One of the longest bans issued by Commons in 70 years
IAN Paisley is the third MP in the history of Westminster politics to be slapped with a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons.
He joins the late Conservative MP Teresa Gorman, and Labour’s Keith Vaz in receiving a ban for 30 sitting days — the longest suspension term issued to a member of the Commons since 1949.
Despite their very different political backgrounds, all three have found themselves embroiled in high-profile scandals connected to their finances.
Mrs Gorman came under investigation by the standards and privileges committee in February
2000 for failing to disclose in the Register of Members’ Interests her three rented-out properties in south London and in Portugal.
Years previously she had introduced
a bill to repeal the Rent Act without declaring an interest.
She subsequently left the Commons at the 2001 election before passing away in 2015.
Meanwhile, Mr Vaz found himself suspended in 2002 after he accepted the findings of the standards and privileges committee report, which accused him of seeking to obstruct an investigation into his financial affairs.
He is currently the subject of an ongoing Commons’ watchdog probe to determine whether or not he broke parliamentary rules by paying for male escorts while chairing an inquiry into vice laws.
Political anoraks may also recall that Mr Paisley’s suspension exceeds that of his late father, the Rev Ian Paisley.
He was suspended for a total of 10 days for disorderly conduct in two separate Commons’ bans in 1981 and 1993.