16 November 2021

Westminster sleaze row has caused damage to all MPs and Parliament, warns May

16 November 2021

Theresa May has warned of the “damage” caused to all MPs and Parliament by the Westminster sleaze row.

The former prime minister pressed MPs to scrap the controversial standards reforms which sparked the crisis, adding it would be a “step in the right direction”.

But the Conservative MP cautioned such a move will “not undo the damage” done by the Government’s botched attempt to delay a parliamentary suspension to former cabinet minister Owen Paterson for breaking lobbying rules.

The motion before the Commons on Tuesday implements a Government U-turn over the Paterson row.

It is aimed at rescinding the so-called Leadsom amendment, which looked to establish a review of the MP standards investigation process in a bid to delay Mr Paterson’s suspension.

Sir Christopher Chope (PA) (PA Archive)

It will also endorse the Commons Standards Committee’s report which would have suspended Mr Paterson from Parliament for 30 days if he had remained an MP.

He quit as the Conservative MP for North Shropshire after the Government backed down on its attempt to delay his suspension and reform the standards process.

An attempt to quietly endorse the Commons standards watchdog’s report on Mr Paterson’s behaviour was foiled on Monday night as veteran Tory Sir Christopher Chope objected to the move.

Mrs May told the Commons: “I trust that no member of this House is thinking of doing anything other than supporting the motion that is being moved by the Leader of the House.

“Passing this motion will be a step in the right direction but it will not undo the damage that has been done by the vote of November 3.

“Let’s be clear this is not a party political issue. Damage has been done to all Members of Parliament and to Parliament as a whole.”

The Palace of Westminster (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Archive)

Mrs May criticised the Government support for an overhaul of parliamentary standards in light of Mr Paterson’s case as “ill-judged and just plain wrong”.

On the report into Mr Paterson’s actions, Mrs May said: “I believe the conclusion was clear and fair, Owen Paterson broke the rules on paid advocacy and the attempt by members of this House, aided and abetted by the Government, under cover of reform of the process effectively to clear his name was misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong.”

Mrs May also said: “It would be a mistake to think that because someone broke the rules, the rules were wrong.

“The rule on paid advocacy is a long-standing one.

“The problem came because there was an attempt to effectively let off a then-member of the House.

“That flew in the face of the rules on paid advocacy and in the face of the processes established by this House.”

The Maidenhead MP urged the Government to look at recommendations on how to strengthen rules on MPs standards put forward by a committee in 2018.

Mrs May said wider issues over the service given by MPs to their constituents is a matter “for their electorate”, before concluding: “Damage has been done to this House.

“We can start to repair that damage by accepting the report of the Committee on Standards, and I urge every member of this House to support this motion.”

Labour’s Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) said Prime Minister Boris Johnson “should be considering his position” given he “forced” Conservative MPs to “protect his paid lobbyist friend rather than doing what is right”.

He added: “By thereby doing he has egregiously eroded our democracy.”

SNP Commons leader Pete Wishart criticised the “malicious, malign attempt to undermine and smear” the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone.

It was Ms Stone’s investigation that found Mr Paterson breached the Commons code of conduct by lobbying ministers and officials for two companies paying him more than £100,000 per year.

On Monday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng apologised to Ms Stone after he publicly speculated about her future.

Mr Wishart said: “She shouldn’t be considering her position, the Leader of the House should be considering his position as should the Prime Minister because they needed to undermine the standards commissioner in order for the silly and stupid plan to work for them – of course it hasn’t worked at all.”

Opening the standards debate, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg expressed “regret” and told MPs an amendment to save Mr Paterson was a “mistake”.

Mr Rees-Mogg said: “I think it was simply the tragedy that afflicted Mr (Owen) Paterson coloured and clouded our judgement, and my judgment, incorrectly and it is as simple and as sad as that.”

He added: “I regret that the amendment conflated an individual case with more general concerns, that was a mistake.”

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