Tory facing ban over lobbying rule breach

MP got £112k for ‘paid advocacy’

A FORMER Northern Ireland Secretary faces a 30-day suspension from Parliament over serious breaches of ethics rules.

Owen Paterson repeatedly used his position as an MP to lobby for two Ni-based companies that paid him a combined £112,000 a year, a standards report found.

The Tory MP breached four parts of the MPS’ code of conduct and brought the House of Commons “into disrepute”, the Commons Standards Committee said. The “egregious” breaches, between 2016 and 2018, were so serious they caused “significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons”, the report added.

If approved by MPS, the suspension would trigger a recall petition, allowing voters a chance to boot Mr Paterson out of his North Shropshire seat.

The report said Mr Paterson made approaches to the Food Standards Agency about Randox, a clinical diagnostics firm that paid him £100,000 a year, and meat firm Lynn’s Country Foods, which paid him £12,000 a year.

Mr Paterson, who declared the payments on the MPS’ register of interests, denied wrongdoing and said he was highlighting issues of antibiotics in milk, nitrites in bacon and concerns over lab equipment.

But the scathing report said while one approach to the FSA in 2016 fell within the rules, 14 others did not.

It said: “This is an egregious case of paid advocacy... No previous case of paid advocacy has seen so many breaches.”

Mr Paterson, who has a 22,949 majority, suggested the “tortuous” probe contributed to his wife Rose’s suicide last year.

But the Committee said it had addressed and rejected each of his arguments about how the inquiry was run.

Boris Johnson’s spokesman refused to say if Tory MPS would be asked to back suspending Mr Paterson when the motion is put to the Commons.

Owen Paterson APPROACHES