repercussions provided he made an apology and acknowledged he had broken the rules.
Unusually, however, Mr Flynn refused to take the conclusion lying down.
Throughout the investigation, he maintained that the use of his headed Commons note paper in the stunt wasn’t party political, but in fact supported his parliamentary duties and refuted any breach of MP rules.
He maintained that in his use of the slips he was “representing and furthering the interests of the public, scrutinising and holding Government (and Official Opposition) to account”.
He also questioned whether the investigation was proportional, given the total value of the stationery used was 28p.
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Mr Flynn's anti-Labour attack stunt (Image: Express)
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As a result, the row was passed over to the House of Commons’ Standards Committee who had to determine who was right.
The Committee acknowledged that the “boundary between the legitimate use of House-provided resources within Parliament and ‘party political campaigning’ can be a porous and disputable one”.
“We do not believe that in Mr Flynn’s case issues of great moment are engaged, and we regret that it did not prove possible to conclude this matter at an earlier stage without the need for a formal referral to the Committee.
"We take the opportunity to draw Members’ attention to the requirement in the stationery rules that House-provided resources should not be used for party political campaigning, but do not consider it would be proportionate for us to take any further action in this particular case.”
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Following the stunt, Mr Flynn also came under fire for anti-Chinese and misogynistic rhetoric.
Labour MP Sarah Owen told the Commons: “This was not what I came to Parliament to do but sadly I’ve become used to calling out Sinophobia and misogyny in this place and would be grateful for your guidance”.
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“When can our diverse communities expect better from Members of Parliament, especially in understanding the history and trauma of other countries?
“Madam Deputy Speaker, is it really appropriate for the SNP leader in Westminster to use parliamentary stationery to make crass political jibes steeped in Sinophobia and misogyny?
“Shouldn’t we expect better, especially the south-east Asian community, on this issue?”
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