Thursday, November 04, 2021
The return of Tory sleaze
In the least surprising development of 2021, the Guardian reports that the Conservative MP Owen Paterson has escaped suspension from the Commons for 30 days, and a possible byelection, after the government intervened at the last minute to pause the process and review the watchdog that investigates wrongdoing in parliament.
The paper says that the former cabinet minister was found to have committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules during meetings and conversations with the Food Standards Agency and the Department for International Development while he was being paid more than £100,000 by two firms – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods.
The paper says that the former cabinet minister was found to have committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules during meetings and conversations with the Food Standards Agency and the Department for International Development while he was being paid more than £100,000 by two firms – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods.
However, an amendment to the motion to suspend him – proposed by the former Commons leader Andrea Leadsom – was backed by Boris Johnson, and whips told Tory MPs they should vote for it too. It was passed by 250 votes to 232, with 13 Tories opposing it and 98 either abstaining or given permission to be away from parliament:
Paterson claimed he was acting as a whistleblower to raise concerns about milk and bacon standards, and that 17 witnesses whom he wanted to give oral evidence were not able to do so.
However, several Tory MPs – including ministers – told the Guardian that Paterson was “clearly over the line” and “guilty as sin”. The standards committee said the witnesses Paterson offered had their written evidence taken into account, and that their attempts to prove his actions were well-intentioned were not relevant to the facts about which rules he broke.
The passing of Leadsom’s amendment means a committee chaired by Whittingdale, with four other Tory MPs, three from Labour and one from the SNP, will be set up and make recommendations about overhauling the standards commissioner role by 3 February 2022.
Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and chair of the standards committee, said the move would “be dismantling the rule on paid advocacy which has been around in some shape or form since 1695” and that the public would view it as parliament having “licensed cash for questions”.
“It is the very definition of injustice that one should change the rules or the process at the very last moment, and to do so for a named individual, which is what the amendment does today,” he said.
Peter Bottomley, a Conservative and the longest-serving MP, said he would oppose Leadsom’s amendment. In a heated debate on Wednesday, he said: “We chose the system we are now using. If we want to consider changing it, we do it in a proper way instead of considering it in the way we are now.”
Aaron Bell, a Conservative MP from the 2019 intake, expressed a similar view. He said: “Reform can only work if it’s across the house, and by bringing [Leadsom’s] amendment today it looks like we’re moving the goalposts.”
Given that Parliament refused to backdate the process and suspend the disgraced Tory MP, Rob Roberts forcing a by-election, and noting that Roberts has been readmitted to the Tory Party despite having been found to have sexually harrassed a staff member, it does look as if double standards are being applied here. Why backdate a process for Owen Patterson but not Rob Roberts?
Has the era of Tory sleaze returned? It very much looks so.
Paterson claimed he was acting as a whistleblower to raise concerns about milk and bacon standards, and that 17 witnesses whom he wanted to give oral evidence were not able to do so.
However, several Tory MPs – including ministers – told the Guardian that Paterson was “clearly over the line” and “guilty as sin”. The standards committee said the witnesses Paterson offered had their written evidence taken into account, and that their attempts to prove his actions were well-intentioned were not relevant to the facts about which rules he broke.
The passing of Leadsom’s amendment means a committee chaired by Whittingdale, with four other Tory MPs, three from Labour and one from the SNP, will be set up and make recommendations about overhauling the standards commissioner role by 3 February 2022.
Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and chair of the standards committee, said the move would “be dismantling the rule on paid advocacy which has been around in some shape or form since 1695” and that the public would view it as parliament having “licensed cash for questions”.
“It is the very definition of injustice that one should change the rules or the process at the very last moment, and to do so for a named individual, which is what the amendment does today,” he said.
Peter Bottomley, a Conservative and the longest-serving MP, said he would oppose Leadsom’s amendment. In a heated debate on Wednesday, he said: “We chose the system we are now using. If we want to consider changing it, we do it in a proper way instead of considering it in the way we are now.”
Aaron Bell, a Conservative MP from the 2019 intake, expressed a similar view. He said: “Reform can only work if it’s across the house, and by bringing [Leadsom’s] amendment today it looks like we’re moving the goalposts.”
Given that Parliament refused to backdate the process and suspend the disgraced Tory MP, Rob Roberts forcing a by-election, and noting that Roberts has been readmitted to the Tory Party despite having been found to have sexually harrassed a staff member, it does look as if double standards are being applied here. Why backdate a process for Owen Patterson but not Rob Roberts?
Has the era of Tory sleaze returned? It very much looks so.
Comments:
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Raising food standards ok.Randox does health issues.What is the excuse for that?
Is Johnson changing the system cos he could be next with his flat furnishing fiasco etc?
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Is Johnson changing the system cos he could be next with his flat furnishing fiasco etc?
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