Inside Politics: Ex-attorney general Geoffrey Cox accused of working second job from Commons office

Labour calls for probe into West Devon MP, claiming he may have breached parliamentary code, as PM makes early dart to Glasgow for second Cop26 visit, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Yesterday, Boris Johnson was accused of “running scared”. Today, he is charged with simply running away. After dodging an emergency Commons debate and refusing to apologise over the Paterson case, Downing Street has announced the PM will travel (by train) back to Cop26 in Glasgow later, leading some MPs to joke that he now sees Scotland as safer territory than London, such has been the frequency and intensity of “Tory sleaze” attacks over the past few days. Is he attempting to change the conversation? It remains to be seen how much Johnson can achieve by going to the climate talks two days earlier than had been previously planned, for what will be largely technical negotiations. That a report published yesterday predicted the world is on course for 2.4C heating by 2100 – even with all this year’s Cop pledges factored in – certainly provides good cover for an early dart north of the border. No 10 has bowed to pressure to undo its attempt to rip up sleaze rules over the Paterson scandal, which will take some of the sting out of the story. But the scrutiny on MPs who are raking it in on second jobs is likely to continue. Some Conservatives are said to be worried that Johnson’s refusal to take any responsibility for the mess has created a hostile environment in which the media will hunt for stories about the conduct of MPs and peers. Right on cue the Daily Mail, smelling blood, today promotes on its front page a two-page “special dossier” on the “truth” about Geoffrey Cox, “the dishonourable member for the Virgin Islands”. The former attorney general faces fresh allegations today that he used his parliamentary office to carry out private work.

Inside the bubble

The Commons is in recess until 15 November. The Lords sits from 11am with questions on hereditary peer by-elections, the EU/UK trade deal and building tensions on the Russia/Ukraine border. PM holds Cop26 press conference at 4.30pm.

Coming up:

– Labour MP and standards committee chairman Chris Bryant on Sky News at 8.05am

– Health secretary Sajid Javid on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

Daily Briefing

INVISIBLE COX: Johnson has so far refused to directly criticise or intervene in the case of Cox, although he has said that MPs should be “visible” in their constituencies. “They should be...available to help constituents with their constituency matters,” the PM’s spokesperson said of the matter. “If they’re not doing that, they’re not doing their job, and will be rightly judged on that by their constituents.” As anger mounted over the behaviour of the former attorney general – who worked and voted from the Caribbean during lockdown while earning – the Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, warned of parliament being seen as a “dictatorship” if the government didn’t get its house in order over allegations of “sleaze”.

FRESH STANDARDS PROBE?: Cox could face an investigation by the Commons standards chief over claims he used his parliamentary office to carry out private work for the government of the British Virgin Islands. The former attorney general has been accused of an “egregious, brazen breach of the rules” after footage emerged purporting to show him taking part in a corruption hearing in the Caribbean country remotely from his Westminster office. Labour is calling for an investigation, saying Cox’s conduct could be a breach of the parliamentary code. The Torridge and West Devon MP refused to deny using his parliamentary office for private business when approached by The Times over the matter. The Independent has contacted Sir Geoffrey for comment. The government’s line on Cox’s conduct has so far been that it will be up to the MP’s constituents to decide whether or not he is doing his job properly. Some of them have been giving their views to The Independent, with one musing that Cox will have to use all his skills as a public speaker “to talk himself out of this one.”

HEAT IS ON: Away from SW1 and allegations of Tory sleaze, the PM’s trip to Glasgow today comes after a dire warning that countries’ short-term climate plans are still far off what is needed to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. As things stand, the world is on course to become 2.4C warmer by 2100 – even with this year’s Cop26 pledges factored in. UK minister and Cop president Alok Sharma said that negotiating teams have a “mountain to climb over the next few days” ahead of the summit’s scheduled finish time on Friday. Arriving in Glasgow later, the PM will urge world leaders to “pull out all the stops” to reach an agreement to get 1.5C back on track.

JABS FOR JOBS: Health secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed the government will make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for frontline NHS staff from 1 April next year. Speaking in the House of Commons, Javid said after considering thousands of responses to a consultation launched in the summer, “I have concluded that all those working in the NHS and social care will have to be vaccinated.” He added: “We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the NHS, protect colleagues in the NHS and of course protect the NHS itself.” Health Workers now must get the jab or face getting sacked.

On the record

“We are making progress at Cop26 but we still have a mountain to climb over the next few days. The time has now come to find consensus on areas of political divergence and we have only a few days left.”

Cop26 president Alok Sharma on state of play at crucial climate summit in Glasgow.

From the Twitterati

“Few wisecracks around Westminster that the decision to go is at least in part because PM’d rather be anywhere but SW1 after the last few days and wants to change the conversation after 7 days of sleaze.”

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg hears there may be more to Johnson’s Cop26 visit than first meets the eye.

Essential reading

• Marie Le Conte, The Independent: Are male MPs better at behaving badly? Just look at the latest Tory sleaze scandal
• John Rentoul, The Independent: Starmer has slipped up in his assault on Tory ethical standards
• Helen Thompson, New Statesman: Politicians must tell the truth: we all need to use less energy for the climate
• Aris Roussinos, UnHerd: How America can save Taiwan

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