Greg Hands Letter To Mandelson Re Home

HOUSEOF COMMONS L O N D O N S W 1 AO A A

The Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson Secretaryof State BERR 1 Victoria Street London SW1HOET 13January2009

I was interested by an article by Andrew Gilligan in tod.ay'sEpeningStzndnrd which set out the results of his investigation into the purchaseof a €2.5million villa in Regent'sPark in 2006,and included inJormationabout vadous previous propertiesyou have bought and sold in recentyears,notably in my constituency. Thesetrarsactions have occurredat times which have included when you have beena GovemmentMinister or an EU Commissioner. Mr Giiligan's article raisesa number of houbling questionswhich I believeneed someanswersto avoid any doubts about potential conllicts of interesl possible externalbenefactorsand so on. In particular: .

What was the size of your initial mortgage on each of the following properties: Northumberland Place; Pembddge Villas; Archel Road; Norway House;RegentsPark;and Hutton Avenue (Hardepool)?

o How much of the mortgageremained to b€ paid off when eachpr6perty was sold? .

Were your sharesin Clemmow Hornby Inge - which were later sold for f,lm - in any way offered as security for the purchaseof your current property ir RegentsPaak?

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lMhat was the precisenature of the work you undertook for Alain Minc and how much were you paid for it?

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What was the natue o{ your relatioruhip with your neighbour, Arthur Basthgs ard did it involve any professionalelement?

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Did you acceptany loansftom third partieswhilst working as a European Commissionerand if so,have thesebeenpaid back?

l\ihat were your exteffial sourcesof incomebetween1998and 2008? What were the "inaccurateassumptions"made by Andrew Gilligan that your spokeswomanre{erredto ir the EveningStandard? I hope that you will accept that, for the avoidance of doubt confusion and suspiciory it would be prudent to have disclosedin full the financial dealings that enabledyou to apparentlyaccumulatesucha large capital sum. I look forurard to vour response. Yours sincerely,

Member of Padiament for llammersmith and Fulham