Owen Paterson: Minister defends U-turn over MP's conduct probe

A cabinet minister has apologised for the government's botched attempt to rewrite MPs' conduct rules.

No 10 initially backed an overhaul of the system, alongside blocking the suspension of Tory MP Owen Paterson for breaking lobbying rules.

But it later made a dramatic U-turn, amid an outcry from opposition MPs and some Tories.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said backtracking on the "mistake" was the "grown-up thing to do".

However, he said it was right for the government to continue with one part of its proposals - introducing a "right of appeal" for MPs under investigation.

He told the BBC that allowing MPs to formally appeal against the published conclusions of the MPs' standards watchdog "speaks to British values".

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Mr Zahawi also denied claims Prime Minister Boris Johnson wanted the system changed to avoid an inquiry into the redecoration of his Downing Street flat.

But speaking to reporters later, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government's actions were "all about" stopping investigations into the PM.

"It's because Boris Johnson does not want to be held [to] account for his actions," she added.

The row began on Wednesday when the government ordered its MPs to oppose a 30-day suspension for Mr Paterson and review the whole investigation process.

'Full confidence'

The Commons Standards Committee had proposed the sanction after a damning report by Parliament's standards commissioner Kathryn Stone found he had misused his position as an MP to benefit two firms he worked for as a paid consultant.

But after fierce criticism from opposition parties and some Conservative MPs, who refused to vote for the move, Downing Street backtracked, meaning Mr Paterson would face suspension after all.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said there was anger among some Tories that they had been ordered to vote for the controversial plan only to see it dropped the following day, with one telling her it had "destroyed a lot of goodwill" with Downing Street.

On Friday, No 10 said Mr Johnson had "full confidence" in Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg and chief whip Mark Spencer, who reportedly pushed Tory MPs hard to back the changes.

Chris Bryant, chairman of the Commons Standards Committee, told the i newspaper that Mr Rees-Mogg's position was "untenable" after the government's U-turn on Thursday.

Mr Bryant said: "I personally think the Leader of the House's position has become untenable.

"He has created a crisis for Parliament by standing out and talking for 45 minutes in favour of a motion that was the direct, polar opposite of the rule of law."

After Thursday's U-turn, Mr Paterson, who denies wrongdoing, announced he would stand down as MP for North Shropshire and seek a life "outside the cruel world of politics".

He has insisted his approaches to ministers had been to alert them about defects in safety regulations, and that the probe into his behaviour was unfair.

On Friday, the former environment and Northern Ireland secretary also said he would be "stepping aside" from his consultancy work.

A spokesperson for one of his employers, healthcare diagnostics company Randox, said it acknowledged his desire to step down "at this difficult time" and they wished "Owen and his family well in their future endeavours".

'Made a mistake'

Labour has confirmed it intends to stand a candidate in the by-election to replace him - after initially exploring the idea of teaming up with other opposition parties to back an independent "anti-sleaze" candidate in the contest.

Owen Paterson quit on Thursday - but insisted he was "totally innocent" of breaking lobbying rules

Speaking on Friday, Mr Zahawi said the government still wanted to change the standards system but it had "made a mistake" in attempting to "conflate" this with Mr Paterson's case.

He said the government now wanted to "separate those things out" and "do this properly".

"To admit a mistake, I think, is the right thing to do, and the grown-up thing to do," he added.

He insisted ministers would continue to put forward plans for a "fairer system" for investigating MPs, including giving them the right to appeal against the watchdog's findings.

However, it remains unclear whether opposition parties will collaborate with the government over its plans for reform.

Asked on Friday whether Labour would co-operate, Ms Rayner said her party did not want to link any potential talks to any particular case.

But she added: "If there are discussions outside of individual cases about how we can improve systems, then of course we'll have those discussions."

'Immense harm'

Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats had all vowed to boycott a special committee Tory MPs had wanted to set up to conduct a review.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said Mr Johnson "must explain how he intends to fix the immense harm he has done to confidence in the probity of him and his MPs".

Labour and the SNP have also insisted Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone must be allowed to continue her work scrutinising other MPs.

On Friday, Labour called for the commissioner to investigate whether the prime minister needed to declare a free holiday he received last month in the MPs' register of interests.

It came after Mr Johnson declared his stay at a Spanish villa owned by the family of Tory minister Lord Goldsmith in a separate list of ministers' interests.

The PM's spokesman has argued this was the correct place for Mr Johnson to declare the holiday, as it was provided by another minister.

What did Owen Paterson do?

Owen Paterson watched on in the Commons as MPs debated whether to suspend him

Mr Paterson has been a paid consultant for clinical diagnostics company Randox since 2015 and to meat distributor Lynn's Country Foods since 2016, earning a total of £100,000 a year on top of his MP's salary.

MPs are allowed to have these jobs, but are not allowed to be paid advocates - using their influence in Whitehall for the company's gain.

The committee concluded that Mr Paterson had breached this rule on paid advocacy by:

• Making three approaches to the Food Standards Agency relating to Randox and the testing of antibiotics in milk

• Making seven approaches to the Food Standards Agency relating to Lynn's Country Foods

• Making four approaches to ministers at the Department for International Development relating to Randox and blood testing technology.

Mr Paterson was also found to have broken conduct rules by:

• Failing to declare his interest as a paid consultant to Lynn's Country Foods in four emails to officials at the Food Standards Agency

• Using his parliamentary office on 16 occasions for business meetings with his clients

• And in sending two letters relating to his business interests, on House of Commons headed notepaper.

Full guide to the controversy

Who's who in the Owen Paterson row?