MP wants to review standard system before vote on repeal of lobbying rule violations

Conservative MPs will seek to save a colleague who breached lobbying rules from suspension from the House of Commons, citing concerns about the investigation process into alleged misconduct.

Tory MP Owen Paterson, for North Shropshire, was found guilty of an “egregious” breach of standards when he lobbied ministers and officials at two companies that paid him more than £100,000 a year.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone recommended that he be banned from entering the House of Commons for six weeks, equivalent to 30 sitting days.

But amendments tabled ahead of a vote on the case scheduled for Wednesday appeared to delay or remove any sanctions. Government leaders will urge Tory MPs and ministers to support attempts to reform standard operating procedures, The Telegraph reported.

An amendment tabled by former Speaker of the House of Commons Dame Andrea Leadsom proposes the establishment of a new committee to examine, among other things, whether the case against Mr Paterson should be reopened.

Another amendment, tabled by New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis, states that no further action should be taken “on humanitarian grounds”. This proposal was supported by his Conservative colleagues William Wragg and Peter Bone, with a total of 13 MPs supporting the request by Tuesday evening.

Mr Paterson said the way the investigation was conducted had “undoubtedly” played a “huge role” in his wife Rose’s decision to end her life last year.

And he angrily disputed the report’s findings, claiming the investigation was conducted unfairly.

On Tuesday, Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg expressed understanding for the MP’s claim that the Commissioner had not spoken to 17 witnesses who had come forward in his support, describing the decision as “interesting”.

Mr Rees-Mogg said on his ConservativeHome podcast: “It is always very important that systems appear fair and therefore if someone has witnesses, it usually seems fair to listen to those witnesses.”

“The Commissioner said in her adopted report … that the witnesses were not needed because their statements were not relevant to the investigation.

“And that’s an interesting way to look at it, because other people might say, ‘How do you know it was relevant to the investigation until you’ve looked at their evidence and found out the exact context of how things went down?'”

As part of Dame Andrea’s proposals, MPs on a Conservative-majority committee chaired by former culture secretary John Whittingdale would examine whether the system of standards should be similar to that used to investigate misconduct in other workplaces, including the right to representation, the questioning of witnesses and the right to appeal.

It will also examine whether Mr Paterson’s case in particular should be reviewed.

But Labour warned against “turning the clock back to the Neil Hamilton era, when there was money for questions and no independent standardisation process”.

Thangam Debbonaire, shadow leader of the House of Commons, said: “We must not forget that the cross-party standards committee, which includes three Tory MPs, approved the 30-day penalty imposed on the commissioner for breaching the rules on paid advocacy.”

She said: “The Tories want to throw out the system that has served us well and that was crucial in restoring public confidence after the dark days of Conservative corruption to which this government seems determined to return.”

Mr Rees-Mogg said there was “precedent” for amending a motion to suspend an MP, with the last time this happened was in 1947.

However, the decision whether an amendment is accepted rests with the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Sir Lindsay’s spokeswoman did not deny a report in The Times that said he believed lifting the suspension would damage the House’s reputation.

Ms Stone’s investigation revealed that Mr Paterson repeatedly lobbied on behalf of two companies for which he was a paid consultant – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods.

But the MP hit back, saying the investigation, which found he had breached rules on paid advocacy for MPs, was a “biased and unfair process”.

Standards Committee chairman Chris Bryant urged MPs to read the report “in full, with an open mind and without bias” and warned against rejecting it, saying it would be an unprecedented move in the committee’s 36-year history.

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