The watchdog body set up by the British House of Commons to examine allegations of sleaze today upheld a complaint against Conservative leader Mr William Hague. He had claimed to be paying fees from speaking engagements into a charitable trust which did not exist.
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Mr William Hague
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But the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee recommended no action be taken against Mr Hague after he corrected an entry in the Register of Members' Interests referring to the trust.
For two years from January 1999 Mr Hague's entry in the register stated all payments for speeches would go into the William Hague Charitable Trust. It was to be distributed to charities in his Richmond constituency.
But an investigation earlier this year by Channel 4 programme The Mark Thomas Productrevealed the trust had never been set up. An inquiry was launched by Standards Commissioner Ms Elizabeth Filkin.
In a report released today Ms Filkin found the register entry was made "in good faith" and Mr Hague had not intended it to be misleading.
There was no evidence of "irregularity or impropriety" in the uses the fees were put to, she added.
But she said: "Mr Hague failed to respond correctly on eight separate occasions when required to check his entry. The result was that it continued in a materially inaccurate form for a considerable period - at least six months and arguably longer."
PA