A Conservative cabinet minister intervened on behalf of one of the world's richest cocoa dealers to get a ban on trading lifted after receiving £40,000 in donations from the millionaire's company to his parliamentary office.

Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, reportedly made the intervention after he was asked for help by Anthony Ward, whose firm, Armajaro Holdings, had been banned from trading following allegations that a contractor was involved in smuggling cocoa out of Ghana.

The minister telephoned the British high commissioner in Ghana on the issue, according to internal government documents cited by the Sunday Times, despite the fact it involved British business interests overseas, which is outside Mitchell's remit. Officials in Mitchell's office also contacted the Foreign Office to say that the matter required "urgent attention".

Henry Bellingham, a Foreign Office minister, subsequently lobbied Ghana's vice-president on behalf of Armajaro Holdings. A partial trading ban imposed on the company has now been lifted, although it remains in place in one district of Ghana.

Armajaro provided donations totalling £40,000 to Mitchell's parliamentary office between August 2006 and December 2009. The firm donated £50,000 separately to the Conservative party in 2004.

The Sunday Times said that Ward asked Mitchell to lobby the Ghanian government "at a presidential level" weeks after May's general election. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act indicated that Foreign Office civil servants raised questions as to why the British government should intervene on behalf of Armajaro. "Is this… something we should lobby on? Or should the UK company realise they have broken the rules and have to pay the price?" asked on official during a recorded exchange of correspondence.

Last night a spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "All representations made by the government in this case were entirely proper and consistent with our support for legitimate British businesses abroad.

"Ministers regularly lobby in support of specific British companies facing restrictions on trade."

A spokesman for Mitchell denied that there had been any wrongdoing. He said: "The letter from Armajaro was dealt with in accordance with normal ministerial procedures."

Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said it was "naive at best" for Mitchell to have become personally involved in the case. "There will always be accusations that, through political donations or contributions to a minister's office, influence is being sought or bought."

The ministerial code states: "Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise."

Ward made headlines in July when he made a huge bet on cocoa through his Armajaro Holdings hedge fund, buying £650m worth.

The deal, the single largest of its kind in 14 years, earned Ward the nickname "Chocfinger". His wealth is estimated at £36m.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... a-armajaro

Knocks 'lobbying' into a cocked hat, doesn't it?

They always are, aren’t they? This is just boiler plate arse covering.

Yes this sort of corruption has a very high rate of return for the company involved.

They should ban lobbying of any sort.

Agreed in principle, but pretty much impossible to enforce in practice. What they should do is make the declaring of all donations above 100 pounds in a calendar year legally required, both in terms of amounts and donor identity. And make faking and/or leaving stuff off this record a criminal offense punishable by serious jail time for the party treasurer. And also legally require all political parties and cabinet ministers (and their shadows) to make their accounts publicly viewable, so inquiring minds can check if they're somehow spending more money than they're getting.

It's hard to police the large number of people who may want to give MPs money (or other benefits) to possibly influence a decision they might make. It's an awful lot easier to police the 600-odd MPs and the parties they belong to.

Jon

Eurgh, American spelling! It's "offence"!

Serves me right for trusting the spell checker on an American sodding web browser I suppose...

I would extend that to political donations from shareholders. Otherwise a few will vote to send money to one party or another, making is a criminal offence for the company financial director to fail to provide such information. Also ban any company who lobbies a minister from employing any civil servants or politicians for ten years. That will stop the cronyism