Boris Johnson set to ban on MPs acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists
Boris Johnson is set to ban MPs from holding paid consultancy jobs that allow them to act as a “parliamentary strategist, adviser or consultant” in the wake of the Owen Paterson sleaze scandal.
The Prime Minister wrote to House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to say he wanted any outside job by MPs to be “within reasonable limits and should not prevent them from fully carrying out a range of duties.
“Adopting these specific recommendations would ensure that MPs who are neglecting their duties to their constituents and prioritising outside interests would be investigated, and appropriately punished by the existing disciplinary authorities,” he said.
“They would also ban MPs from exploiting their positions by acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for Johnson to go further and to ban all secondary jobs for MPs, except for “very limited exceptions”.
The proposed rule changes come after Owen Paterson was forced to resign as an MP over the government’s botched attempt to get him off the hook for breaking parliamentary rules on lobbying.
The saga sparked a wave of sleaze stories about a large group of Tory MPs and their lucrative second jobs.
Senior Tory Geoffrey Cox has particularly been criticised, after it was revealed he made hundreds of thousands of pounds working for the British Virgin Islands (BVI) on corruption charges brought forward by the UK government.
A video also emerged which appeared to show Cox virtually attend a hearing for the BVI in his House of Commons office – a breach of parliamentary rules.
Labour was preparing to bring a vote forward tomorrow to call for a ban on paid consultancy jobs.
Starmer joked in a press conference today that Johnson’s announcement meant “we have already won the vote then”, however he said Labour would also call for more stringent second job rules for MPs.
He said Labour wanted to “ban all second jobs for MPs, with very limited exceptions, starting with a vote tomorrow banning MPs working as paid parliamentary strategists, advisers or consultants”.
Starmer said the limited exceptions would include jobs that were in the public service realm, meaning that legal work he had previously carried out as a backbencher would be banned under his proposed rules.
“The default should be a ban on all second jobs except for limited exceptions. Like if there is an element of public service [work] or a requirement for professional qualifications in terms of keeping qualifications going – something like working in A and E or a police or army reservist,” he said.