Rule-breaking Tory MP takes cash from Russian-owned firm... again
Conservative David Morris was rapped over knuckles for failing to mention a £10,000 donation from Aquind Ltd, in 2020.... now he's taken money from the firm again.
Back in September 2020 Conservative backbencher David Morris was found guilty of breaking parliamentary rules on paid lobbying.
The previous October, during energy questions, the MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale had asked energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng “to step up and protect British companies by granting regulation as soon as possible in accordance with British law”.
Morris specifically named a company called Aquind Limited - without mentioning that he had received £10,000 from the firm.
The standards commissioner also found that Mr Morris had lobbied on Aquind’s behalf in an email to Kwarteng but in doing so failed to properly declare his interests.
At the time Aquind was seeking to build a £1.1 billion electricity cable linking the UK and France. But in 2022, Kwasi Kwarteng - by then business minister - blocked the superconductor project. The move prompted Aquind to take - and win - a High Court challenge to the decision.
Given all that I was surprised to notice that, according to the most recent Register of Members’ Interests, David Morris accepted two £5,000 donations in January and February for his re-election campaign….from Aquind Ltd.
Aquind has also donated recently to Liz Truss cheerleader Simon Clarke. In all, the company has given more than £500,000 to the Conservatives.
Alexander Temerko, another Aquind director, has also donated more than £700,000 to the Conservatives and is said to count Boris Johnson among his friends. The tycoon, who was born in Ukraine and took UK citizenship in 2011, ran a Russian arms company before becoming a senior executive for the energy business Yukos.
Aquind has other close ties to the Tories. Former Conservative minister James Wharton signed up as a strategic advisor at the firm after he left government, in 2017. Wharton is now in the House of Lords, where he runs a consultancy whose clients include Aquind. Former business minister, Lord Callanan, was a non-executive director of Aquind from 2016 to 2017.
Aquind Ltd was set up in the UK with the principal purpose of developing the cable project, and is wholly owned by a Luxembourg-registered company called Aquind Energy Sarl. The ultimate owner is former Russian oil boss Viktor Fedotov. Previously a Russian businessman, Fedotov is now a British citizen.
According to its most recent company accounts, Aquind Ltd’s main business project is getting the subsea super-connector off the ground. It will be interesting to see if Morris - or his colleagues - ask any more questions about it in Parliament….