Sunday Times Allegations
In July 1994, a "sting operation" by The Sunday Times implicated Riddick in the "Cash for Questions" affair.
Two reporters from the newspaper posed as people wishing to have questions asked in the House of Commons. Both Riddick and fellow Conservative MP David Tredinnick were accused of accepting cash for asking questions. Riddick initially agreed to work for the journalist but on receiving a cheque from the reporter, he returned it immediately, before he knew that the reporter was working for a newspaper.
When The Sunday Times reported the story Riddick immediately apologised to Parliament but was subsequently found to be in breach of Parliamentary rules and was suspended for 10 days. Riddick then lodged a formal complaint with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). Basing its decisions on the information compiled by the House of Commons' Privileges Committee the PCC found in Mr Riddick's favour. The Commission judged that The Sunday Times failed to make clear to its readers that its approach to Riddick had been on the basis of a legitimate consultancy, not on the basis of a one-off payment in return for asking a question and that there was no justification for the newspaper’s resort to subterfuge. This overturned a ruling two years earlier by the PCC in favour of The Sunday Times when Riddick had been unaware that the PCC was investigating the matter.
The PCC apologized to Mr Riddick for ‘this serious breach of our procedures.’
Read more about this topic: Graham Riddick