MPS’ expenses scandal ‘a billion times worse’ than Tory sleaze row
NADINE DORRIES has clashed with a fellow Tory MP over claims the recent sleaze allegations have damaged the party, insisting the current crisis is “a long way from the worst”.
Leaked messages from a Tory MP Whatsapp chat group show the Culture Secretary giving a dressing down to George Freeman, a junior minister.
Ms Dorries insisted that the MPS’ expenses scandal of 2009 was “a billion times worse” than the current claims of sleaze over second jobs, The Times reported.
Mr Freeman, a science and research minister, said on Thursday that “the damage from last week will take a lot more than good words to repair”.
His comments followed claims that MPS, including Sir Geoffrey Cox, the former Attorney General, had overlooked their parliamentary duties in favour of lucrative contracts with private firms.
“Totally not true George, those of us who were here in 2009 know that isn’t the case,” Ms Dorries responded.
“The expenses scandal, which began the day of the European elections campaign in 2009 and ended on the day of the ballot, was a billion times worse than last week.
“Every single MP was in the media. Half a dozen MPS were banged into prison. Many had to pay huge sums of money back in expenses claimed.
“We dominated (mainly Tories, because the press always go harder on us) the front page of every single newspaper and bulletin for five whole weeks.
“Last week wasn’t great, but it was a long way from the worst.”
The Government is under pressure from all sides to reform the MPS’ standards system, after a row over the alleged lobbying activities of Owen Paterson spilled into a wider debate on propriety
‘With expenses every MP was in the media ... last week wasn’t great but it was a long way from the worst’
in public life. Mr Paterson has since resigned his Commons seat, telling his constituents of North Shropshire that he would leave the “cruel world of politics”.
He still maintains that representations he made on behalf of two companies were in the public interest.
Earlier this week Boris Johnson was forced to declare to the world’s media that “Britain is not a corrupt country”, after a press conference at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow was dominated by sleaze claims directed at MPS.
Yesterday the Prime Minister rejected suggestions that the allegations would harm the Tory turnout in upcoming by-elections. He visited Sidcup in south-east London where voters will elect a new member of Parliament next month after James Brokenshire, a former housing minister, died at the age of 53.
Mr Johnson was insistent that the strength of the candidate for the Old Bexley and Sidcup seat meant voters would back the Tories.
But Lord Evans, the chairman of the committee on standards in public life, said the electorate did care about these issues. At an event for University College London’s Constitution Unit research centre, he said: “Standards matter for our democracy, they matter for our economic prosperity, and for our international influence and our foreign policy. The past week has shown that standards do matter to the public.”
Last night Scotland Yard ruled out an investigation into a complaint that Tory peers had paid for peerages.
It followed letters from SNP MPS Pete Wishart and Angus Macneil asking police to consider looking into the “cash for honours” claims.
Last night, polling showed Labour has raced to a six-point lead over the Tories in the wake of the sleaze allegations. A survey of voting intention by Savanta and Comres for the Daily Mail found 40 per cent of voters backed Labour, up from 35 last week, while the Tories had slumped from 38 per cent last week to 34 per cent this week.