Owen Paterson resigns as MP after paid lobbying scandal

Owen Paterson has resigned as the Tory MP for North Shropshire after being found to have breached lobbying rules, saying: “I will remain a public servant but outside the cruel world of politics.”

Boris Johnson’s government performed a U-turn over the decision to block the former cabinet minister’s suspension with plans to create a Conservative-dominated committee to rewrite House of Commons sleaze rules.

Wednesday’s vote prompted widespread outrage, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branding it government “corruption” and the chair of the current Standards Committee describing it as the kind of action that might be expected in Russia.