TORY leader William Hague is to face an official parliamentary standards investigation over a charity which did not exist.

Labour MP Fraser Kemp this week lodged a complaint with parliamentary standards commissioner Elizabeth Filkin after the revelation that the so-called William Hague Charitable Trust did not exist.

Last night, Mr Kemp, Labour MP for Houghton and Washington East, said that Mrs Filkin would now be looking into his complaint.

"She has written to me saying she will be investigating this affair," said the Labour MP.

Tory Central Office in London last night declined to comment on the development.

In the 1999 register of MPs' interest, Mr Hague, MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, included the statement: "Any fees received as a result of speaking engagements will be paid into the William Hague Charitable Trust.

"Donations from this Trust will be distributed by an independent board of trustees to charitable organisations in my constituency."

And as Channel 4 revealed earlier this week, the statement was repeated in the 2000 register.

The updated list of MPs' outside interests is due to be published any day now. But a Tory spokesman admitted this week that the trust had not been established and would not be mentioned in Mr Hague's future declaration of interests.

"It was registered in the Register of Members' Interests in advance of its establishment on the advice of the registrar," said the spokesman.

"However, since the trust has not been set up, it will not be included in future Registers of Members' Interests. Any speaking fees etc are therefore given to local charities."

But Mr Kemp last night called on the Tory leader to clear up the doubts over the affair. "No one can figure out why the Conservatives do not just kill this story if there was nothing untoward about it," he said.

He has asked Mrs Filkin to discover the whereabouts of any money Mr Hague might have earned in speaking fees