Displaying items by tag: Owen Paterson

Sir Keir Starmer accused Tories of ‘wallowing in sleaze’ after they voted to protect the Conservative MP Owen Paterson from suspension over lobbying claims. Starmer said the Labour party would not have anything to do with a complete and utter sham process and will boycott the commission set up to overhaul the parliamentary sleaze system. Boris Johnson initially threw his weight behind an amendment tabled by Andrea Leadsom which will halt Paterson’s punishment until a new cross-party committee, chaired by John Whittingdale, has examined the standards system. But now, the level of cross-part opposition has forced Boris Johnson to withdraw this plan, and Owen Paterson has resigned as an MP.