MPs are set to vote on whether to scrap the controversial standards reforms that sparked Westminster’s sleaze row.
A motion to rescind the so-called Leadsom amendment, which looked to establish a review of the MPs standards investigation process and delay Owen Paterson’s suspension for breaking lobbying rules, has been tabled by Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg for Monday.
It comes as the prime minister admitted for the first time that he could have handled the Paterson affair “better”.
Boris Johnson, pressed on what he would say to people who thought he had “got it wrong” on the standards changes, told a Downing Street press briefing on Sunday: "Of course, I think things could certainly have been handled better, let me put it that way, by me.”
The Conservative leader has seen his party and his own personal ratings plummet in opinion polls since the government’s controversial bid to tear up the Commons standards system, with a host of surveys suggesting the Tories have lost their lead over Labour since the sleaze row broke out.
The attempt to reform the system, and subsequent U-turn less than 24 hours later, has intensified the spotlight on MPs’ second jobs and their expenses claims, leading to a flurry of negative headlines for the Tories.
