Labour MP says Nick de Bois failed to speak up about shareholding in events firm
The Tory MP leading a backbench fightback to save Andrew Lansley's health reforms is at the centre of controversy over his business links to firms that could benefit from wider private-sector involvement in the NHS.
Nick de Bois, MP for Enfield North, reignited tensions within the coalition government when he called on fellow Conservatives to prevent the Lansley plans from being watered down by Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats.
However, De Bois was thrown on to the defensive when a senior Labour MP, Grahame Morris, wrote to the Speaker, John Bercow, protesting that his Tory colleague had repeatedly failed to declare his private interests during the passage of the Lansley bill.
In an email to colleagues, De Bois, who was on the committee that scrutinised the health and social care bill, spelled out to fellow Tories a series of "red lines" that he said must not be crossed if the essence of the Lansley plan was to be retained. These included the idea that "any qualified provider" from the private sector should be able to supply services in the NHS ? a key plank of the health secretary's blueprint.
Morris, who was also on the scrutiny committee, intervened after it emerged that De Bois is the majority shareholder in Rapier Design Group, an events management company heavily involved with the private medical and pharmaceutical industries, and whose clients include leading names such as AstraZeneca. The company was established by the Tory MP in 1998. Last year it had a turnover of �13m.
Last April, Rapier Design purchased Hampton Medical Conferences to "strengthen the company's position in the medical sector". It is involved in running conferences and other events for private-sector clients, and for NHS hospitals. A number of the company's clients are "partners" of the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC), a lobby group supporting the health secretary's plans.
Rapier Design Group's biggest clients stand to profit when the NHS is opened up to wider private-sector involvement. The GP commissioning consortium for south-west Kent, covering 49 GP practices and known as Salveo, has already signed a contract with the pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca aimed at improving diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The contract says AstraZeneca will help patients learn to "self-manage" their illness to reduce hospital admissions, cutting costs for the consortium.
Although the Tory MP lists his involvement in the register of members' interests, Morris said the rules clearly required De Bois to make them clear in public bill committees.
Morris wrote to Bercow: "Nick de Bois appears to have repeatedly breached these rules in relation to his shareholding in Rapier Design Group Ltd, whose Rapier Health arm undertakes 'strategic communications' work for a number of major pharmaceuticals corporations."
The letter adds: "The provisions of the health and social care bill will arguably benefit the interests of the pharmaceutical sector in a number of ways, ranging from the potential for greater sales to the new GP commissioning consortia, through the downgrading of Nice [the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence], which had long been considered an obstacle to greater profits. Mr de Bois spoke at the second reading of the health and social care bill and sat on the public committee as I did. He did not declare this interest at either point."
Morris asked the Speaker to rule on what "appears on the face of it to be a clear breach of parliamentary rules".
Asked to comment, De Bois said he had listed his interests in the Commons register and would have to await the Speaker's response. He said he did not have day-to-day involvement with the firm any more and was not aware of all details of its activities.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/29/lansley-ally-shareholding-lobby-firm
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