Kennedy speech fees query

Charles Kennedy: Nicknamed Chatshow Charlie

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy is to ask whether he broke Commons rules on the disclosure of outside interests over his after-dinner speeches.

Mr Kennedy has agreed to ask "clarification" from the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Elizabeth Filkin, over the registration of his speaking fees, said a party spokesman.

Conservative MP Angela Browning said she would call for an inquiry into Mr Kennedy's entry in the register of interests, after The Sunday Telegraph said the party leader was asking up to £4,000 for after-dinner speeches.

Mr Kennedy, who is MP for Ross, Skye and Cromarty, declares in the current register earning "fees from writing, broadcasting and speechmaking".

Current Parliamentary rules state that MPs must list all fees of more than £500 and "frequent engagements" - described as more than three a year, says the Sunday Telegraph.

No pay as leader

Mr Kennedy was paid £3,000 in June to open an Institute of Waste Management conference in Paignton, Devon, and made another speech in Newcastle in April. He reportedly plans to make another speech in October.

Ms Browning, shadow trade and industry secretary, said: "This is a matter of grave concern, especially as he is a party leader."

In a statement, a spokesman said: "Charles Kennedy makes occasional speeches for which he receives a fee.

"In this financial year he has made three and is due to make one more in the autumn.

"Unlike William Hague he receives no extra salary as a party leader.

'Good speaker'

"He has declared income from speeches in the Register of Members Interests and he always is meticulous about registering all his outside interests."

Mr Kennedy, dubbed "Chatshow Charlie" by the Conservatives, is said to pepper his speeches with witty comments about his fellow MPs and life at Westminster.

The spokesman said that the speeches took up only a "modest" amount of his time.

"He makes speeches for money as do a lot of MPs at all levels. He just happens to be very good at it.

"He has no intention of being anything other than totally transparent about this."