MP broke conduct code over inquiry remarks to BBC

An MP has been found to have broken the parliamentary code of conduct when he spoke to the BBC about being under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

Peter Prinsley, the Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, breached rule 13 of the MPs Code of Conduct relating to confidentiality of investigations when he revealed to the BBC the nature of the probe.

The Committee on Standards said in its report "that this breach was minor and inadvertent".

Prinsley, who will face no further action, apologised to the committee and said he now recognised that he should have declined to comment.

The investigation into Prinsley by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner began in January after a complaint alleged he had not declared an interest during a Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on 1 December 2025.

Prinsley told the BBC in January the investigation related to "a declaration of interests during a select committee meeting" and did not "relate to property matters, as reported elsewhere".

"The committee was investigating the matter of the Aston Villa football match when Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from coming," he said.

"At the beginning of the inquiry, we were asked to declare any interest and I declared that I was a Jewish MP, which I thought was a sufficient declaration of interest.

"It turned out that what I ought to have declared was that I had previously been on a visit to Israel with an organisation called Labour Friends of Israel," he added.

After seeing the BBC report, the commissioner opened another investigation and referred Prinsley to the Committee of Standards.

The MP had previously been investigated by the commissioner over a declaration of interest and its findings were reported in August 2025.

In all three standards investigations, Prinsley has not faced any further action.

In a statement about the Home Affairs Select Committee probe he said he had "apologised for the inadvertent error and has corrected the record".

On the investigation where he broke the confidentially rules by speaking to the BBC, he said it was prompted "when the East Anglian Daily Times incorrectly reported in a lengthy article that the Parliamentary Watchdog on Standards was investigating Dr Peter Prinsley MP in relation to 'land and property'. This was not the case."

On the third investigation, Prinsley said he now recognised that he should have declined to comment while the investigation was ongoing.

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