Labour accuses Boris Johnson of rewriting parliamentary rules amid sleaze row
Last night’s vote by MPs to rip up the current parliamentary standards regime has been described by one Conservative as “a dark day for integrity in our political system”, as Labour accused Boris Johnson’s government of “wallowing in sleaze”.
MPs voted with a majority of just 18 to create a new Tory-led body that would allow for an appeals process. It followed the standards committee’s recommendation that Owen Paterson, the Conservative MP, be suspended for having conducted paid lobbying of government ministers and regulators.
Mr Paterson claims the probe was shoddy and that officials had failed to interview witnesses he proposed. He said he would now have the chance to clear his name after “two years of hell”.
Elsewhere, the European Commission’s vice-president issued the strongest signal yet that Brussels would not bow to Britain’s demand that the European Court of Justice be removed as the arbiter of the Northern Ireland protocol.
Brexit negotiations are set to continue this week but Frans Timmermans said it was “extremely well-known in London” that the ECJ’s role could not be altered.
Paterson calls for resignation of people who recommended his suspension
Owen Paterson has hit out anew at the parliamentary standards committee’s recommendation he be suspended.
Mr Paterson, a former cabinet minister, was found to have engaged in paid lobbying of the government.
But he told The Daily Telegraph those responsible for the committee’s recommendation should resign.
He said: “Sadly they have not done a good job and come up with a rotten report which is full of inaccuracies … [They] all have to go.”
Mr Paterson has claimed he was treated unfairly by the probe, which he said declined to call 17 witnesses he had provided to support his case.
Jon Sharman4 November 2021 07:41
Tory MPs vote to tear up sleaze rules after Conservative ex-minister found guilty of paid lobbying
Catch up on what happened last night…
A series of senior Conservatives have disowned Boris Johnson’s attempt to neuter parliament’s sleaze watchdog in a move which anti-corruption experts branded “a shocking blow to democracy in the UK”, writes Andrew Woodcock.
Mr Johnson secured an 18-vote majority in the Commons to prevent the suspension of a Conservative MP who breached parliament’s code of conduct and create a new Tory-dominated committee to dictate changes to the way standards allegations are investigated.
But more than 100 Tories did not vote and 13 defied a three-line whip to oppose the move, including Nigel Mills, who told The Independent it was “a dark day for integrity in our political system”.
Jon Sharman4 November 2021 07:32
Welcome to our politics coverage for Thursday, 4 November
Good morning. Today we’ll be covering all the latest in the sleaze row now enveloping Westminster, as well as the next stage of Brexit negotiations.
Jon Sharman4 November 2021 07:31
Read More:Boris Johnson news live: Latest updates as Tory MP calls standards overhaul vote ‘dark day’
2021-11-04 07:31:51
