Jacob Rees-Mogg has been cleared by Parliament’s sleaze watchdog over claims he failed to properly declare £6million in cheap loans.
Mr Rees-Mogg borrowed up to £2.94m a year in "director's loans" from his firm Saliston Ltd between 2018 and 2020.
By using director's loans he was able to borrow the large sum at very low interest rates.
He paid just £48,945 interest to Saliston on £6m of loans over three years, a rate of just 0.8%.
Although it does not specifically identify director's loans, the MPs’ code of conduct requires directors to declare "taxable expenses, allowances and benefits".
The Leader of the Commons did not declare he had taken out the loans.
However, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone today decided not to uphold a complaint against the MP.
She told Mr Rees-Mogg she took the decision because the loans were “connected solely to your private and personal life”.
She added: “I am also not satisfied that these loans could reasonably be thought by others to influence your actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or your actions taken in your capacity as an MP.”
She went on: “Having considered the matter carefully, I have concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that a breach of the rules has occurred.”
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner wrote to the independent adviser on ministers' interests, Lord Geidt, over the loans last month.
In her letter, revealed by the Mirror, she said failing to declare director's loans worth £2.94m a year "allowed Mr Rees-Mogg to borrow a large sum of money at a very low interest rate".
She added: "The financial benefit to Mr Rees-Mogg in this transaction is the difference in the interest he paid on this loan compared to a loan that he could take out on the open market from another provider, for example a bank.
"In this transaction, this difference is the value of the financial benefit transferred to Mr Rees-Mogg, which is a financial interest that should have been declared."
In a letter to the Commissioner, Mr Rees-Mogg confirmed he had taken directors’ loans from Saliston and no tax was chargeable on them.
He provided a full schedule of his financial dealings with the company but that was not published by the Commissioner.
He added he resigned as a director on 25 July 2019. He went on: "I have not received any taxable expenses, allowances or benefits.
"No tax has been chargeable on the loans as I paid an amount equal or in excess of HMRC's official rate for beneficial loan arrangements.
"I believe my declarations are up to date and I recently sought advice on a particular matter from the Registrar."
