A former MP who organised a Nazi-themed stag do and two others suspended over the ‘cash for questions’ scandal have retained access to parliament in the years since they left Westminster.
Aidan Burley, who was sacked as a ministerial aide after details emerged of the trip where guests raised a toast in the style of Hitler’s regime, is one of 427 ‘Category X’ passholders to visit over the past two years.
David Tredinnick and Graham Riddick, who were suspended over the cash-for-questions newspaper exposé in 1995, have also been granted access.
Former Tory Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb, who resigned in 2016 after allegedly sending explicit WhatsApp messages to a 19-year-old job applicant, and ex-environment minister Tim Yeo, implicated in another undercover sting, are among the other passholders.
Lisa Gillmore, the GMB union’s senior parliamentary researcher and MPs and peers’ staff branch president, told Metro: ‘GMB is the largest union for MPs’ staff with over 1,500 active members working for MPs and as such we want to see a greater level of scrutiny applied when granting access to the estate and its workers.’
Mr Burley, who was sacked in 2011 after the trip to a French ski resort came to light, used his pass six times in 2024 and the same number in 2025 up to November.
He subsequently apologised for his behaviour and was found not to be a ‘racist or anti-Semite’ by a Tory report.
Mr Burley left parliament in 2015 and has been a member of Reform UK since December last year, when Nigel Farage said his arrival was part of ‘death by a thousand defections.’
Mr Tredinnick, the former MP for Bosworth, and Mr Riddick, former MP for Colne Valley, each visited the estate a single time in either period.
The former was suspended for 20 sitting days and the latter for 10 days in 1995 for being prepared to take payments for parliamentary questions from Sunday Times reporters posing as businessmen.
Both made fulsome apologies at the time.
Mr Tredinnick and Mr Riddick now hold directorships at businesses, according to their LinkedIn profiles and official records.
Mr Crabb was alleged to have sent explicit messages to a young woman who was seeking a job in his office in 2013.
He was found by the Conservative Party to have behaved in an ‘inappropriate’ way but not to have breached its rules.
Mr Crabb also made a full apology at the time.
‘We exchanged messages which talked about sex but none of it was meant seriously,’ he previously told The Mail on Sunday.
‘We met for coffee a few times and had a glass of wine once at the Commons but nothing more. I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions.’
The former MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire accessed parliament eight times in 2024 and 23 in the current year to November, the record shows.
Mr Yeo, who resigned as a minister in 1994 after it emerged that he had fathered a child out of wedlock, visited once in each of the time frames.
He continued as an MP but was at the centre of controversy again in 2013 when The Sunday Times alleged that he had told undercover reporters he could promote business concerns in return for cash.
Mr Yeo was deselected for his South Suffolk constituency following the articles, remaining in his post until the 2015 General Election.
What is a ‘Category X’ pass?
The term has come to be used for former members’ passes issued to ex-MPs. Applicants are eligible if they have served in two parliaments or for six years, whichever is longer. The pass entitles the holder limited access to the parliamentary estate unescorted; they may access certain areas for meetings and make use of a limited selection of catering facilities during certain hours.
The most active ex-member is Lee Rowley, who used his pass 127 times across both years. There is no suggestion that the former Conservative member for North East Derbyshire is linked to any kind of wrongdoing.
Metro has previously reported how two former MPs who were suspended from the Labour party over sexual misconduct allegations have been given the ‘X’ passes — the informal name for the privilege.
Simon Danczuk and Ivan Lewis also feature in the new list of recorded visits released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Danczuk was suspended in 2015 over allegations that he sent explicit text messages to a 17-year-old girl.
The former Rochdale MP now describes himself as an ‘author, speaker and business consultant’ on his Facebook profile. He used his pass 11 times last year and eight in 2025, according to the dataset.
Mr Danczuk said previously: ‘I resigned from the Labour Party in 2017 because it was being led by a far-left, north London Labour elite – this is a matter of public record.’
Mr Lewis, who was suspended in 2017 over allegations of sexual harassment, used his pass three times across both years.
The then MP for Bury South was suspended after a woman told BuzzFeed that he touched her leg and invited her to his house during a Labour party event seven years earlier when she was 19.
At the time, he strongly denied sexual harassment but said in a statement through his lawyers that he was ‘genuinely sorry’ if he had made any woman he worked with to feel awkward by asking them out ‘for drinks or dinner, or developed strong feelings for them’.
Mr Lewis resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in 2018 in a letter accusing the then leader of failing to act over antisemitism and ‘Jew hatred’. He said that he was suspended for 12 months despite having not been interviewed with an ‘unnecessary and politically motivated delay’ to the disciplinary process.
In emails to Metro, the former MP said that he had been ‘completely exonerated’ by an independent investigation into the complaint conducted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
‘Therefore, there is no reason I should not hold an ex-MP’s pass,’ he added.
The Commons maintains that the former members’ pass grants limited, unescorted access to the parliamentary estate, including some meeting areas and catering facilities during certain hours. Passholders and visitors are required to follow a behaviour code while on the estate.
They also have to agree not to conduct lobbying activities, with any breaches being investigated, according to the Commons.
Under the rules, passes are withdrawn from any ex-members who have been convicted of a crime and have received a custodial sentence.
A Commons spokesperson said: ‘As with all pass applications, eligibility is rigorously scrutinised and processes are in place to ensure applications can only be made by those with an approved requirement.
‘There are limits on the facilities former members may use within Parliament, and they are forbidden from using their pass in connection with lobbying activity.’
Metro has attempted to reach all the former MPs for comment.
Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk