Former Health Minister Matt Hancock received an overnight stay at a rural mansion owned by the head of Randox, the health company that hired MP Owen Patterson as a consultant.
During a two-day visit to Northern Ireland as health secretary in 2019, Hancock had a private dinner and stayed overnight at the Dundarave farmhouse in County Antrim, owned by Peter Fitzgerald, founder of Randox.
The night was revealed in documents published under the Freedom of Information Act. It was not included in the official register of hospitality received by ministers.
A spokesman Hancock said he did not need to declare hospitality because he had not accepted him as a minister. Proponents of transparency, however, disagreed, saying there was a “clear expectation” that ministers should declare such hospitality and follow the spirit of the rules.
Questions have been raised about the relationship between Randox and the Conservative Party, after the company was allocated almost £ 500 million in public funds during the Covid pandemic for testing.
Randox also hires Patterson as a consultant, paying him £ 100,000 a year. Patterson resigned from parliament last year after using his position as an MP to lobby for his clients, including Randox.
Randox donated £ 160,000 to the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2018. Patterson directly lobbied Hancock on behalf of Randox during the pandemic. Following Patterson’s lobbying, Hancock persecuted his employees, saying he was “very worried” about how his department treated Randox and other companies.
During a visit to Northern Ireland in 2019, Hancock met with three companies, including Randox, which at the time were paying Patterson to be their consultant. Official documents obtained from Transparency International UK under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that Patterson was partly involved in organizing the visit to Hancock.
They also show how Hancock was invited by Randox to dine and spend the night at Fitzgerald Dundereve’s mansion during his visit.
The mansion of the county of Antrim is described as “magnificent … in a magnificent setting” with “an exquisite Italian mansion in its heart”.
On March 21, 2019, Hancock toured the Randox laboratories in Belfast. An email sent to the health department, which appears to have been written by a Randox employee, said: “Understand SoS [secretary of state] will be with us, Randox Science Park … Then SoS goes on other visits before joining us for a private dinner and overnight that night. ”
On the same day, Hancock made a number of other official visits, including to the Ulster Hospital. He also attends a forum to discuss health and food. Two of the speakers were from Devenish, a company that makes animal feed, and Lynn’s Country Foods, a company that makes meat products.
The two companies at the time paid Patterson a total of £ 61,000 a year to be their consultant.
The rules governing the conduct of ministers, known as the Ministerial Code, state that when politicians accept hospitality as ministers, the details must be made public through a register that is published regularly. Official guidelines define dinners given by companies as a type of hospitality that must be declared if accepted as a minister.
Hancock spokesman James Davis said there was no need to declare a private dinner and overnight at the Randox founder’s mansion because it was political rather than departmental.
“Everything was declared correctly and appropriately,” Davis said, adding that the relevant paragraphs of the ministerial code are the responsibility of the ministry. If they judge an event as political, then that is not the case. Maybe you should talk to [the Department of Health and Social Care]and not Mr. Hancock.
He continued: “Staying overnight is absolutely good. It was a political dinner and Mr. Hancock met with many people [Northern Ireland] politicians, including Robin Swan, another link that became critical in response to the pandemic. It is absurd to say that there is anything wrong with that. “
This interpretation of the rules was challenged by Rose Wifen, a researcher at Transparency International UK who received the documents. She said: “When ministers accept hospitality, especially from political donors, there is a clear expectation that this must be declared and become a public document.
“When the secretary of state is not sure whether he should report that he has been tortured and dined according to the ministerial code, it is always better to be cautious and follow the basic spirit of the rules by doing so.
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