Aitken apologises for breaking MPs' rules

Jonathan Aitken, the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has been forced to apologise to the House of Commons for breaking the rules on disclosure of MPs' interests.

The apology, the first made in the new, post-Nolan era and the first recommended by the new Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Gordon Downey, follows the revelations in the Independent that Mr Aitken had attended more board meetings at the company at the centre of the arms-to-Iran affair than he had previously admitted.

Last March, when the Independent revealed Mr Aitken's directorship of BMARC, an arms manufacturer, and the company's contract to sell guns to Iran, he said he had only attended three board meetings. What he did not say, which the Independent subsequently disclosed, was that BMARC later changed its name to Astra Defence Systems.

Board papers showed Mr Aitken attended two Astra Defence Systems directors' meetings and received papers at which Project Lisi, the contract to supply Iran via Singapore, was mentioned.

Mr Aitken's pounds 10,000-a-year directorship of Astra Defence Systems did not appear in his entry in the register of MPs' interests - he only listed BMARC.

Stephen Byers, the Labour MP for Wallsend, then made a formal complaint to the Select Committee on Members' Interests. The case was looked into by Sir Gordon, who passed his findings to the new Committee on Standards and Privileges.

In its report yesterday, the committee found Mr Aitken had broken the rules: "We note that Mr Aitken has offered an apology to the House of Commons for his infringement of the rules on disclosure for the 1990 printed Register."

Mr Aitken told Sir Gordon that after the name-change some directors signed contracts under the BMARC name. But Sir Gordon said Mr Aitken "has not produced evidence" to back this claim.

Mr Aitken said he failed to mention Astra Defence Systems because he was asked only how many BMARC meetings he had attended. His secretary found three. "Had she also been asked to check for meetings of Astra, she would have identified another two," Mr Aitken said.

Mr Byers said last night: "Despite Mr Aitken's arguments ... it was clear that his failure to disclose his directorship of Astra Defence Systems was a breach of the rules laid down by the House of Commons."

Next week, Mr Aitken is due to give evidence to the Commons Trade and Industry Committee inquiry into Project Lisi.