Paterson resigns as new vote called
A TORY MP who voted against the government over the suspension of Owen Paterson has welcomed the U-turn on the controversy, writes Phil Corrigan
Newcastle MP Aaron Bell was one of 13 Tories who defied the party whip to vote against the controversial proposal to block Mr Paterson’s 30-day suspension from the Commons.
The suspension had been recommended by the cross-party Commons Standards Committee after the North Shropshire MP had been found to have made an ‘egregious breach’ of lobbying rules.
On Wednesday MPS voted 250 to 232 to put off the suspension and undertake a major overhaul of the disciplinary process.
The amendment had been backed by Boris Johnson and all but two of the MPS who voted for it were Conservatives – prompting a major backlash and accusations of sleaze.
But yesterday morning the government announced that the reform of the standards process would not go ahead without cross-party support, and would not apply retroactively to Mr Paterson’s case. Mr Paterson, who was told about the U-turn in advance, announced his resignation shortly afterwards.
Mr Bell, who said during Wednesday’s Commons debate that the amendment would look like ‘moving the goalposts’, welcomed the government’s decision to back down on the issue.
He said: “I welcome the government’s change of heart and commitment to work cross-party on improving the system for investigating allegations against MPS.
“The vote conflated two issues that should have been kept separate, and sought to potentially set aside a finding from an established process. I could not support this, which is why I chose to vote against the government on it.”
Stoke-on-trent South MP Jack Brereton and Stoke-on-trent Central MP Jo Gideon were among the Conservatives who voted for the amendment. Neither responded to requests for comment yesterday.
Mr Paterson, whose constituency borders Mr Bell’s, broke parliamentary rules by repeatedly lobbying ministers for two companies which were paying him £100,000 a year.
He rejected the findings of the standards committee and criticised the disciplinary process, and Mr Paterson’s supporters said his case demonstrated the flaws within the current system.
But on Thursday morning, Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-mogg said Mr Paterson’s case and the wider need for reform had become ‘conflated’ – a point repeatedly raised the previous day by Mr Bell and others during Wedneday’s debate.
Mr Rees-mogg said: “I fear the debate conflated the individual case with the general concern. This link needs to be broken.
“Therefore, I and others will look to work on a cross-party basis to achieve improvements in our system for future cases. We will bring forward more detailed proposals once there have been crossparty discussions.”
Tory MPS had been ordered to vote for the controversial plans on Wednesday.