Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the taking of income by UK Directors of Bell Pottinger for public affairs work in South Africa commissioned by businesspeople linked to President Zuma was in line with their policy on international trade conducted by British firms.
Answered on
19 September 2017
The behaviour of Bell Pottinger in South Africa has clearly been completely unacceptable. We welcome the investigations conducted by the Public Relations and Communications Association and Herbert Smith Freehills and the conclusions of their reports.
At no stage was Her Majesty's Government (HMG) in any way involved in this work, nor consulted in advance.
The UK has one of the world’s toughest anti-corruption laws, and HMG takes any allegations of bribery or corruption extremely seriously.