Disgraced MP declares: I would do it again

A DEFIANT Owen Paterson insisted last night he would ‘do it again’ as it emerged that he had earnt more than £500,000 from two companies at the centre of the lobbying row.

The ex-Cabinet minister still earns £112,000 a year from the firms – £100,000 of which is from clinical diagnostics company Randox.

The other firm, Lynn’s Country Foods, has paid him £2,000 a month – for four hours’ work every other month – since January 2017.

Mr Paterson was found to have repeatedly lobbied on behalf of the firms but last night he defiantly stood by his actions, saying that by raising concerns about carcinogenic products in milk and ham he had ‘saved lives’. He told the BBC: ‘If it happened again this morning, I would do it again.’

He added on Sky he would have ‘no question’ doing the same again. ‘No, I wouldn’t hesitate tomorrow. Absolutely,’ he said.

And in a statement, he said: ‘The process I was subjected to did not comply with natural justice. No proper investigation was undertaken by the commissioner or committee.

‘After two years of hell, I now have the opportunity to clear my name. I hope that no other MP will ever again be subject to this shockingly inadequate process.’

Mr Paterson’s register of interests says he earns £12,000 a year from Lynn’s as a ‘consultant’ to the sausage processing and distribution company.

Since August 2015, he has worked as a consultant to Randox Laboratories, for which he initially earned £4,166 a month for eight hours’ work. This rose to £8,333 a month and his hours doubled to 16 a month in April 2017, the Committee on Standards said.

Its report, which relates to Mr Paterson’s conduct between October 2016 and February 2020, said his remuneration from Randox and Lynn’s amounted to nearly three times his annual parliamentary salary. As a backbench MP, Mr Paterson earns a basic annual salary of £81,932.

His work for Randox and Lynn’s means he has earned more than £500,000 since 2015 on top of his salary as an MP. Mr Paterson told the inquiry he did not have written contracts with the two firms, the report said.

The Standards Commissioner said she expressed ‘surprise’ to him and would have expected him to have written contracts. She added it was not clear ‘what duties were expected’ of him after the initial phase of his work for Randox or his work for Lynn’s.