Ayes: 250
Noes: 232
98 Tory MPs abstained despite three line whip; 13 rebels:
It looks like fireworks are set to arrive in Parliament two days early this year, after Tory MPs, Whips and No. 10 announced a surprise assault on the existing MPs’ Standards Committee; arguing it’s “biased against Tories and Brexiteers”, with rulings becoming inconsistent. The standing order battle comes as Tory MPs attempt to block the Standards Committee’s 30-day suspension recommendation of Owen Paterson following a lobbying investigation.
While one amendment (B) to the motion this afternoon merely calls for Paterson’s suspension to be scrapped on compassionate grounds – following the suicide of his wife – Amendment A, published in full this morning, calls for a tearing up the whole Standards Committee system as it currently stands. The amendment is backed by at least 59 MPs…
The amendment sets out proposals for a new Standards Committee structure, involving eight backbench MPs in proportional make-up of the parties – four Conservative, three Labour and one SNP – with John Whittingdale as chair being given the deciding vote. The opposition parties are accusing the government of attempting to mark their own homework. Jon Ashworth has noted on Twitter “A fish rots from the head down”…
Guido is not convinced this is a good idea at all. Ten years after the expenses scandal, MPs are set on the neutralising of the checks on MPs’ misbehaviour. IPSA and the Standards Commissioner are slowly yet surely undergoing regulatory recapture by MPs. It will end badly…
On the Today Programme, Sir Bernard Jenkin – a backer of Amendment A – argues “We have had a bad system for years and years. This is an opportunity to fix it. We are not letting Owen Paterson off the hook.” Guido is more sympathetic to the suspension being suspended on exceptional compassionate grounds. In the end this row may all be for nothing – Sir Lindsay has to pick the amendment first…
Read the amendment and list of signatories in full:
Andrea Leadsom’s post-PMQs speech following her sacking was widely expected to see some gentle Boris-prodding, however it was Bercow who ended up on the receiving the brunt of her digs – including Leadsom implying she is tempted to tell the former speaker to “f*** off“. As Guido’s previously revealed, Andrea and Bercow’s beef stems back well before he called her a “stupid woman“…
Watch Leadsom’s personal statement in full here…
Life’s not all bad for those who were unceremoniously relieved of their cabinet positions a week ago, as—seemingly in compensation—culled former cabinet ministers have received Parliamentary office upgrades. When Boris closes a door, he opens a swanky new office in PCH…
Andrea Leadsom has landed herself a shiny new fifth-floor office in sought after Portcullis House, as has Julian Smith. Sajid has moved to the same area too – although it’s debatable how much of an upgrade swapping the flat above Number 10 for a new office in PCH is…
Andrea Leadsom’s high-octane feud with John Bercow started much earlier than most realised. As a relatively new MP, Andrea visited Silverstone Circuit, which is situated in the south of her constituency. Unfortunately for her, half of the circuit is also in a patch of Buckinghamshire then represented by John Bercow. Readers may be able to see where this is going…
Guido understands that Bercow was accustomed to snatching up complimentary tickets to races. When Leadsom visited and was offered a ride around the track, she was thrilled to have finally been able to go. Bercow, on the other hand, was less pleased with losing pole position as the MP for F1. Bercow raced off a snooty letter to the new MP complaining that she had been in his constituency without letting him know. Despite only having driven quickly through the half of the track in his constituency…
This abrasive incident happened in the first couple of years of the 2010 parliament, and ever since the neighbouring MPs had less than cordial relations. For years the private feud grew like James Hunt jostling Niki Lauda, finally exploding into public view when she became Leader of the House in 2017. It persists to this day:
A lot of mutterings about what Corbyn said to Rebecca Long-Bailey in response Andrea Leadsom’s statement – he does have a track record of disparaging language towards female Tory MPs after all. We’ll leave it up to Guido readers to decide…
