conclusion. i be so likely to arrive at the same conclusion- conclusion. i am gratefulto my honourable conclusion. i am gratefulto my honourable friend. conclusion. i am gratefulto my honourable friend. it conclusion. i am gratefulto my honourable friend. it is - conclusion. i am grateful to my l honourable friend. it is important to remember that this house can never be and should never be a mere rubber stamp. that is not our purpose. we are a sovereign parliament. as i was saying, turning to my right honourable friend s amendment, the select committee can considerfor amendment, the select committee can consider for example whether the standing order should be changed so the panel was always established in contentious cases or consider any mechanism to ensure witnesses were always called and examined. i would also like to turn to whistle blowing and its relationship to rules on lobbying as raised by the honourable gentleman. the rules relating to paid advocacy have been conside
thatis early tory mps on this amendment, that is trying to change the rules. it is a serious case of paid advocacy against rules that are clearly set out. publicly expect us to abide by those rules. we must vote to do so today. we cannot have a return to, yes, tory sleaze of the 19905. a return to, yes, tory sleaze of the 1990s. members and the public will remember cash for questions. they will remember those tory scandals of the 1990s, and mr speaker, this tory delusion of a standard procedure sends a terrible message, a terrible message to the public, to our constituents, that it is one rule for certain mps and another for everyone else. the enduring damage that this would do to parliament s reputation is something that none of us should be prepared to consider. sir peter bottomley. i us should be prepared to consider. sir peter bottomley. sir peter bottomley. i don t think an one sir peter bottomley. i don t think anyone enjoys sir peter bottomley. i don t think anyone enjoys tak
recommendation that mps are discussing now but what has since happened is that conservatives who are sympathetic to owen paterson had tabled an amendment to that to try and change it so it would put the suspension on hold and set up a new committee which would look at the whole disciplinary process again. and the key issue they want to focus on is that owen paterson, who has always said he did not do anything wrong, has questioned the process saying there is no right of appeal for an mp who is found to have breached the rules and there is no appeal against the punishment and that he was not allowed to have witnesses who would have spoken in his defence interviewed as part of that, so what this amendment is looking at is whether or not that sort of process should be introduced via the committee and the government has swung behind the amendment and told the tory mps they should vote for it but the reason it s so controversial is that it is coming back off the individual case and it
actively promote high standards across this house. across this house. i would like to thank my honourable friend for the wonder who is the committee chair and all the other committee members who contributed to this thorough investigation. mr speaker, since 1695 there have been rules on paid advocacy in motion passed on the 2nd of may 1695 and a quote said the offer of any money or any advantage to any member of parliament for the promotion of any matter whatsoever in parliament is a high crime and misdemeanour. and mr speaker, if today at the amendment passes or if the motion falls entirely, it sends the motion falls entirely, it sends the message that when we do not like the message that when we do not like the rules, wejust break the message that when we do not like the rules, we just break the the message that when we do not like the rules, wejust break the rules. when someone breaks the rules, we just change the rules. to paraphrase the deputy leader of the labour party who said th
rules looks dodgy and the reason they believe it looks dodgy is because it is dodgy. it is a plan to cover up the kind of corruption we have seen it throughout the covid crisis. polls show that the population believes this government is corrupt. i am afraid they are correct. it is the most corrupt government in modern history, so unless the government changes its behaviour, wanted to do further permanent damage to our democracy and people s believe in our democracy? won t it do further democracy7 won t it do further damage? it democracy? won t it do further damaue? , ., , democracy? won t it do further damaue? , , damage? it is or is undermined by the honourable damage? it is or is undermined by the honourable gentleman, - damage? it is or is undermined by the honourable gentleman, the i the honourable gentleman, the partisan,. the honourable gentleman, the artisan,. , ., the honourable gentleman, the artisan,. . , ., , partisan,. and very grateful. isn t a lain part