Let us hope Owen can now mourn in peace

OWEN Paterson made the right decision to quit Parliament yesterday as the Government was forced to abandon its plans for an overhaul of the MPs’ standards watchdog.

Parliamentarians from all parties will hope that his departure from Westminster gives him a new measure of peace and the opportunity to mourn his beloved wife, Rose, who took her life last year.

There is deep sympathy for Mr Paterson who described the last two years as an “indescribable nightmare for my family and me”. In his resignation statement he said life without his wife “will always be grey, sad and ultimately meaningless”.

There are concerns on both sides of the House about how MPs are scrutinised and disciplined, but the Government was widely condemned for whipping MPs to reject the recommendations of the standards committee that the North Shropshire MP be suspended for 30 days.

Mr Paterson is adamant he did nothing wrong and that he was right to raise concerns about threats to health. However, the debacle shows that any MP who receives payments from outside organisations should expect scrutiny of how this could affect their political activities.

It would be regrettable if Mr Paterson’s lobbying work obscured his contributions as Northern Ireland Secretary and Environment Secretary. He brought his formidable energy to these roles and now hopes to support suicide prevention efforts.

This is not how he would have wanted his political career to end, but we hope he finds solace in the company of a family he so clearly loves.