Boris Johnson’s efforts to change the House of Commons standards regime, thus saving the career of former Tory minister Owen Paterson, were ruined on Thursday when he was forced into a huge U-turn.
Facing intensive criticism from the opposition parties as well as some MPs from his own party, the prime minister decided against overhauling anti-sleaze rules and creating an appeals system for MPs. Mr. Paterson promptly announced he was quitting parliament after the decision was made; this will prevent him from facing sanctions for breaking Commons lobbying rules.
It was unanimously decided by the Commons standards committee, which includes three Conservative MPs, that Paterson “repeatedly” use his role as an MP to “benefit” two companies. The independent parliamentary standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, recommended a 30-day suspension.
Paterson said, “The last two years have been an indescribable nightmare for my family and me, I am unable to clear my name under the current system.”
The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said on Thursday that he would be starting cross-party talks to try and end the battle about the standards system. However, he did say that any new system or appeals regime should not apply retrospectively to Paterson’s case. It was discovered that Paterson broke the rules by acting as a paid advocates for two companies on multiple occasions, earning around £100,000 a year.
House of Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, is not against the idea of an appeals system, particularly when an MP is facing career-ending allegations however she has told colleagues that any review taking place will take time and should not be linked to the individual case of any one MP.
There has been fury amongst Tory MPs since Johnson’s U-turn. , as many of them reluctantly voted to get rid of the old system. Many of those MPs will now have stained reputations and they are already becoming targets of opposition parties voting for ’sleaze’.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said, “This has been an unbelievable 24 hours even by this government’s chaotic standards,” urging Johnson to apologise for the “grubby attempt to cover up for the misdemeanour of his friend”
Johnson’s attempt to change the system came as a former Labour MP, Claudia Webbe, was handed a 10-week jail sentence, suspended for two years and 200 hours community service after being found guilty of harassment. It was found that she phoned a friend of her partner several times over two years, threatening her with acid.
The Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Jonathan Evens, warned that Britain “could slip into being a corrupt country”.