Lord Redesdale (LD)
My Lords, I rise to apologise to the House for breaching the Code of Conduct. The Commissioner for Standards found that I breached the code on 13 occasions, with seven instances of non- registration of interests and six instances of late registration of interests. In addition, I drew the commissioner’s attention to an interest that I discovered during the course of his investigation I had neglected to register.
I fully accept the commissioner’s findings. I recognise that 14 instances of breach demonstrate that I have fallen significantly below the standards expected by the House. Although the commissioner finds that some of the breaches were minor and that there was no evidence of my attempting to evade the registration requirements, I accept that the accumulation of breaches shows inattentiveness on my part about my obligations under the Code of Conduct. I will be much more careful in future and will ensure that I register all my interests punctually. I deeply regret having breached the code and offer the House my sincere apology.