Inquiry urged into Tory `conflict of interest'

A Labour MP who forced William Hague to move one of his frontbenchers over an alleged conflict of interests called for two more Tory spokesmen to be investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Gordon Downey.

Mr Hague switched Michael Fallon from the Trade and Industry portfolio to the Treasury after Denis MacShane, the MP for Rotherham, accused Mr Fallon of a conflict of interests in speaking on the minimum wage Bill while acting as a paid adviser to nursing homes, which had low-paid staff.

Mr Fallon switched portfolios with Tim Boswell, who was a junior Treasury spokesman for the Tory party. But Mr MacShane yesterday asked Sir Gordon to investigate a possible conflict of interest with Mr Boswell, a farmer, speaking on the minimum wage Bill because it applied to agricultural workers. He also sought an inquiry into a possible conflict of interests by David Willetts, the Tories' employment spokesman for alleged links with a management consultancy involved in employment law.

In a letter to Sir Gordon, he said: "I believe there is a wider problem about Conservative shadow ministers who moonlight for employers or companies who in nearly all cases will stand to win or lose financially from much of the legislation passed by the House."