Democratic Union Party MP Ian Paisley has denied claims that he failed to declare £100,000 worth of hospitality from the Sri Lankan government.
After referring himself to the parliamentary watchdog, Paisley rejected reports from The Daily Telegraph that stated the DUP MP took two all-expenses-paid holidays to Sri Lanka in 2013.
“Ian Paisley MP will rightly refer himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards. We await the outcome of that investigation,” said a spokesperson from the DUP.
The Daily Telegraph reported on having seen documents that paid for the DUP MP to fly business class to Sri Lanka with his wife and four children, staying in expensive hotels with a chauffeur-driven Mercedes.
It has been estimated that the grand total of both trips was £100,000 – all of which was paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
Paisley has said the report is “devoid of logic or fact”. He has shown the article to his lawyer.
The code of conduct for The House of Commons states that any trip taken by MPs outside of the UK must be declared if it “relates in any way to their membership of the house or to their parliamentary or political activities”, or costs over £300.
MPs do not have to register family holidays, assuming they are “wholly unconnected with the membership of the house or with the member’s parliamentary or political activities”.
Ian Paisley Junior is the son of the late Rev Ian Paisley, who founded the DUP.
The DUP helped keep the Conservative party in power in the wake of the General Election in June which saw Theresa May lose her party majority. The DUP’s support has cost the government one billion pounds, with an additional plus aid package for Northern Ireland.
“We share many values in terms of wanting to see prosperity across the UK, the value of the union, the important bond between the different parts of the UK,” said Theresa May on the DUP deal.
“We very much want to see that protected and enhanced and we also share the desire to ensure a strong government, able to put through its programme and provide for issues like the Brexit negotiations, but also national security issues.”