In the pay of the arms trade

Doug Hoyle was MP for Warringon North before he went to the House of Lords. Now it transpires that back in 2005 Hoyle took money to introduce an arms dealer (sorry, an “arms company lobbyist”) to the Government Minister in charge of weapons procurement (the Guardian has the story). The Lords code of conduct requires Hoyle to have declared to the Minister that he was in the pay of the lobbyist. On these occasions politicians generally suffer acute memory loss and Hoyle is true to form: he told the Guardian he “did not know” if he had made the required declaration. It isn’t just cash-for-introductions, I mean that’s shabby enough…but a lobbyist for the arms trade? Is it possible to stoop any lower than that? Doug Hoyle would have not been my first choice if I’d had to guess which MP it was - if it had been Mandelson or Milburn I would be wholly unsurprised. Why do they do it? He can’t need the money (I don’t suppose he’s hugely wealthy but he must be comfortably-off). All very sad, in a way.