PRESSURE GROWS ON COX IN SLEAZE ROW

YOUR OFFICES ARE NOT FOR PRIVATE WORK, MINISTER WARNS MPs AMID NEW ALLEGATIONS

- David Bond and Rachael Burford

A SENIOR Tory’s future was thrown into further doubt today as a Cabinet Minister warned MPs they should not use their offices for lucrative private work.

Sir Geoffrey Cox, below, the former Attorney General, is under growing pressure after Labour called for an investigation into whether he “brazenly” used his MP’s office to participate in legal hearings representing the government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Video footage, first reported by The Times, appears to show Sir Geoffrey taking part in a virtual hearing from his House of Commons office on September 14.

The MP for Torridge and West Devon, who is being paid nearly £900,000 for his legal work for the BVI in a corruption investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday signalled his displeasure at Sir Geoffrey with his spokesman warning MPs that they should prioritise their parliamentary work.

A week after the Owen Paterson storm blew up following his breach of lobbying rules, Mr Johnson has been accused of using a dash to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow today as a way of deflecting attention from sleaze.