TWO Northern Ireland firms said former secretary of state Owen Paterson's £500-an-hour lobbying work for them is "a matter of public record".
The Guardian revealed that Mr Paterson took part in lobbying campaigns for food manufacturer Lynn’s Country Foods and the healthcare firm Randox.
Documents seen by the newspaper reveal he had several meetings with officials and another with a minister and wrote asking them to take steps that would benefit the companies.
It claims Mr Paterson has also twice used House of Commons stationery to write to ministers on behalf of Randox when, under the rules, House of Commons stationery cannot be used for "business purposes".
He has been paid £12,000 a year since 2016 by Lynn's Country Foods, which sells Finnebrogue Naked bacon, which it markets as a healthy alternative to traditional bacon.
The papers show he attended five meetings with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is responsible for food safety.
The firm processes its product without the nitrite preservatives in most bacon that have been linked to cancer, using another additive mix derived from fruits, spices and ascorbic acid.
The FSA had said the ascorbic acid needed to be declared as an E number - which Lynn's and Mr Paterson argued against.
According to the documents, the FSA complained internally that Mr Paterson and Lynn's were making "inaccurate assertions" about the outcome of a meeting and "a key theme of the pressure from Mr Paterson and [Lynn's] to agree to their position".
The dispute ended in December 2018, when Lynn's agreed to declare on the label of Finnebrogue Naked bacon that its product contained an additive.
Mr Paterson also lobbied the FSA on behalf of Randox, which has paid him since 2015.
The newspaper reported Mr Paterson was lobbying for it to adopt the company's technique detecting antibiotic residues in milk.
MPs may lobby on behalf of a paying client, but the activity must not help to give an exclusive financial benefit to the client, and the client must not have initiated the lobbying.
In addition consultancies are required to declare them in the parliamentary register of financial interests.
Mr Paterson declares that he receives a total of £112,000 a year from the two firms, on top of his parliamentary salary of £79,000. He charges them £500 an hour.
He told the Guardian: "My financial interests have been correctly declared according to the rules of the House of Commons."
In 2017, Randox doubled its fee to Paterson to nearly £100,000 a year.
A spokeswoman for Randox said: "It is a matter of public record that Owen Paterson has worked for Randox Laboratories Ltd since August 2015."
Lynn's Country Foods told the Guardian: "Owen Paterson's consultancy for Lynn’s Country Foods is a matter for the public record. We do not propose to comment further at this time."
