By IANS,
London: More than 20 British MPs have been found in breach of hospitality rules after accepting free overseas trips and raising issues about those countries in parliament but failing to declare a vested interest.
A BBC investigation Tuesday uncovered hundreds of breaches of parliamentary rules by MPs who accepted free overseas trips.
The British-ruled territory of Gibraltar, the Maldives and Cyprus were the favourite destinations of the MPs, who, between them, violated rules on more than 400 occasions.
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker admitted 37 breaches of the rule – including two undeclared visits to India on the invitation of Tibetans – despite actively calling for a clean-up of Parliament following the expenses scandal.
Baker accepted he failed to declare an interest when leading debates and tabling questions about topics such as human rights in Tibet, the BBC said.
He travelled to India twice – in 2007 and 2008 – courtesy of the Tibet Society and the Tibet government-in-exile.
“I should have then declared a relevant interest in respect of the parliamentary activities you list. It is an unintended oversight that I did not,” Baker said.