Will Labour finally take advantage of the open goal provided by the Government?

By Paul Kelly

Last night I was in a village hall as part of a consultation team for a renewable energy project that one of my clients wants to build in Kent.

The very nature of these types of projects is that some local people don’t want them for a variety of different reasons, and they can be quite vociferous in their opposition. This is to be expected as we British have an aversion to change and all that goes with it, but one elderly lady I was speaking to expressed her frustration with the whole process. “Of course” she said, “there really isn’t any point in opposing this or trying to get anything changed as it is all corruptly stitched up with backhanders, just like that Paterson chap in the House of Commons!”

She is, of course wholly wrong with regards to the planning process.  I would like to say this is a rare comment at consultation events, but sadly it isn’t and reflects a widely held view regarding the political process - that important influence can be bought at every level. This is hardly surprising, but depressing nonetheless when you consider the antics in the House going on this week.

She was, of course, alluding to the events relating to the ex-Conservative minister Owen Paterson, where the House of Commons had just voted for an amendment that effectively overturned a judgement made by Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, to ban the MP from the Commons for 30 sitting days. Her decision had been upheld by the cross-party Committee on Standards, but the Government successfully supported an amendment proposed by former Conservative Leader of the Commons, Andrea Leadsom which sought to suspend the investigation into Mr Paterson and review the way in which the standards investigations process works, establishing a new oversight committee chaired by John Whittingdale, another former Conservative cabinet minister, who would have had the casting vote on any decisions.

The vote for the amendment was won, but there were 13 Conservative rebels and a raft of Conservative abstentions, and this vote represented the first time since the Second World War that the House has rejected a recommendation from its own disciplinary committee.  Whether you think the Government was actually right in looking to protect the reputation of Owen Paterson, who clearly thinks he has done nothing wrong, is a matter beyond the remit of this piece. But by taking significant sums of money from two companies in order to represent their interests in Parliament, whether justified or not, Owen Paterson has now become the public face of ‘Tory sleaze.’

It was notable that some of the rebels were new MPs, representing northern seats that were previously held by Labour. I suspect that they can see that this is a matter which will come to haunt them on the doorsteps and public meetings much like the one I attended last night. The public backlash overnight, and the fact that Conservative MPs inboxes were flooded with angry messages, were effective in scaring the Government to undertake a complete climb down this morning with Jacob Rees–Mogg, the Leader of the House of Commons, calling for “more cross-party discussions,”  a prospect that must have sat deeply uncomfortably with him.

This big question is whether this volte-face will become yesterday’s news, or will it enable Sir Keir Starmer, the much put-upon leader of the opposition, to take advantage of the crisis? Labour certainly seem to be making an effort, with adverts in target constituencies already highlighting all the Tory MPs who voted for the original amendment with the slogan “It’s one rule for you, no rules for them”. Given the general attitude of the public towards perceived political corruption this might give the Labour Party the open goal it has been craving for so long.

As for the Conservatives, the by-election they were so keen to avoid is now a certainty, with Paterson resigning as an MP this afternoon. The ensuing campaign in the normally safe Conservative shire seat of North Shropshire will tell us just how much damage this sorry mess will inflict on the party.