Barry Gardiner MP reprimanded by Chief Whip over “error of judgement” trip to Mexico

Yesterday saw one of the most unlikely Mail on Sunday front pages for a while – featuring a topless Barry Gardiner (the Shadow Floods Minister)  swimming in Mexico. Today he was called in to see Chief Whip Rosie Winterton and told that he’d made an “error of judgement” which shouldn’t be repeated. A Labour spokesperson said this afternoon:

“Barry Gardiner was called in to see the Chief Whip today. Whilst accepting there were no Parliamentary rules broken, it was made clear that his recent trip to Mexico was an error of judgement and should not happen again.”

Gardiner was attending a pharmaceutical industry convention – but you’ve have had to read a fair way down the Mail on Sunday’s report to figure that out.