Marcus Fysh MP told to apologise after breaching code of conduct

A Conservative MP will have to apologise to Parliament after breaching the MPs' code of conduct.

Marcus Fysh was reprimanded after speaking to the media regarding a now-concluded investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner.

The committee, in a report published on Thursday, accepted that the MP was trying to be "open and transparent".

Mr Fysh, the MP for Yeovil, will be required to apologise to the Commons by letter.

He was reprimanded after speaking to the BBC regarding a now-concluded investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg into whether the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Education had committed a rule breach.

The group is chaired by Mr Fysh, and in May he told the BBC that the matter related to whether the secretarial services provided to the body's committee were correctly registered as benefits.

He also issued a statement to the Somerset Live website.

The Committee on Standards found that in doing so he breached rule 13 of the MPs' code of conduct, which forbids parliamentarians from disclosing details of "any investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards except when required by law to do so, or authorised by the Commissioner".

But the committee, in a report published on Thursday, accepted the view of Mr Greenberg that the Conservative MP was trying to be "open and transparent".

MPs said: "Mr Fysh has apologised for this inadvertent breach to the commissioner and has been co-operative with his investigation and with our inquiry.

"The commissioner was required by the rules to bring this matter to our attention."