MPs have finally approved a report that found a Conservative former cabinet minister broke lobbying rules, ending a humiliating U-turn Boris Johnson was forced to embark on after he tried to overhaul the parliamentary standards system.
Two weeks on from initially voting to spare Owen Paterson from suspension, the government and Tory backbenchers eventually endorsed a report that found him guilty and scrapped the body that was to be set up to give their former colleague a right of appeal.
In an attempt to quell the growing fury within Johnson’s own party, the Commons leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said he had made a “mistake” by conflating his support for reforming the standards system with the result of the two-year investigation into Paterson.
He faced condemnation from senior Conservatives, including the former prime minister Theresa May, who said that despite ministers’ bid to rectify the situation, “it will not undo the damage that has been done”.
Speaking in the Commons, she said the report into Paterson had been “clear and fair” and Johnson’s bid to save him was “misplaced, ill-judged and just plain wrong”.
May added: “It would be a mistake to think that because someone broke the rules, the rules are wrong. The rule on paid advocacy is a longstanding one. The problem came because there was an attempt to effectively let a then-member off the hook. That flew in the face of the rules on paid advocacy and in the face of the processes established by this house.”
Labour’s shadow Commons leader, Thangam Debbonaire, said ministers had tried to interfere “right in the middle of a live case” and insisted: “The government cannot sweep this under the carpet.” She added: “No MP must be for hire, not one.”
Rees-Mogg said the fact that Paterson’s late wife, Rose, took her own life last summer “coloured and clouded our judgment and my judgment incorrectly – it is as simple and as sad as that”. But he conceded: “That was a mistake.”
Ire was also turned by Tory MPs on their colleague Christopher Chope, who blocked the endorsement of the Paterson report on Monday night because the type of motion the government proposed contained no opportunity for debate, so he was able to force one the following day by shouting “object”.
Chope said if the motion had been approved the night before it would have been a “major constitutional issue” for MPs to overturn a previous motion with no debate. “I’ve got no regrets, whatsoever,” he said.
Mark Harper, a former chief whip, challenged supporters of Paterson to identify one fact that was disputed about the former North Shropshire MP’s conduct, while a backbencher, Alicia Kearns, suggested to Chope parliament had already debated the issue enough, and was visibly frustrated when he told her “she hasn’t applied her mind”.
Although the deputy chief whip told Tory MPs it was a free vote but that the chief whip would be voting for the Paterson report – a sign of encouragement for others to do the same – there was no formal division, as no one in the chamber signalled opposition, meaning it was approved “on the nod”.
Chris Bryant, the chair of the standards committee, said he was pleased the decision had been taken that would “draw a line under the unfortunate events of recent weeks” and empowered the group to maintain a robust and effective standards system.
Although the Paterson report has finally been put to bed, some Tory MPs fear significant damage has been done. One elected in a marginal constituency in 2019 told the Guardian: “This has already cost me not five, 10, 15 or 20 votes – but hundreds. It could have cost some of us our career here.”
There has also been a significant breakdown in trust between younger, newer Conservative MPs and the party’s veteran parliamentarians. Johnson hosted the more than 100 people elected in 2019 in Downing Street later on Tuesday in an attempt to mend relations.
Invited several times to apologise for his handling of the Paterson scandal, the prime minister declined. Pressed repeatedly at a press conference, he said: “I think it’s very important that all MPs work primarily and above all for their constituency. Anybody who lobbies on behalf of commercial interests is clearly in breach of the rules.”
