Labour to bring vote on paid consultancies for MPs in wake of Owen Paterson scandal

The Labour leader said his party will be tabling a motion for tomorrow’s Opposition day debate that aimed to “clean up” politics following the scandal of former Cabinet minister and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson.

It is understood Labour is seeking to draft the motion in such a way that the result will be binding on the House if it is passed.

However, it is understood that some Labour MPs are opposed to motion, while Tories have claimed Sir Keir is attempting to exploit the Paterson scandal for political gain.

Sir Keir said it would be “for every MP to decide how they want to vote” on the motion.

He added: “How do we clean this up?

“We clean this up by drawing a very stark line – no paid consultancies, no directorships.”

Mr Paterson resigned as an MP after he was found to have broken lobbying rules, sparking a by-election next month.

However, the House is still expected to endorse the finding that he broke Commons rules.

Labour’s decision to force a vote will put pressure on Tory MPs who face the prospect of further stoking public anger by seeking to vote it down or losing their lucrative consultancy work.

Shaun Davies, the Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin council, said he was fully behind the call for an end to paid directorships and consultancy jobs for MPs.

“I think that most people in Telford and Wrekin would think that £84,0000, which is what MPs receive, is a full-time salary and so it should be a full-time job.

“Yes of course there could be exceptions. If you are an A&E doctor then you should be able to step in to help.

“I feel that the job of an MP and paid for consultancy and directorships don’t go together terribly well. Why are these large companies spending such large sums of money if they do not want something in return?” Marco Longhi, Conservative MP for Dudley North, has been a vocal critic of the Government’s handling of the scandal. But he said that by tabling the motion, Sir Keir was attempting to make political capital out of the issue rather than change things for the better.

He said: “He’s playing political games with this and needs to be careful that it doesn’t come back and bite him. There are many, many people who have some sort of paid role outside of parliament who can use those experiences to contribute to their work as an MP.”

“If you take away those opportunities then you end up with people in parliament who have had no real life experience out there.”

Mr Longhi, who recently became a director of his own company, said it did not stop him from devoting “100 per cent” of his time to his work as an MP.

He said Sir Keir’s “broad brush approach” could “severely limit” the work of MPs.

“What is important is that we observe the code of conduct and have a system that is fit for purpose so that MPs are declaring where they have got any interests and making sure they don’t behave like Owen Paterson did.”

An analysis published last week showed Conservative MPs received more than £1.7 million in consultancy fees since the start of the year. It found 50 Tory backbenchers and former ministers had been paid by management or consultancy firms.

Andrew Mitchell, Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, reportedly receives £182,600 for 34.5 days of work per annum. He works for accountancy firm Ernst & Young, who pay him £30,000 for five days’ work, and has been a senior adviser to investment company Investec.

He also gets £15,000 for 2.5 days’ work plus a commission for introducing new business from Arch Emerging Partners. MPs from other parties also hold consultancy roles, including Birmingham Labour MP Khalid Mahmood and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. Sir Keir said: “It should be a point of consensus that paid directorships and commercial consultancies are not jobs for MPs.

“It was the Prime Minister’s decisions which have led to this scandal.” In a second motion, Labour will call for the publication of the papers relating to Mr Paterson’s advocacy for the diagnostics company, Randox.