Revealed: Portillo's oil pay deal 
   Michael Portillo faced intense pressure last night to reveal
   the full scale of his business affairs after leaked documents
   showed he was given secret payments by an oil giant. 

   As calls for an inquiry into Portillo's earnings mounted, it
   was revealed that the shadow chancellor had only disclosed
   earnings of between £5,000 and £10,000 from the oil firm - 
   and that this was 'only a small proportion of a wider agreement'
   between the two parties. 

   A letter from oil exploration giant Kerr McGee - a copy of which
   has been obtained by The Observer - states that the cash 
   Portillo is paid by the firm for 'parliamentary activities' is
   much smaller than his overall earnings for general advice. 
   Portillo last night refused to disclose his overall income from
   the oil firm. 

   The revelation will raise the question of cash for access, as
   Portillo, often regarded as the next leader of the Tory party,
   is the man responsible for setting Tory tax policy for oil 
   companies. 

   'I'll be writing to the authorities and demanding a full 
   investigation,' said Fraser Kemp, a senior Labour backbencher 
   and close ally of Tony Blair. 

   'Mr Portillo is the shadow chancellor and responsible for
   making opposition policy on fuel taxes at a time when the 
   industry's and his company's profits have gone through the roof.
   He must declare every penny he receives from this firm and the
   precise nature of the work he does for them.' 

   Kemp said that Portillo's payments fromKerr McGee, the world's 
   third largest oil exploration company, made his position 'untenable'.

   'His constituents have every right to ask who he's spending his 
   time working for - the people who elected him or the oil industry.' 

   The letter was placed by Portillo in the Register of Members' 
   Interests in the House of Commons. Signed by Frank Sharratt, the
   chairman of Kerr McGee, it states: 'You have worked for Kerr McGee
   between 1981 and 1983 and between 1997 and the present.' 

   Although the letter says that the company 'rarely' asks 
   Portillo's advice on British political issues, it goes on to say
   that 'we would not wish to preclude ourselves from ever receiving
   your advice on UK matters'. 

   The letter, dated 26 January, 2000, states: 'We understand that 
   you wish to register your remuneration for parliamentary services
   to us, which form a small proportion of a much wider agreement, 
   and the remuneration for that part of our agreement is between £5,000
   and £10,000.' 

   Kemp said that the clear implication from the letter was that
   Portillo was in fact paid much more for the advice he gave the
   company.

   The letter reignites the row over Portillo's business affairs.
   The shadow chancellor was forced to make an embarrassing apology
   to the House of Commons last April when he admitted that he had 
   failed to raise his connections with the firm when discussing fuel
   duty during the debate on the budget. 

   A spokesman for Portillo said that he had registered everything that
   was necessary according to the rules of parliament. 'Mr Portillo
   is confident that he has complied with the rules of the house,' he said. 

   Kamal Ahmed, political editor
   Sunday February 25, 2001
   The Observer
   --------------------------------------------------------------

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