Lord James Palumbo (pictured), has been asked to apologize for not disclosing his involvement in an opaque offshore business.
James Palumbo Lord of the Dance was made to apologise after he failed to reveal his involvement in an opaque offshore business.
The House of Lords Commissioners for Standards found that Palumbo was in violation of the Code of Conduct after being exposed by the column.
After donating large amounts to the Lib Dems in 2013, the founder of Ministry of Sound claimed he didn’t know he was a director of Submin Holdings Limited, a Jersey-registered company.
Yet he had signed an official Companies House form using his title ‘Lord Palumbo of Southwark’ – the London borough where his nightclub and other UK interests are based.
Palumbo told the parliamentary regulator he had ‘no recollection’ of signing the document, nor did his senior management team or those running his private office.
Apparently legal papers for business ‘transactions’ were flying everywhere in ‘recent years’ so he signed the form without scrutinising it.
‘Lord Palumbo of Southwark’ – the founder of the Ministry of Sound nightclub who became a peer in 2013 after donating heavily to the Lib Dems – claimed not to know he had been a director of Jersey-registered Submin Holdings Limited
In September, I pointed out Palumbo had just taken a leave of absence from the Lords – where his presence was hardly felt – to spend more time with his bank balance.
He refused to say what those other interests are and now he is on leave (title and perks intact), he doesn’t have to declare them.
But shouldn’t he?
After all, Palumbo intends to return to Parliament one day, where he’ll have the power to affect legislation.
With reform in the air, isn’t it time absentee peers such as Palumbo are no longer on the guest-list for this club called the House of Lords?
Seb coe has declared that he is back in the hunt for gold. The Olympian tells me he’s taken a leave of absence from the Lords ‘to focus’ on his Monaco-based job as President of World Athletics.
Lord Coe has only spoken seven times in the Upper House since 2000. He last voted in April.
Asked why he’s taking leave rather than maintaining occasional visits, Coe said it will make it easier for the Whips to count Tory peers for votes!
Lord Coe said that living in Monaco the last six years has made it difficult to speak in the Upper House.
This means that he does not have to be appointed to directorships in lottery, gambling or mining companies. He can also no longer serve as an advisor to Morgan Stanley.
The gold medallist stated that he plans to remain in the UK and not change his tax residence to Monaco.
He called me later. He had he changed his mind. We are sorry for the error. His intention was to book a reservation at an Italian restaurant.
- First we had ‘The Saj’. Now it’s ‘The Huq’. Rupa, Labour MP for Huq, has been trying out her new Twitter name. What’s next? Sir Keir as ‘The Starm’? Or, more suitable, ‘The Er’.
Theresa May has been awarded the not-at-all-meaningless honour of the ‘Order of Saint Agatha: Grand Cross’ by the Republic of San Marino at an overseas ceremony where she was lauded by consul Maurizio Bragagni.
The former PM has just declared that the freebie holiday was worth £7,611.
The three-day jolly with her husband and chief of staff meant May missed a key Commons vote that the Tories had three-line-whipped to scupper Labour MP Barry Gardiner’s Bill to end the Fire and Rehire of workers on worse pay and conditions.
Last night, May’s spokesman said the Chief Whip agreed she could take the jaunt, but couldn’t explain why being fawned over by Italian-British entrepreneur Bragagni was a good enough reason to miss important parliamentary business.
Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street ahead of Remembrance Sunday) has been awarded the not-at-all-meaningless honour of the ‘Order of Saint Agatha: Grand Cross’ by the Republic of San Marino at an overseas ceremony
Pictured is Bragagni an Italian-British entrepreneur who was there to congratulate Theresa May
Bragagni just happens to have given nearly £600,000 to the Conservatives directly and through his company, Tratos. He regularly poses for selfies with Cabinet Ministers – most recently with Chancellor Rishi Sunak at a fancy bash at London’s Connaught Hotel.
In the summer, Bragagni was ‘hand-picked’ to be a Government adviser on a new trade advisory group set up by then Trade Secretary Liz Truss. By coincidence, Truss’s local Tory association in Norfolk also has been a beneficiary of Bragagni benevolence.