Cash-for-questions affair

[2] The Guardian's report alleged that Al-Fayed had approached the paper and accused Ian Greer of paying then-MPs Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith to table parliamentary questions on his behalf at £2,000 a time.

[4] The furor prompted the then-prime minister John Major to instigate the Nolan Committee, to review the issue of standards in public life.

[6][7] Two years later, at the end of September 1996, three days before Hamilton's and Greer's libel actions were due to start, three of Mohamed Al-Fayed's employees claimed that they had processed cash payments to the two men.

[1] Downey began his inquiry in early 1997, but before he published his report Prime Minister John Major prorogued Parliament for a general election, to be held on 1 May 1997.

[10][11] In the election, former BBC reporter Martin Bell stood in Hamilton's Cheshire constituency of Tatton as an independent candidate on an "anti-corruption" platform.

Although the extent to which he declared his own interests on House of Fraser matters fell well short of the terms of the 1974 Resolution, there is no evidence that Ministers and officials were misled by this.

The spirit of the rules would have been better observed had Sir Peter made a separate Register entry in respect of Mr Al Fayed's hospitality, but this omission was not improper by the standards accepted at the time.

Sir Andrew failed to declare his interests in dealings with Ministers and officials over House of Fraser, and, in one case, gave a positively misleading explanation for his representations.Sir Michael received payments from Mr Greer (though not in cash) which were neither introduction commissions nor fees associated with the Unitary Tax Campaign.

Smith accepted cash payments directly from Mr Al Fayed of between £18,000 and £25,000 in return for lobbying services… persistently and deliberately failed to declare his interests in dealings with Ministers and officials over House of Fraser issues … Mr Smith's conduct fell seriously below the standards which the House is entitled to expect … had he still been a Member we would recommend a substantial period of suspension from the service of the House.In 1998 Neil Hamilton issued a writ for libel against Mohamed al-Fayed, over allegations that Al-Fayed had made on a Channel 4 documentary programme broadcast in January 1997.

Three months earlier, in July 1994, a 'sting' operation by The Sunday Times reported that two Conservative MPs Graham Riddick and David Treddinick had accepted cheques for £1,000 for agreeing to table a parliamentary question.

[15] The two were suspended from parliament for 10 and 20 days respectively, Mr Riddick receiving a shorter 'sentence' due to his apparent decision to apologise quickly and return his cheque bribe.