Britain: Boris Johnson’s Tories shocked by lobbying scandal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives are rocked by a lobbying scandal. How did they get there and what are the dangers to their power?

How did the scandal start?

The case stemmed from a parliamentary inquiry that concluded that Conservative MP Owen Patterson had repeatedly pressured ministers for the benefit of two companies for which he acted as a paid consultant.

The parliamentary committee ruled that this was a clear violation of the rules of lobbying and proposed that he be removed from office for 30 days.

The Tory MP accepted the support of his political allies, but also of the Prime Minister, who supported an amendment that changed the imposition of sanctions and which was approved by a narrow majority.

What are the categories?

Following these government manipulations, the government was accused by the Labor Party, the official opposition, of “corruption” and “changing the rules” during its firing, while many newspapers, including the pro-government press, spoke of “shame”. and “atheism”. The government withdrew, but since then the press has been dusting off the activities of the deputies and a lot of revelations have come to light about richly paid parallel jobs.

Members have the option of holding a second term, but are required to do so. However, the British press has revealed that some people use parliamentary resources (offices, telephones) in the context of their parallel professional activities, a practice that is illegal.

The Conservative Party has been accused in an article published last weekend of giving seats in the House of Lords, where members are not elected, but appointed, to generous Tory donors.

Wave of revelations

The most widely circulated revelations include allegations against Conservative MP and lawyer Jeffrey Cox that he used his office in Parliament for his professional legal work, which, according to the Guardian, brought him more than 6 6 million in revenue. (EUR 7 million) since his election in 2005.

The British press has revealed the cases of dozens of other Tory MPs who are engaged in parallel professional activity, which has brought them a collective income of more than 1.7 million pounds (2 million euros) this year.

Among them, Health Minister Sajid Javid received 1500 1,500 (175,000 euros) in 2021 from investment bank JPMorgan before joining the government.

MP Mark Posei, who systematically opposes environmental bills that restrict the use of plastics, has seized 30 30,000 from a lobby working to defend plastic packaging. His colleague Philip Dion, who wants to persuade parliament to increase defense spending, has received 51 51,000 from Reaction Engines.

On the opposition side, Labor leader Kir Starmer has raised, according to the Times, tens of thousands of pounds in legal advice in recent years.

Resignations

The scandal has already caused the resignation of Owen Patterson and it is possible that other resignations of conservative MPs will follow. The opposition has specifically asked the independent commissioner in charge of compliance with parliamentary rules to investigate the case of Jeffrey Cox.

At the same time, there are increasing calls for a comprehensive reform of the code of conduct, while the Labor Party specifically calls for a complete ban on parallel employment in administrative and advisory positions.

Boris Johnson is not in favor of a complete ban on parallel employment, arguing that this would apply to MPs working in parallel in the fields of health, education and other public service sectors.

And Boris Johnson?

For the British Prime Minister, the scandal is added to the multitude of accusations that have tarnished his party’s reputation in recent months, as he tries to present a leading profile to world leaders at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

But he also has questions about funding his recent vacation in the Caribbean and Spain, as well as the expensive renovation of the prime minister’s residence on Downing Street. He claims that all his statements “are in accordance with the rules”.

The 57-year-old sees his popularity drop in the latest polls, while inside his own camp, MPs, angry with the scandal that tarnishes the Tories, openly criticize him.

Source: AMPE