A Tory MP is under new investigation by the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog after it rejected his appeal demands

A Tory MP is under new investigation by the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog after it rejected his appeal demands

A Conservative member of the UK Parliament and former health minister, who was censured last month for breaking government rules in relation to his role with a company trying to sell personal protective equipment [PPE] to the National Health Service, is under fresh investigation following an extraordinary row with the UK's anti-corruption watchdog.

Insider revealed last month that the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments found that George Freeman MP had broken the ministerial code by failing to seek their advice before accepting the position with the company Aerosol Shield, which was founded by a former UK government appointee who Freeman had worked alongside as a minister.

Following our report, Freeman wrote to ACOBA's chair and former Conservative minister Eric Pickles to demand an apology for their findings, which he blamed for "triggering a wave of media attacks on my probity and integrity."

Freeman told Pickles that he had been "condemned as 'guilty' of being in breech (sic.) of the Ministerial Code - which I take as a very serious finding - in a way which is neither fair nor reasonable."

He told Pickles as well as his local paper that ACOBA had "apologised" to him over the issue and what he described as their