Boris Johnson has been shamed into yet another U-turn on lucrative second jobs for MPs just as Labour set out plans to clean up British politics.
The Prime Minister caved to pressure to root out sleaze in Parliament by proposing a ban on MPs from working as paid political consultants or lobbyists.
He also called for the Commons code of conduct to be updated and for MPs who fail to put their constituents first to be “investigated and appropriately punished”.
Mr Johnson’s bid to draw a line under the Tory sleaze row ahead of a crunch vote on Wednesday could hit the financial interests of around 30 MPs.
The vast majority of them are Tories who are earning as much as £182,000 a year from outside work - on top of their £81,932 MPs salary.
Keir Starmer accused the PM of being “dragged kicking and screaming” to finally tackling sleaze.
Mr Johnson announced his plans via Twitter just as the Labour leader set out his own overhaul of the disciplinary system in the Commons.
Labour had been planning to force a vote to end paid directorships and commercial consultancies during an opposition day debate on Wednesday.
Downing Street sources suggested they would “toughen up” the Labour-backed motion to include the demand that MPs focus primarily on their constituencies.
However, Labour insisted that it would go further if elected and back a ban on all second jobs.
Mr Starmer said: “Be under no illusion, the Prime Minister has only done this because his back was against the wall because the Labour Party have put down a binding vote for tomorrow.
“This is a significant victory for the Labour Party, it would not have happened if we hadn’t put down that binding vote.
“This is a Prime Minister who has shown no leadership on this whatsoever.”
The PM’s announcement was an attempt to move on from the damaging saga that began with his bid to overhaul the standards system to get Tory MP Owen Paterson off the hook.
The Tory party has slumped in the polls since the row which has created deep divisions on the party’s backbenches.
Amid growing anger in his own party, Mr Johnson announced he had written to the Commons Speaker proposing an overhaul to the rules.
The PM put forward two recommendations from a report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 2018 which he suggested be added to the MPs’ code of conduct.
These included a ban on acting as paid political consultants and lobbyists, and punishment for MPs who are prioritising their outside interests over their constituents.
It means dozens of MPs including ex-Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, who receives £182,600 a year from several financial firms, could lose huge outside earnings.
Others include former chief whip Julian Smith who takes home £144,000 for advising companies and ex-transport secretary Chris Grayling who earns £100,000 from Hutchinson Ports Europe.
No 10 said that Mr Johnson still backed the principle of second jobs - as long as constituents remained a priority for MPs.
His spokesman said: “The committee itself argued that outside interests can enable MPs to remain in touch with a world outside Westminster.
“But the PM agrees that there may be cases where outside interests can lead to undue influence in the political system”.
However, there were still questions over how the proposals would work including whether Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone would have oversight.
It was also unclear whether “reasonable limits” to outside activity would be defined by hours or pay, and if the ban would be based on the type of organisation an MP worked for or the type of job they did.
Mr Johnson told the Speaker that MPs should adopt the plans “as a matter of urgency” however the amendment tabled by the Government tonight was criticised for only meaning more talks.
Labour accused ministers of “dirty tricks” to water down Opposition plans for a binding motion, with guaranteed time for a substantive vote on proposals, to crack down on sleaze.
The Government amendment is unspecific about the changes the PM wants to make - and removes the guarantee of a future vote to ban lucrative second jobs as Parliamentary strategists, advisers or consultants.
Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire said: “Yet again Boris Johnson ’s rhetoric is a long way from reality”.
Earlier, the Government forced through another humiliating U-turn on the plans to rip up Commons standards rules - after they were blocked by a Tory MP.
Ministers had tried to avoid a debate by getting MPs to nod through a late-night motion to reverse the reforms.
Theresa May blasted her successor for “damaging Parliament” in an excoriating speech as MPs finally backed the U-turn.
The former PM said “damage has been done to all MPs and to Parliament as a whole” by the way the Owen Paterson affair was handled.
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted that he encouraged the PM to back the original amendment because he felt Mr Paterson had been “punished enough” by his wife’s suicide.
The Commons leader admitted it had been a mistake to conflate the wider issue of standards reform with the specific case.
