Tory Faces Suspension After ‘Egregious' Lobbying Breach

Conservative MP Owen Paterson faces suspension from the House of Commons after a watchdog found he broke lobbying rules in an “egregious case of paid advocacy”.

- Adam Forrest

The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, said the Tory backbencher had breached the code of conduct after investigating his lobbying efforts on behalf of two UK companies.

The committee for standards said Mr Paterson had “brought the house into disrepute” by using his “privileged position to benefit two companies” – recommending he now be suspended for 30 days.

But in an angry statement, Mr Paterson rejected the commissioner’s findings – accusing her of making up her mind before she had even spoken to him. “This is a biased process and not fair,” he said.

The Tory MP also partly blamed the investigation for his wife’s suicide last year – saying the manner the probe was carried out was a “major contributory factor”.

He said: “Last summer, in the midst of the investigation, my wife of 40 years, Rose, took her own life. We will never know definitively what drove her to suicide, but the manner in which this investigation was conducted undoubtedly played a major role.”