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Tory peer helped secure meeting with minister for Canadian nuclear firm he advises

Ian Duncan ‘facilitated an introduction’ for Terrestrial Energy, which was seeking government funding

Rob Evans and Henry Dyer, Guardian 10th April 2025,

 A Conservative peer helped to secure a meeting with a minister for a
Canadian company he was advising while it was seeking government funding
worth millions of pounds. Ian Duncan was on an advisory board of
Terrestrial Energy, a nuclear technology company, when he “facilitated an
introduction” between its chief executive and a new energy minister while
the company was applying for a government grant. The revelation raises
questions for Duncan about whether his actions broke House of Lords rules.
The meeting with Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister at the time, enabled
the chief executive of Terrestrial Energy to lobby for easier access to UK
government funding. Lord Duncan of Springbank has been an adviser to the
company since 2020, after he was recruited by another peer, Lady
Bloomfield. He took the position months after a stint as a junior climate
minister. He does not receive a salary for the role, but was given share
options at the outset of his appointment.

These give him the right to buy shares in the company at a preferential rate if they become profitable. In March, the company announced a deal that would result in its shares being listed on a US stock market at the end of the year, with the company valued at about $1bn. The move could allow Duncan to make a significant profit……………………………………………………………………

Peers are banned under House of Lords rules from seeking to “profit from membership of the house”. They are barred from making use of their position to “help others to lobby” members of either house, ministers or officials, “by whatever means”.

Dr Jonathan Rose, a political integrity expert at De Montfort University, said Duncan’s conduct appeared to be “extremely problematic”. “I think there needs to be an investigation specifically into Lord Duncan to understand whether he actually did break the rules. It seems to me that he is providing parliamentary advice and services, which he’s not allowed to do.”

Details of Duncan’s conduct are being published by the Guardian as part of the Lords debate, a series examining the role of the House of Lords and the conduct of its members, at a time when the government is proposing to reform the upper chamber.

 Guardian 10th April 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/10/tory-peer-helped-canadian-firm-advising-secure-meeting-minister

April 14, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK