George Freeman, MP for Mid Norfolk

Former Conservative minister George Freeman was “asked to step back” as a trade envoy for the government last night.

It followed claims that he was paid by a company to ask government departments certain questions.

He was listed as the trade envoy for Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei but Downing Street confirmed he had been “suspended” on Monday evening.

Freeman, who has been the MP for Mid Norfolk since 2010 and served in both Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson’s governments, referred himself to the parliamentary watchdog over the concerns.

He has been a paid adviser for a greenhouse gas emissions monitoring service, GHGSat, since April 2024.

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