The former culture secretary will host a new talk show, Friday Night With Nadine, on TalkTV from 3 February.
Lord Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), said it was informed of her decision to take up the role on Friday. “Failing to seek and await advice” was a breach of the rules, he told her.
In a separate letter to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden, Lord Pickles recommended that “given the transparent nature” of the role, it would be “disproportionate to take any further action in this case”. However, he added that the case was a “further illustration of how out of date the government’s rules are”.
Under the current rules, the Mid Bedfordshire MP should have sought clearance from Acoba for any new employment or appointments she takes on within two years of leaving ministerial office.
The first instalment of the MP’s weekly hour-long programme will feature an exclusive interview with Boris Johnson.
“The interview is expected to include such challenging questions as: ‘Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?’ and ‘Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn’t have fallen in love with?’” Scots rocker Aidan Moffat quipped in response to the news.
“I do what I like, what are you going to do about it?”
I very much disagree with Lord Pickles advice that no action should be taken. if she’s allowed to get away with rule breaking it just sets a precedents. There should at least be a reprimand and some punishment, not Lord Pickles blaming the rules being out of date rather than blaming her for breaking them
But Lord Pickles is a Tory and one of the chumocracy and they look after their own
Dorries said she was “fully and unreservedly” sorry after the Commons standards committee said she had breached the code of conduct by her attitude to the inquiry and refusal to say how much she was being paid.
The committee ordered her to apologise after she did not declare her payments for eight pieces of media work on the MPs’ register of members’ interests, claiming she did not have to because they were made to her company, Averbrook, rather than to her personally. She also refused to tell Kathryn Hudson, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, how much she was given, saying she had a confidentiality agreement with ITV over her fee to appear on the show.
The standards committee, a cross-party group of MPs, found Dorries should never have signed such a confidentiality agreement. It also agreed with Hudson that Dorries had breached the code through her “attitude to the commissioner’s inquiries”.
During her correspondence with Hudson, Dorries appeared to threaten legal action against the parliamentary watchdog.
“I should inform you that I feel your report amounts to a witch-hunt and I have forwarded it on to legal professionals for further advice regarding my position in relation to the committee and you personally. You are choosing to use a vexatious complaint made against me to reinforce your ‘on the hoof, make it up as you go’ policy. I will not tolerate that or any report which invokes libellous negative coverage against me as a result and will not hesitate to pursue you personally should that be the case.”
