Bunhill: Express interest

MY FAVOURITE read, the Register of Members' Interests, came out in a new edition last week. As usual, it tells more about the relationship between MPs and business than Hansard ever will.

One little snippet caught my eye. No, not the fact that half the House of Commons bizarrely seem to have spent last March, courtesy of Scottish & Newcastle, at its Center Parcs Elvedon Country Forest Holiday Village. No, not the fact that Rover Group has loaned cars to both Paddy Ashdown and Sir Norman Fowler - will they give them back now Rover is owned by the Germans?

No, not even the admission of James Couchman, MP for Gillingham, that he receives 'nominal benefits' from the Gin and Vodka Association. (If it's your round, James, mine's a nominal benefit.)

No, my favourite is the revelation that Tony Benn admits to a shareholding that must be registered (defined as more than pounds 25,000 worth) in United Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Express and The Star.

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