UK Commissioner Dismisses Complaint Over Lord’s Work for Cayman Government

Above: the House of Lords (Photo: UK Parliament)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United Kingdom’s Commissioner for Standards has dismissed a complaint concerning work by Lord Blencathra on behalf of Cayman’s government.

The complaint and accompanying investigation had come after a report in the UK’s Independent newspaper in April.

The report had raised concerns over Blencahtra’s sitting as a peer in the House of Lords while also acting as director of the Cayman Islands Government’s office in London.

UK Member of Parliament Paul Flynn (Newport West) issued the complaint July 17.

“I have dismissed the complaint against you and am satisfied that you did not breach the Code of Conduct,” Commissioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan wrote in a letter to Lord Blencathra dated Sept. 27. “In essence, I have found that you were not providing parliamentary advice or services to the Cayman Islands Government Office in the United Kingdom.”

Kernaghan said he would soon report on the case to the Sub-Committee on Lords’ Conduct.