Sammy Wilson has been accused of breaching lobbying rules by asking parliamentary questions about Northern Cyprus after taking all expenses paid trips to the breakaway territory, it has been claimed.
The East Antrim DUP MP is one of five politicians named in an online article posted on the Democracy For Sale website by journalist and author Peter Geoghegan.
According to the website Mr Wilson, two other MPs and two members of the House of Lords, asked parliamentary questions about trade investment and direct flights to northern Cyprus on their return from freebie trips to the contested region in 2023 and 2024.
The MPs’ and Lords’ codes of conduct state that when asking parliamentary questions “members must indicate any relevant interest on the question form” – something it’s claimed the five politicians failed to do regarding the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
The UK does not recognise northern Cyprus, which has only been recognised by Turkey since the island was divided five decades ago.
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The Turkish Cypriot third of the island is now under the effective control of Turkey, which has troops stationed there. Greek Cypriots control the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. United Nations peacekeepers have been stationed in Cyprus for decades.
The Democracy for Sale investigation has led to former SNP leader Ian Blackford saying the revelations have left a number of “red lights flashing” and called for a full parliamentary investigation.
“There are so many red lights flashing here,” said Blackford, who has formally written to parliament’s standards commissioner calling for an investigation in the wake of this story.
“Let’s not forget that these are parliamentarians going to a territory that lacks legitimacy, that is subject to UN resolutions,” he added.
Parliamentarians are also not allowed to “initiate parliamentary proceedings” that could have “any financial or material benefit” for a foreign government, non-governmental organisation or other agency “which has, within the previous 12 months, funded a visit they have undertaken or provided them with hospitality.”
Sammy Wilson on political situation in Cyprus
According to Democracy For Sale a host of sponsors paid for the trips, including the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Turkish Airlines .
The trips were organised by Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus, a campaign group that has been working with a London-based PR firm run by the son of a Conservative peer.
Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus aims “to show the need for the TRNC to be recognised as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation state.”
“If Freedom and Fairness was hoping to put its cause on the political agenda, it appears to have succeeded judging by the barrage of parliamentary questions put down by MPs and Lords, particularly after paid trips to the region,” wrote Peter Geoghegan.
According to him Parliamentary records show that, in the entire decade leading up to 2023, only 15 questions asked by MPs contained the phrase “northern Cyprus.”
In contrast, MPs submitted 26 questions on the topic since the start of last year.
Eight of those questions were posed by Sammy Wilson, who asked about everything from Greek troop numbers in southern Cyprus to maritime shipping routes to northern Cyprus.
The journalist also found that Wilson also penned opinion pieces arguing that the U.K. should support independence for northern Cyprus.
Records show that Wilson did declare his trip to northern Cyprus in January on his register of interests, but failed to declare an interest in the subject before querying the government in parliament.
More than a dozen parliamentarians went on ‘fact finding delegations’ organised by Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus.
Calls to tighten rules of free gifts for MPs have grown in recent weeks as Keir Starmer and other Labour ministers have faced questions about accepting freebies from leading donors.
MPs have previously been sanctioned for breaking parliamentary lobbying rules after going on paid trips.
In 2018, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Junior was suspended from the Commons for 30 days after lobbying on behalf of Sri Lanka after taking an undeclared trip to the country worth up to £100,000.
Democracy For Sale is written by Peter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin and since launching in July 2023 exclusive stories from Democracy for Sale have featured in the Times, the Financial Times, the Guardian, Politico, Byline Times and other news agencies.
Sammy Wilson has been contacted for comment.