Boris Johnson news live: Minister suggests standards chief should quit amid Owen
Labour accuses Boris Johnson of rewriting parliamentary rules amid sleaze row
The parliamentary standards commissioner should quit after MPs voted to overhaul the way sleaze probes are handled, a cabinet minister has suggested.
Despite Kathryn Stone’s insistence she plans to serve her full term, Kwasi Kwarteng said this morning: “I think it’s difficult to see what the future of the commissioner is, given the fact that we’re … overturning and trying to reform this whole process.”
Yesterday’s vote was described by one Conservative as “a dark day for integrity” as Labour accused Boris Johnson of “wallowing in sleaze”.
MPs voted by a slim margin to create a new body that would allow for an appeals process, though some 100 Tories refused to back it. It followed the standards committee’s recommendation that Owen Paterson, the Conservative MP, be suspended for having conducted paid lobbying of the government.
Mr Paterson claims the probe was shoddy and that officials had failed to interview witnesses he proposed. He said he would now have the chance to clear his name after “two years of hell”.
Labour piling on the pressure this morning
Senior members of the Labour Party are attempting to pile pressure on the government over its sleaze plans this morning.
Anneliese Dodds, the chair of the party, told Times Radio it was a “stitch-up”.
Labour, along with the Lib Dems and SNP, has said it will not send MPs to sit on the new Tory-led standards body.
Ms Dodds said: “This is extremely damaging to public trust in parliament and Labour instead wants to be building up that trust, not knocking it down.”
Meanwhile, Chris Bryant, who chairs the current standards committee, compared Boris Johnson’s move to Russian corruption, calling it a “perversion of justice”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s not what we do in this country – it’s what they do in Russia when a friend or a foe is suddenly under the cosh in the courts.”
Mr Bryant added: “How could you possibly change the rules without cross-party agreement? The government has created a rod for its own back here.”
Jon Sharman4 November 2021 08:29
Full story: Parliament’s sleaze watchdog chief should quit, says unrepentant Owen Paterson
Conservative MP Owen Paterson has called on the parliamentary standards commissioner to quit after his party saved him from suspension over the watchdog’s ruling that he broke lobbying rules, writes Adam Forrest.
Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of “corruption” after protecting Mr Paterson from a 30-day suspension and establish a new, Tory-led committee to review the standards system.
Jon Sharman4 November 2021 08:10
Kwarteng says standards commissioner should consider her position
Kwasi Kwarteng has suggested the parliamentary standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, should consider quitting in the wake of yesterday’s vote to set up a new sleaze body.
Ms Stone has said she intends to serve out her current term.
The business secretary, asked if Ms Stone should quit, told Sky News: “I think it’s difficult to see what the future of the commissioner is,…
Read More: Boris Johnson news live: Minister suggests standards chief should quit amid Owen