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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

Labour peer apologises for writing to Treasury to promote crypto firm he advised

Lords Crypto HM Treasury Sir Keir Starmer
Iain McNicol
Lord McNicol wrote to the Treasury about Astra Protocol, which had launched a token. It subsequently plunged in value by 99%. Photograph: Roger Harris/UK parliament

A Labour peer and trade envoy for Keir Starmer has apologised for breaking the House of Lords code of conduct by writing to the Treasury to promote a cryptocurrency firm that was paying him.

Iain McNicol, a former general secretary of the Labour party, was found to have breached the rules by offering a paid parliamentary service on behalf of Astra Protocol in June 2023.

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