Paterson vote shows it's 'one rule for them' claims council leader
MPs' decision not to suspend Owen Paterson is a "dark day for public life", according to the county's most senior Labour figure.
Councillor Shaun Davies, the Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said the case had also thrown up questions about the amount some MPs make from lobbying.
He said: "Yet again the Conservatives have decided there is one rule for them and another rule for the rest of us. This smacks of the cash for questions scandals of the 1990s.
"Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, the system which the Conservatives set up themselves found wrongdoing, because the Conservatives didn't like the answer they've decided to rip up the rule book.
"The wider point is how can it be right for an MP to earn more than three times their MPs' salary on lobbying jobs. Being an MP should be a full-time job. Most residents in Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire would consider the £83,000 MP salary a full time job."
Mr Paterson has also faced criticism from North Shropshire's Liberal Democrats, with Helen Morgan, the group's spokeswoman, saying: “Yet again the Conservatives have shown their total disregard for democracy by effectively condoning paid advocacy."
She added: "It is yet another example of the Conservatives riding roughshod over the standards we should be able to expect in public life.
“North Shropshire voters chose Mr Paterson in December 2019 and this scandal is a clear breach of their trust. It’s difficult to see how he can continue to be an effective MP in these circumstances.
“We have knocked on a lot of doors this year, and even in rural Conservative heartlands like The Meres, voters have repeatedly told us that they have lost trust in the Conservatives to serve their communities rather than their own interests. This scandal will only confirm that feeling.”
