Tories Shelve Replacement for Sleaze Watchdog After Opposition Boycott Threat

The Conservative government had hoped in vain to garner support for its reforms of the semi-independent Parliamentary committee that probes misconduct allegations. But both Labour and the Scottish Nationalists have vowed to boycott the new committee.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is reportedly planning a U-turn on halting the suspension of an MP accused of paid lobbying.

Hours after the Conservatives narrowly won a vote on replacing the Parliamentary Standards Committee and its commissioner, Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg told fellow MPs on Thursday morning the changes would not be implemented without cross-party consent.

And government sources said the vote to annul the 30-day suspension of Tory North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson ordered by Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone could be re-run without a party whip in favour.

Rees-Mogg said Wednesday afternoon's vote on the amendment tabled by fellow-Tory dame Andrea Leadsom had "conflated an individual case with the general concern," adding "This link needs to be broken."

Leadsom's amendment, signed by nearly 60 Conservative MPs, mandated replacing the current mixed committee of MPs and independent laypeople — including the commissioner — with one of nine MPs from the three biggest parties, in proportion to the size of their parliamentary groups. It would have five Tories, including the chair, three Labour and one Scottish National Party (SNP) member.

Other rule changes contained in the text included giving MPs accused of misconduct the right to a representative at hearings, to cross-examine witnesses and to appeal decisions against them, in line with "natural justice".

But both Labour and the SNP. who stridently opposed the amendment which also let Paterson off the hook, vowed to boycott the committee.

"It is important that standards in this House are done on a cross-party basis," Rees-Mogg said on Wednesday morning, reiterating his call which fell on deaf ears the previous day.

"The House voted very clearly yesterday to show that it is worried about the process of handling these complaints and that we would like an appeals system, but the change would need to be on a cross-party basis and that is clearly not the case," he conceded.

"While there is a very strong feeling on both sides of the House that there is a need for an appeals process, there is equally a strong feeling that this should not be based on a single case or apply retrospectively," Rees-Mogg said in a hint that that Paterson's suspension could be re-applied.

"We will bring forward more detailed proposals once there have been cross-party discussions," he added.

Meanwhile a government source told the Daily Telegraph it was "very likely" that another vote would be held on Paterson's suspension, while one told the MailOnline: "He's going to end up being suspended."

NEW: There WILL be a vote, probably before recess, on Owen Paterson being suspended for 30 days

This is a "full fat" uturn, I understand

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) November 4, 2021

A suspension of more than two weeks would allow constituents to organise a recall petition against him, which would trigger a by-election if it collects the signatures of more than 10 per cent of registered voters.

However, Paterson's greatly-increased 63 per cent majority and margin of nearly 23,000 votes at the 2019 general election, after the allegations against him surfaced, would be very hard for second-place Labour to overturn.

Backbench Rebellion

The apparent U-turn may also have been prompted by opposition to the move from the government benches, with 35 Tory MPs abstaining and 13 defying the whip to vote against the amendment.

One of those rebels, Guildford MP Angela Richardson, was sacked as parliamentary private secretary to Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove on Wednesday evening, only to be reinstated the next morning.

Pleased to be reappointed to my role as PPS to Michael Gove. Busy department and work to get on with. #LevellingUp

— Angela Richardson MP (@AJRichardsonMP) November 4, 2021

The rebellion made unlikely bedfellows of Brexiteers, including COVID Recovery Group chair Mark Harper who voted against, and Europhile 'wets' such as Tobias Ellwood, who merely abstained.

This is one of the most unedifying episodes I have seen in my 16 years as a Member of Parliament.

My colleagues should not have been instructed, from the very top, to vote for this.

This must not happen again. https://t.co/8a1kXGcHwA

— Mark Harper (@Mark_J_Harper) November 4, 2021

My reasons for NOT supporting the Government last night:

Pleased to see Government is now reviewing the situation. https://t.co/qRsNSkdytC

— Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) November 4, 2021

Labour MP for Norwich Clive Lewis said the scandal was a result of the Conservative's connections to big business — the class it has represented in politics since the 19th century — but added that his own party needed to back radical change rather than defending the status quo.

2. The Labour Party has to offer more to the public than a defence of a system that sets the bar for what counts as political corruption far too low. It’s increasingly obvious that only systemic change of our politics is going to bring democracy to the UK.

— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) November 4, 2021

Paterson has claimed Stone's decision to suspend him — for raising concerns over carcinogenic additives to milk and ham allegedly on behalf of two companies that paid him as a consultant —was pre-judged based on a 2019 article in The Guardian, and that she refused to take into account 18 written statements in his support. He also blamed the suicide of his wife Rose last year on the strain of the disciplinary process.