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§ Mr. Tony Baldry (Banbury)The Parliamentary Commissioner has held that I breached the code of conduct for Members of Parliament in not making clear to the Lord Chancellor's Department that, when giving a reference for a person for an honour, the person concerned had, not long before, given me a loan. This was clearly an error of judgment on my part, for which I have already apologised unreservedly in person to the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges. I have made it clear that I fully accept that I deserve to be criticised.
The Committee has recommended that I apologise in person to the House. I wish to say sorry sincerely to the House, without reservation or hesitation of any kind.
I have explained in detail to the Standards and Privileges Committee how the circumstances of the reference came about. It was not initiated by me. I responded to a request for a reference from a completely disinterested person. However, I accept that those are matters of explanation and are not an excuse.
I hope that it will be appreciated by all concerned that it is not always possible to have total recall of events. I can only say to the House that, at all times when these matters have been under consideration, I have sought to co-operate fully with the Parliamentary Commissioner and to give truthful and accurate responses.
I also recognise that, when there is any criticism of any individual Member of Parliament, it reflects on Members of Parliament as a whole. I should thus wish to apologise to each and every hon. Member for an error of judgment and a mistake on my part, and my part alone.