Stephen Flynn to be investigated by Commons watchdog over stationery misuse

The Commons Standards Commissioner launched the probe on August 1, following a stunt the SNP Westminster leader pulled over Labour’s refusal to commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

We previously told how Flynn’s team delivered mugs to lobby hacks in the House of Commons ahead of the final PMQs of the session before Westminster broke up for summer recess.

An SNP source branded the probe a "farce" and said Westminster is "attacking the SNP for speaking out". 

The white cups sent to journalists were emblazoned with the phrase in red lettering: “Controls on family sizes. What’s the point of Labour?”

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Inside the mug, a piece of paper emblazoned with the House of Commons logo and Flynn’s name and title, read: “The Labour Party has a new range of mugs in production.

“They’re made in China – just like Sir Keir Starmer’s latest policy…”

Now, Flynn is under official investigation over the use of stationery.

The Commissioner’s website states that Flynn is under investigation for a breach of paragraph eight of the Code of Conduct for MPs.

The part of the code Flynn is under investigation for allegedly breaching reads: “Excepting modest and reasonable personal use, members must ensure that the use of facilities and services provided to them by Parliament, including an office, is in support of their parliamentary activities, and is in accordance with all relevant rules”.

A bemused SNP source said: "This farce shows Westminster at its most absurd.

"The two-child cap has pushed 20,000 Scottish children into poverty but instead of worrying about the Tories and Labour Party both backing the policy, Westminster is attacking the SNP for daring to speak out.

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"This shameful policy cost families in Scotland £95.7million last year, with typical households losing £3235 to £6470 each, but instead of investigating the damage it has caused and Labour’s desire to back attacks on those in poverty, Westminster has launched an inquiry into the use of tiny handful of paper, with an approximate value of 2 pence.

"It tells you everything you need to know about Westminster's skewed priorities.”

Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North, previously labelled the stunt from Flynn as a “crass political jibe steeped in Sinophobia and misogyny”.

Calling a point of order in the House of Commons after PMQs, Owen said: “Official statistics confirm that as a result of the one-child policy, there were 196 million sterilisations, 336m abortions, all under China’s one-child policy,” she said.

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“It was a policy that broke families, led to infanticide, mostly baby girls – in 2017, there were still 33m more men than there were women in China.

“When can our diverse communities expect better from members of Parliament, especially in understanding the history and trauma of other countries?”

In response, SNP MP Martin Docherty Hughes asked if Labour was “more rattled by a minor breach of the rules than it is by child poverty?”

Docherty-Hughes pointed to previous comments made by Scottish deputy leader Jackie Baillie in Holyrood, where she likened the two-child cap to China’s one-child policy.