Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday said he never had an official meeting with a senior British Conservative MP accused of using his political contacts to set up business deals in return for money.

UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph yesterday published a story that an undercover reporter posing as a foreign investor had met Mark Pritchard during a five-day visit to Malta in July. Mr Pritchard alleged he had met several members of the new Labour government.

The Telegraph’s website carried a short video clip in which the Tory MP was shown offering to arrange a meeting with the Maltese Prime Minister during a dinner event he was going to organise for him in the UK. He said Dr Muscat was going to visit the UK in November.

The Tory added that the delegation would include “top trade people from Malta” as well as businessmen from the UK and mainland Europe.

Probed about these claims, the Prime Minister denied ever having an official encounter with the Conservative MP, adding that he had contacted the British High Commission to clarify the matter.

“After going through his diary, the British High Commissioner confirmed that no such meeting was ever held, as otherwise they would have been present,” said Dr Muscat.

The Prime Minister said Mr Pritchard had approached him and some other people during the intermission of the Joseph Calleja concert at the Floriana Granaries.

“I have no idea of him as it was just a shake of hands,” said Dr Muscat. He added that he only recognised Mr Pritchard’s face after seeing his photo published in the UK newspaper.

“Our conversation was just about the weather and the concert,” he said.

The Prime Minister also remarked that if Mr Pritchard had requested to meet members of Government in his role as chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group of the House of Commons, it would have been recorded. However, he said that no such requests were ever received by the Government.

The Daily Telegraph said Mr Pritchard had breached the MPs’ code of conduct, which states: “Information which members receive in confidence in the course of their parliamentary duties should be used only in connection with those duties. Such information must never be used for the purpose of finan-cial gain.”

Mr Pritchard, the MP for Wrekin, Shropshire, has denied the “hurtful and malicious” claims and said he had asked the Bri-tish Parliamentary Commission for Standards to investigate the matter.

“The allegations made by the Telegraph are false – and I deny their claims,” he said.