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Cash-for-questions
affair
The cash-for-questions affair was
a controversial political scandal in 1990s
Britain.
It was alleged by The
Guardian newspaper and Granada
Television, that certain members
of Parliament had been accepting bribes
in exchange for asking parliamentary
questions, and other tasks.
The initial story was that Neil
Hamilton and Tim Smith had accepted £2000
each to ask questions, paid via Ian
Greer. The allegations were confirmed by
Mohammed
al-Fayed, who claims to have been the
paymaster. Smith resigned immediately, but
Hamilton and Greer sued. The court case was
later abandoned. Since then, Hamilton has
sued Mohammed al-Fayed, lost, was ordered to
pay costs, and subsequently declared
bankruptcy.
Consequences involved the Nolan
Committee, and the Register
of Members' Interests, as well as the
defeat of Hamilton at the 1997
general election by independent
candidate Martin
Bell.
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