Vocal Voices

This week Owen Paterson was found guilty of a lobbying misdemeanour and suspended by the Standards Committee for 30 days. Hardly any punishment. Yet the government then tried, and succeeded, to overturn the suspension and wanted to investigate the committee and its chair instead.

Cue a backlash from MPs, some Conservative, the media, Lords, ormer PMs and the public. Then the U-turn.

Paterson has now resigned, but the 'sleaze' accusation has stuck. Proroguing parliament, lying to the Queen, the mess of the NIP, the bus, the 'oven ready' deal, breaking International treaties. Where will it all end?

Now questions are being asked about the Johnson's recent holiday - given by a mate who lost his seat in a democratic election of the people but then promoted to the Lords by his pal, BJ.

Pleased to say, our local Conservative MP, Simon Hoare, voted against the Government in both the Sleaze and Water Environment divisions. That's put him up a notch in both my, and local, estimation.
The very fact Tory MPs are now openly questioning Johnson's (in)competence and general disdain for Parliament is very welcome. The rest of us have been doing so for years.

Imo Paterson had been doing paid lobbying, which is against the rules. He should have taken it on the chin.
But it was spun out somehow for two years and must have been a contributing factor to the suicide of his wife.
The other side to it is that the Conservatives have doubts about the impartiality of the sleaze watchdog, saying that she goes considerably easier on Labour and remainers than she treats tories and brexiteers. They were trying to pay her back for that, I think.
That said, Johnson made a total ricket of this. If he'd tried to do a worse job he couldn't have.

Imo every MP with a paid company directorship is a paid lobbyists.

There is a marked lack of honesty in parliament about that and hanging someone for not conforming to the "accepted" paid lobbying doesn't do it for me.

Either clean house totally or shut up and move on.

Plenty on the other side of the house in that boat.