UK Ministers Slammed For ‘Total Farce’ as BoJo’s Gov’t Botches U-Turn on Owen Paterson Sleaze Row
08:54 GMT 16.11.2021 (Updated: 15:16 GMT 28.05.2023)
© REUTERS / HANNAH MCKAY / Britain's PM Boris Johnson meets Jordan's King Abdullah II, in London
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Boris Johnson has been under fire for an attempt on 4 November to save ex-Tory lawmaker Owen Paterson, guilty of breaking lobbying rules, from a 30-day suspension imposed by the Commons standards watchdog. While ministers U-turned the following day, ditching a proposed rethink of parliament's disciplinary processes, the sleaze row has rumbled on.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been ridiculed for its failed attempt to draw a line under the Owen Paterson sleaze scandal, reported The Guardian. Opposition MPs have declared the botched bid by ministers to get their infamous U-turn on the lobbying scandal through parliament - supposed to be a formality - as a "total farce".
On Monday, the government had hoped to approve a motion to scrap the controversial standards rethink that had originally been suggested as a way to help ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson, found guilty of breaching lobbying rules, dodge punishment. Furthermore, they planned to have MPs accept the findings of parliament's standards watchdog against Paterson, who has since resigned as MP.
However, the motion failed due to dissent among Tory ranks. As deputy speaker Nigel Evans read out the name of the motion at 10pm there followed a single shout of "object" from the Commons benches. The intervention is said to have come from veteran Conservative backbencher Christopher Chope, which under parliamentary procedure means the motion is blocked.
Evans is said to have accepted the objection to a chorus of voices exclaiming "wow" and "surprise, surprise". Nigel Evans said it would now be "up to the government to re-programme that particular motion".
According to the Labour Party’s Chris Bryant, who is Chair of the Parliamentary Standards Committee that recommended Owen Paterson's suspension, said there would now be a one-hour debate on Tuesday on rescinding the 3 November motion and to approve the findings regarding the ex-Tory MP.
Embarrassing Divide
Tory MPs have been fuming at the failed attempt to pass the motion "on the nod", without the need for a vote.
“He has been for many year a Jurassic embarrassment – tonight he crossed a line. The man should retire and the executive are livid. If he comes into the team room tomorrow, colleagues would want to say two words to him and the second word would be ‘off’,” a minister was cited by The Guardian as saying of Christopher Chope.
The veteran MP was slammed as a “selfish twat” by another source, with other backbenchers deploring the fact that the situation was “handing Labour a freebie”. Meanwhile, Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow leader of the Commons, called on the PM to “get a grip”.
“You couldn’t make it up. Two weeks ago the Prime Minister forced Tory MPs to tear up the rules on Standards just to protect one of their own. Now they can't even clear up their own mess,” Debbonaire was cited as saying.
He added that the “farce” was of the Tory Party’s “own making, and serves Boris Johnson right for trying to sneak a u-turn out at night rather than do the decent thing and come to the House to apologise for the Tory sleaze scandal.”
Fallout From Sleaze Row
On 3 November, Conservative MPs encouraged by Johnson had not only voted to save Paterson from a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons imposed by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone, but opted to create a new Tory-dominated committee to overhaul parliament's standard’s system.
Conservative MP Owen Paterson (R) and former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage arrive for a press conference on the impact of Brexit on the fisheries industry in London on February 28, 2017
© AFP 2023 / JUSTIN TALLIS
Former Tory MP for North Shropshire Owen Paterson had been facing a ban over an “egregious case of paid advocacy” after a report approved by a group of cross-party MPs on the standards committee. The politician was found to have repeatedly lobbied on behalf of two companies which paid him more than £100,000 annually.
However, Boris Johnson's government, instead of endorsing the standards watchdog's punishment, sought a reprieve for Paterson by attempting to rip up the parliamentary disciplinary rulebook. An amendment tabled by Conservative backbencher Dame Andrea Leadsom had mandated an overhaul of the standards system itself. A proposed new committee would have been chaired by a Tory MP and reviewed the existing processes for investigating sleaze claims.
However, after a barrage of criticism, the Government performed a U-turn the following day, scrapping the proposed reforms. Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, at the time weighed in on Stone’s future in her role, saying on breakfast radio:
“It’s difficult to see what the future of the commissioner is, given the fact that we’re reviewing the process, that we’re overturning and trying to reform this whole process… It’s up to the commissioner to decide her position.”
Kwasi Kwarteng has since apologised to parliament’s standards commissioner, writing to Kathryn Stone to express regret over his choice of words. “I did not mean to express doubt about your ability to discharge your role and I apologise for any upset or distress my choice of words may have caused,” he said.
NEW: @KwasiKwarteng has apologised to parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Stone after calling for her to be sacked.
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) November 15, 2021
"I did not mean to express doubt about your ability to discharge your role and I apologise for any upset or distress my choice of words may have caused." pic.twitter.com/UEWqdW10lg
In the wake of the government’s controversial climb-down, there has been a call for scrutiny of other lawmakers’ second jobs and outside interests. Boris Johnson was accused of “running scared” by missing an emergency debate on the issue.
Amid criticism of Johnson’s refusal to apologise for the Paterson scandal, Tories have slumped in the polls.
🚨NEW Westminster Voting Intention🚨
— Savanta ComRes (@SavantaComRes) November 12, 2021
📈6pt Labour lead
On behalf of the Daily Mail
🔴Lab 40 (+5)
🔵Con 34 (-4)
🟠LDM 10 (=)
🟡SNP 5 (=)
🟢Grn 5 (+1)
⚪️Other 7 (-2)
2,019 UK adults, 11-12 Nov
(Changes from 5-7 Nov) pic.twitter.com/vwB4eU6GhU
Forty per cent of people would vote for Labour in an election today compared to just 34 per cent for the Tories, according to data from a Savanta ComRes poll commissioned by the Daily Mail, carried out on 11 November. Two thirds of voters believe the Conservatives are “very sleazy”, according to YouGov.
