Inside Politics: Emergency Commons debate called as Paterson sleaze row deepens

Debate on MPs’ standards as opposition parites call for probes into how No 10 handled case of former minister, writes Matt Mathers

Monday 08 November 2021 08:35 GMT

(PA)

Boris Johnson and the Tory Party’s poll ratings have taken a hit in recent days and could well slump further this week as the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal refuses to go away. The story again splashes the front of several news outlets this morning days after the North Shropshire MP quit his seat after being found to have breached lobbying rules, hitting out at the “cruel world of politics”. Johnson is himself well accustomed to the cruel ways of Westminster and faces another difficult week ahead, as fresh questions are raised about the luxury makeover of his No 10 flat, sleaze in the House of Lords as well as accusations by former Conservative PM John Major that he is “politically corrupt”, which he denies. Johnson must later today deal with an embarrassing emergency debate on MPs’ standards, called by oppositions parties who are demanding investigations into the affair and keen to inflict more pain on the government. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, feels compelled to intervene and will later set out his plans to uphold the integrity of parliament and is expected to bring forward proposals for an independent review of the standards committee.

Inside the bubble

Work and pensions questions at 2.30pm followed by an emergency debate on MPs standards.

Coming up:

– International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

– Shadow child poverty secretary Wes Streeting on LBC at 9.05am

Daily Briefing

FUEL ON THE FIRE: George Eustice, the environment secretary, went out on the broadcast round yesterday and appeared to pour petrol on the large Paterson-shaped fire, batting away his former colleague’s breach of rules and the government’s botched attempt to rip up sleaze rules as a “storm in a tea cup”. Speaking to Sky News, Eustice admitted the government had made a mistake but insisted that MPs had conflated Paterson’s case with a legitimate need to reform the standards system, a defence used by ministers last week who found it difficult to answer questions on why the Conservatives, in power for over a decade, had waited until Wednesday to try to change the system. “I think what we’ve seen is a sort of Westminster storm in a teacup, if I may say so,” Eustice said. “Yes, we made a mistake in bringing that forward in the way that we did so we withdrew it, but the overall principle — that you should have due process and a right of appeal in these types of situations — I don’t think anybody doubts.”

CALLS FOR APOLOGY: Opposition parties, keen to pile pressure on the government, believe that there is a wider concern about the integrity of MPs and parliament at stake which makes the case much more than a storm in a teacup. The Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into how the government handled the case while Labour is demanding an investigation into the hundreds of millions of pounds worth of contracts given to Randox – one of the firms Paterson worked for while serving as an MP – during the pandemic. Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, is expected to call on the PM to apologise. Appearing on the Andrew Marr show yesterday Starmer, who faced questions about one of his own shadow ministers working for a lobbying firm, called on Johson to consider his position and urged him to attend today’s debate. “Boris Johnson needs to attend this debate, answer for his mistakes, apologise to the country and take action to undo the damage he has done,” he said. “The country is yet to hear a word of contrition over his attempts to create one rule for him and his friends and another for everyone else. He must now come to the House and say sorry. And he needs to go beyond just words. Today, the prime minister must begin to clean out the filthy Augean stable he has created.”

TRADE DEAL THREAT: The EU could plunge Britain into a no-deal Brexit if Boris Johnson ditches his agreement on Northern Ireland, the Irish government has warned. Speaking on Sunday, foreign minister Simon Coveney said that any move to trigger Article 16 and suspend the protocol would have “serious” consequences. Coveney said continuation of the free trade agreement between the UK and EU was “contingent on” the Northern Ireland deal continuing to operate. “I believe that if the British government essentially refuses to implement the protocol, even with the extraordinary flexibilities that are now on offer, and instead looks to set it aside then I think the EU will respond in a very serious way to that,” Coveney told broadcaster RTE. His comments come days after de-facto Brexit minister Lord Frost made “limited” progress with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic. Meanwhile, the government’s own figures show the UK’s Brexit losses are more than 178 times bigger than trade deal gains.

COP CASH BOOST: The government is pledging new funding totalling £290 million, largely to help countries across Asia and the Pacific better prepare for extreme weather and other potential changes. Diplomats and negotiators are hoping to raise further funding pledges from other countries to add to the billions already raised from states including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the US. Ministers from various countries are to focus on the issue on Monday with a dedicated “climate adaptation loss and damage day”.

TRAFFICKING FEARS: Priti Patel’s immigration bill risks hampering the prosecution of human traffickers in the UK and making it more difficult for people to escape exploitation, senior police officers have warned. Cross-party MPs, including two former Tory leaders, and the country’s leading prosecutor in trafficking cases, have also criticised the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which is currently going through parliament, saying it will “water down” vital protections for modern slavery victims. The bill includes a number of changes to modern slavery support, which the home secretary says will prevent people from being able to “frustrate immigration action” by disclosing late in the process that they have suffered abuse.

On the record

“There’s a little bit of me, Andrew, I am afraid that can’t help think that the prime minister is constantly trying to pick a fight on things like this so he hopes people don’t look elsewhere in the forest, which are things like the Owen Paterson affair.”

Starmer suggests PM is using Brexit fights to distract from other areas.

From the Twitterati

“As I argued here, the only reason not to reform the House of Lords is because of the effort involved. A new chamber, including mayors and representatives of devolved parliaments, can improve the bonds of the Union as well as address the English question.”