Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne has referred Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan to the police to investigate allegations of 'cash for amendments'.
Liberal Democrat's shadow home secretary, Chris Huhne wrote to Sir Paul Stephenson on February 3, asking for sleaze claims against Lord O'Neill and three other peers to be investigated.
Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan recently withdrew proposed amendments to the Construction Act, (Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill), which are intended to bring pay security to small businesses. The Lord was paid a fee as president of the Specialist Engineering Contractors' group.
Huhne said:'These extra four peers appear to be in the same category where, if press allegations are correct, they respectively tabled amendments serving the interests of organisations paying them such as the Specialist Engineering Contractors' Group.'
Huhne asked the police to investigate on the grounds that Lord O'Neill, Lord Berkeley, Baroness Valentine and Baroness Coussins may have 'contravened the common law offence of bribery'.
Lord O'Neill denies the 'cash for amendments' claims.
Since losing Lord O'Neill's backing, SEC chief executive Professor Rudi Klein has contacted other members of the House of Lords to drum up support for amendments to the Construction bill.
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SEC Group represents the specialist engineering sector, bringing together the construction industry’s top trade associations including the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC), the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) and the Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association (HVCA).