Rees-Mogg may have broken parliamentary rules by not declaring £6m in loans

According to the Mail on Sunday, Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg may have fallen foul of parliamentary standards after failing to disclose £6m in loans he took out from his company, Saliston Ltd.

Between 2018 and 2020, the leader of the House of Commons took out a yearly £2.94m of “director’s loans” from the UK-based firm.

Rees-Mogg said in the MPs’ register of interests that he was an “unremunerated director” and shareholder of Saliston, but did not mention the loans.

While the MPs’ rulebook does not cover director’s loans, it does require directors of companies to disclose “taxable expenses, allowances and benefits”. 

Rees-Mogg has insisted that the loans were not earnings, and that he was not required to disclose them.

Last week, Rees-Mogg led the government’s attempt to relax the rules around MPs standards. This led his opposite number, shadow Leader of the House of Commons Thangam Debbonaire, to call for his resignation. 

This time, Debbonaire has called on Rees-Mogg to “come clean” about his interests and called for an investigation.