Perran Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, has been suspended from the party after referring himself for investigation over a £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan taken out by a company he co-founded and still part-owns.
Moon confirmed the suspension on 20 October in a statement to constituents, saying he had voluntarily referred himself to Labour's investigations process after a media report about the business. A Labour Party spokesman confirmed that Moon had referred himself to the party. He is understood to have lost the whip while the inquiry runs.
He becomes the second Labour MP in three months to be suspended over a pandemic-era loan, after Bayo Alaba was suspended in August over questions about a Covid loan, according to GB News and Reach-syndicated reports.
The company at the centre of the case is Autoswot Ltd, an online training business for the automotive sector that was incorporated in June 2019. Moon remains listed at Companies House as an active director, and his entry in the Register of Members' Financial Interests, registered in July 2024, declares a shareholding of more than 15 per cent in the firm.
GB News reported that the company's accounts from June 2020 show loans of £50,000, the maximum available under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which offered 100 per cent government-guaranteed lending to small firms from May 2020. The accounts themselves have not been published by the outlet.
The public register shows the company applied to be struck off on 4 November 2022. A first notice of voluntary strike-off appeared in the Gazette on 15 November, and nine days later the action was suspended. Companies House does not record who objected.
The company is still on the register as active. Its accounts for the year to 31 October 2022 have been overdue since July 2023, and a confirmation statement due in July 2024 has also not been filed. The last accounts filed cover the year to 30 June 2021.
In his statement, as carried by Reach titles, Moon said the company had taken the loan in good faith and had serviced it while it was trading.
"A company which I co-own had successfully applied for a bounce back loan to help with staffing and other essential business costs during the significant turbulence of the Covid pandemic. The business began to repay this loan, however due to unforeseen external market pressures and despite the best efforts of staff, it ceased trading in late 2022. When the company took out the loan, it fully intended to repay it, and it made repayments until it ceased trading."
Moon told The Post he had sought professional advice before and after the company stopped trading on how to meet its statutory obligations, and that he had behaved with complete integrity throughout. GB News reported, citing sources, that Moon approached Companies House after the strike-off application and was told on three occasions that the accounts were not required.
Neither Moon nor the party has said how much of the loan was repaid, how much remains outstanding, which lender provided it, or whether any demand for repayment has been made. The Labour Party has not set a timetable for its investigation.
Moon said he would remain an MP during the suspension and stay available to constituents. "I will continue to work hard every day representing my constituents while this party process is ongoing," he said.
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