Boris Johnson has bowed to pressure to formally reverse his attempt to fix Commons sleaze rules and allow the disgraced Owen Paterson to be censured.
Ministers had ducked calls to allow a vote – to scrap a proposed new Tory-dominated standards committee – despite demands that it be held before a Commons recess starts tonight.
Senior MPs had pointed out that, despite the prime minister’s U-turn over the Paterson scandal, last week’s controversy meant the former Cabinet minister’s conduct had not been recognised as wrong.
Also, the vote to replace the existing standards committee with a body led by ex-minister John Whittingdale still stood – despite opposition parties vowing to boycott it.
Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, said the vote should have taken place immediately, but added: “The better we do it, the quicker it is over. I would love to see it coming in early next week. Let’s get it over with.”
Soon afterwards, Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “We recognise the strong views on this particular point.
“Having listened to those again yesterday afternoon, we will table a motion tonight for next week to formalise the change of approach by unpicking the amendment.”
He added: “That motion will proceed the amendment and the committee and allow for the House to approve the report [on Mr Paterson], while recognising Mr Patterson is no longer an MP.”
However, the prime minister is still refusing to apologise for last week’s debacle, his spokesman saying only that he believed the episode was regrettable.
Tory MPs were whipped to block a 30-day suspension of Mr Paterson, recommended by the independent parliamentary standards committee, which might have triggered a by-election.
He was found guilty of an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules, by approaching officials and ministers on behalf of the firms Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods, which paid him almost £112,000 a year in total.
Chris Bryant, the Labour chair of the standards committee, had insisted the matter could not be allowed to rest – despite Mr Paterson walking away from politics.
He wrote, on Monday: “The bare minimum is that the Commons rescinds Wednesday’s motion and approve the standards committee’s report on Paterson.
“The Commons must now declare beyond doubt that Paterson’s conduct was corrupt and unacceptable and abandon the ad hoc committee the government wanted to set up under John Whittingdale..”
He added: “The prime minister has to admit that he got it badly wrong and call off the troops, who still seem intent on attacking the commissioner.”
Kathryn Stone, the independent standards commission, has received threats after the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng suggested she should consider her position.
