Abuse of mandate
British Conservatives stop suspension of MPs
Owen Paterson, United Kingdom Conservative MP for North Shropshire. Photo: Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire / dpa / archive image
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The opposition in Westminster accuses the ruling Conservative Party that rules apply to others, but not to them. It is about abuse of office by a member of parliament.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative British ruling party has stopped the temporary suspension of one of its MPs in the House of Commons.
Earlier, a parliamentary committee concluded that the conservative politician Owen Paterson had abused his mandate to lobby companies for which he worked as a consultant and from which he received significant payments.
The committee recommended that Paterson be expelled from parliament for 30 days. The Tories now took the vote in the House of Commons as an opportunity to question the entire investigation process for alleged misconduct by MPs. Until a new system is in place, the penalty remains on hold.
The MPs voted with a narrow majority for an amendment to the original resolution proposal. Now a committee with a Tory majority is to reform the investigation process and decide whether Paterson’s case should be reassessed. The opposition criticized the decision. Several MPs shouted “Shame, shame”. Even a dozen or so members of the ruling party voted against the proposal.
«This vote is absolutely lazy. The Tories think rules are something other people have to obey, but they aren’t, ”said Labor MP David Lammy.