Telford and Wrekin MPs 'treated voters with contempt' in Paterson affair, says Labour councillor

The Telford and Wrekin Labour Group hit out after the majority of Conservative MPs voted to launch a review of the entire parliamentary disciplinary system, giving the North Shropshire MP a reprieve from an immediate suspension.

Widespread outrage prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to backtrack however, and Mr Paterson has now resigned as an MP, saying his children had asked him to leave politics.

Deputy leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Labour Councillor Richard Overton, said: “Conservative sleaze is back – and it’s worse than ever. Conservative MPs, including Lucy Allan and Mark Pritchard, voted on Wednesday to change the rules to let their friend off the hook, even though a cross-party Commons inquiry had recommended serious sanctions. On top of that the Government are now trying to bully the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner out of her job.

"This is a gross misjudgement of a colossal magnitude and whilst the Government have again done another massive U-turn, it was only due to the growing uproar and anger from the public. It’s one rule for them, another for everyone else.

“Owen Paterson was caught red-handed, and the judgement was crystal clear. He broke the rules for businesses that paid him more than £100,000. Yet our town’s two Conservative MPs Lucy Allan and Mark Pritchard want you to believe there is nothing to see here.

“If it’s not £3.5bn in crony Covid contracts for their mates, it’s changing the rules to let their friends get away with wrongdoing. The Conservative Party think they can get away with anything and they’re treating voters with contempt.”