Boris Johnson has conceded that MPs should be banned from acting as paid political consultants for private companies.
The Tory leader was shamed into action ahead of a Labour vote in the Commons demanding MPs be banned from paid directorship and consultancies.
Johnson moved a fortnight after igniting a sleaze scandal with a parliamentary vote overturning the standards committee recommendation that Owen Paterson be suspended for undeclared lobbying.
Johnson's panicked dash for decency attempted to draw a line under a fortnight of damaging revelations that have seen the Conservative poll lead slip.
The Prime Minister caved to pressure to root out sleaze just as Labour leader Keir Starmer began a press conference demanding tightening of the Commons rules by banning all second jobs with few exceptions.
In a letter to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the PM said MPs should adopt a ban on consultancies “as a matter of urgency”.
He added that this would stop MPs from “exploiting their positions.” Implementing a ban would require a formal vote in the House of Commons, which would have to hold a vote to change its rulebook.
Starmer said he wanted a vote in the Commons on Wednesday to ban “all second jobs for MPs”, with very limited exceptions.
Starmer declared victory at the Labour press conference, when told about the Prime Minister’s letter.
His initial reaction was: “So we’ve won the vote tomorrow already.”
He added: “What I want to see from the Prime Minister now is him following through and ensuring that his MPs vote for this tomorrow so we can have that binding decision of the House and move forward. We've had two weeks of corruption and sleaze. Let's follow through and let's see that vote go through tomorrow.”
Starmer also said there should also be a five-year ban on former ministers taking jobs in the sectors they used to regulate and that there should be tighter rules to stop foreign money coming into British politics.
SNP Westminster Deputy Leader Kirsten Oswald MP accused the Prime Minster of attempting to avoid scrutiny.
She said: "Boris Johnson has published these shoddy, half-baked proposals to distract media scrutiny from his government - but the reality is they wouldn't begin to scratch the surface of dealing with the huge problem of Tory sleaze, cronyism and corruption that has engulfed Westminster."
The Prime Minister had already been forced into an embarrassing U-turn on a plan to reform the independent standards process and led to Paterson resigning as an MP.
The rescheduled motion to ban Paterson from the Commons for six weeks for breaching lobbying rules was finally nodded through the Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
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