The Lady Vanishes

1. Ben Elliot is co-chair of the Conservative Party. Therefore, his business activities are of public interest.
2. Mr Elliot was until last year a director of Hawthorn Advisors Holdings Limited, the holding company of Hawthorn Advisors, the well-connected, though opaque, political lobbyist (see 6 January 2021 post).
3. Huawei, the controversial Chinese big tech firm, is a longstanding Hawthorn client.
4. Companies House records show co-founder and joint owner Mr Elliot resigned as a director of Hawthorn Advisors Holdings Limited on 1 April 2020. His 40 “A” ordinary shares were transferred to Ruth Kennedy a month later (4 May 2020).
5. Last year, it was reported that Mr Elliot had put his Hawthorn shares in a trust. As such Mr Elliot would be the “settlor”, the person who puts assets into a trust.
6. The “trustee”, the person who manages the trust, is legal owner of the assets held therein. Thus it would appear Ms Kennedy is a trustee holding the shares for the benefit of Mr Elliot.
7. When I first asked Ms Kennedy in an email for comment on this matter in July last year, she didn’t appear on the Hawthorn website. I didn’t receive a response.
8. A few months later, Ms Kennedy appeared on the political lobbyist website – as a “board advisor” (screen shot in Figure 1). This prompted a second email to her in October 2020; but again no reply.

Figure 1. Ruth Kennedy, “board advisor”: Hawthorn Advisors website at 16 October 2020

9. Perhaps John Evans, co-founder and chief executive of Hawthorn, would enlighten me. Nevertheless Mr Evans didn’t respond to emails, either (December last year).
10. Ms Kennedy has since vanished from the Hawthorn website.
11. Married to Lord Bruce Dundas, Ms Kennedy is also known as Lady Dundas. On 2 December 2015, The Independent online newspaper published an interview of Ms Kennedy. There it gushed: “Together, she and her husband move in some of London’s wealthiest and best-connected circles and are used to solving problems by engaging the help of friends and experts.”
12. On 8 July 2020, the Daily Mirror newspaper quoted the Conservative Party: “Ben Elliot has nothing to do with the running of Hawthorn or its clients.”
13. As the owner of Mr Elliot’s Hawthorn shares in a trust, Ms Kennedy is acting in his interest with his authority. In addition, she is or was a “board advisor”.
14. Mr Elliot is or was therefore hardly uninvolved at Hawthorn while Ms Kennedy is or was a “board advisor”.
15. The Tory Party didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Times reports my Lord Botham ad story

1. On 23 January 2021, Martyn Ziegler, chief sports reporter, reported in The Times newspaper my Lord Botham ad story (see previous post).
2. Mr Ziegler’s report (“Botham takes a pork pie pasting”) appeared in his Sport Notebook column: https://dralexmay.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/the-times-23-jan-2021.pdf.

Lord Botham breaches the advertising rules

1. Lord Ian “Beefy” Botham recently breached the advertising rules – by failing to make clear an ad was an ad.
2. On 24 December 2020, the former England cricketer and charity walker used Christmas to tweet a gushing endorsement of Dickinson & Morris and its products. Dickinson & Morris is a leading manufacturer of pork pies (screen shot in Figure 1).

Figure 1. Lord Ian Botham: tweet about Dickinson & Morris dated 24 December 2020

3. Beefy’s post was an ad – but the peer failed to label the tweet as an ad: he didn’t use the label “#ad”, for example.
4. On 15 January 2021, I complained about the ad to advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). In its same-day response, the ASA upheld my complaint, concluding: “We have been in touch with Ian Botham and Dickinson & Morris and provided them with guidance on what we expect of brands and influencers on social media.”
5. Lord Botham didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“No commercial agreement or partnership between Essity (manufacturers of the Tena brand) and Val Savage”

1. Val Savage writes a weekly column in the Daily Mirror newspaper (“Val’s week”). There Ms Savage repeatedly plugs Tena Ladies, a range of women’s incontinence products.
2. I last wrote about Ms Savage’s weekly plugs for Tena Ladies on 31 October 2020. This year the columnist has continued in the same vein.
3. I’ve exposed other Mirror columnists for plugging brands, without disclosure of interest: Fiona Phillips, for example. So I’ve suspected a commercial relationship between Tena Ladies and Ms Savage.
4. Essity UK Limited makes the Tena Ladies brand. I asked Essity whether it had a commercial relationship with the columnist. A spokesperson said in an email: “I can confirm that there is no commercial agreement or partnership between Essity (manufacturers of the Tena brand) and Val Savage.”
5. But I still find it very strange. There’s simply no need for Ms Savage to explicitly name the brand. There’s simply no need, too, for her to promote it endlessly.

Is Jeremy Hunt MP donating event fees to his charity?

1. “Fee paid direct to charity.” It’s a familiar sentence on the register of MPs’ financial interests, appearing when an MP donates outside earnings “to charity”: a fee for giving a talk, for example.
2. The problem is there’s no transparency.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, MPs aren’t required to name the charities they support this way. Which is a shame.
4. The lack of transparency is even more problematic when an MP is linked to a charity in some way. A current example is Jeremy Hunt, who is founder and a trustee of charity Patient Safety Watch (see 25 February 2020 post).
5. The latest register of MPs’ financial interests (as at 4 January 2021) shows the former cabinet minister has recently been paid for five events: four talks and “a panel event”. On each occasion, the “fee [was] paid direct to charity”.
6. How many times, if any, was the charity Patient Safety Watch?
7. I asked Mr Hunt in an email, but haven’t received a response.

Did Gordon Taylor and PFA Charity donate to #PlayersTogether?

1. More on the latest accounts for The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Charity, made up to 30 June 2020 (see previous post).
2. In spring 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic prompted Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson to organise #PlayersTogether, a player-led project to help generate funds for NHS charities. Mr Henderson succeeded in recruiting the captains of the other nineteen Premier League football clubs to his charity fundraising collective.
3. The PFA Charity says on p.17 of the latest accounts: “The charity made also made [sic] a significant contribution to #PlayersTogether and raised additional funds for the cause…”
4. Meanwhile, the breakdown of grants made (note 14 in the notes to the financial statements) shows a £1m donation to NHS Charities Together – but nothing about any donation to #PlayersTogether.
5. Yet the statement I highlight says the PFA Charity directly supported #PlayersTogether…Or have I misunderstood?
6. Further, it’s a matter of public record the PFA chief executive, Gordon Taylor, made a £500k donation to #PlayersTogether.
7. Mr Taylor is also a trustee of the PFA Charity.
8. Perhaps the statement I highlight is actually referring to Mr Taylor’s personal donation? If so, the statement would be very revealing, because of the conflation of the charity and Mr Taylor the individual!
9. The PFA Charity didn’t respond to requests for comment.

MyProPlan not mentioned in PFA Charity latest accounts

1. The latest accounts for The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Charity, made up to 30 June 2020, omit to mention MyProPlan, a new financial planning tool for professional footballers created by the charity and Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd, an independent financial adviser (IFA) firm.

Figure 1. “PFA Charity launches MyProPlan”: PFA Charity website news item dated 11 May 2020

2. The PFA Charity announced the launch of MyProPlan on its website on 11 May 2020 (screen shot in Figure 1). On 16 May 2020, another news item on the charity website confirms the financial planning tool was “created” by the PFA Charity and Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd (screen shot in Figure 2).

Figure 2. “Spotlight: MyProPlan”: PFA Charity website news item dated 16 May 2020

3. Gareth Griffiths, a trustee of the charity, is a director and joint owner of Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd. Mr Griffiths is a former professional footballer.
4. The latest accounts for the PFA Charity identify Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd as a related party, disclosing the IFA firm “acts as an investment broker to the charity”. The PFA Charity paid Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd £37.9k for its services last year.
5. The 2019 charity accounts, too, state: “Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd acts as an investment broker to the charity”. That year the related party received £12.6k from the PFA Charity, however.
6. Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd is an official partner of the PFA, the professional footballers’ trade union. What’s more, the IFA firm website boasts a glowing testimonial from Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the PFA since 1981 (screen shot in Figure 3).

Figure 3. Gordon Taylor endorses Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd: Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd website at 9 January 2021

7. Mr Taylor continues to be paid an eye-watering £2m as PFA chief executive, a role from which he is due to stand down by the end of this season.
8. Oh, Mr Taylor is also a trustee of the PFA Charity.
9. On 15 January 2020, charity regulator the Charity Commission announced it has opened a statutory inquiry – its most serious intervention – into the PFA Charity. The inquiry is examining “serious concerns” about the way the charity is managed, including the handling of conflicts of interest.
10. MyProPlan represents a significant new development in the joint working between the PFA Charity and related party Pro Sport Wealth Management Ltd. As such the charity should mention the financial planning tool in its latest accounts.
11. The omission is bad enough. It’s even worse when the PFA Charity is the subject of an ongoing statutory inquiry by the commission.
12. The PFA Charity didn’t respond to requests for comment.

UPDATE: Is political lobbyist using BBC parliamentary pass?

1. On 5 November 2020, I asked whether a political lobbyist was using a BBC parliamentary pass.
2. Ex-BBC political journalist Ross Hawkins now works for Hawthorn Advisors, the well-connected, though opaque, political lobbyist.
3. The register of journalists’ interests at parliament (as at 15 October 2020) shows Mr Hawkins has a parliamentary pass. So when did Mr Hawkins join Hawthorn?
4. At date of publication of the first post I was unaware of a City AM report dated 5 October 2020 about Mr Hawkins’ new job: https://www.cityam.com/pr-outfit-hawthorn-poaches-bbcs-hawkins/.
5. City AM says his last day at the BBC is “this Friday”. In other words, 9 October 2020. Mr Hawkins begins his job with Hawthorn “next week”, according to the report.
6. Meanwhile, as I say, the register of journalists’ interests (as at 15 October 2020) reveals Mr Hawkins has a parliamentary pass – after his last day at the BBC, therefore.
7. When asked for comment, Mr Hawkins said in an email: “I don’t hold a parliamentary pass. I gave it up when I left the BBC.”
8. By reply, I pointed out Mr Hawkins’ comment doesn’t address his entry on the register of journalists’ interests (as at 15 October 2020). I therefore requested further comment.
9. The former BBC political correspondent didn’t respond.
10. Mr Hawkins doesn’t appear on the latest register of journalists’ interests (as at 26 November 2020), the next update after 15 October 2020.

ASA bans manuka honey ad featuring Dr Hilary Jones

1. On 6 January 2021, advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a national newspaper ad for manuka honey – one featuring media doctor Dr Hilary Jones.
2. The advertiser is Manuka Doctor, a brand of manuka honey.
3. I had communications with the ASA throughout 2019 about an earlier unacceptable Manuka Doctor national newspaper ad, again starring Dr Jones. In fact, it was the TV doctor’s testimonial that was the problem (see 29 October 2019 post).
4. I’m therefore not at all surprised by today’s ban. For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not the complainant!
5. The ASA ruling: https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/manuka-doctor–uk–ltd-a20-1063104-manuka-doctor–uk–ltd.html.