Owen Patterson and sleaze- a shameful day in the House

CvD66

Personally I am delighted he has resigned. Sadly I suspect he has been promised further contracts for the companies he works for (as he had already stated he intended to continue with them). However by going away, Johnson wont face the embarrassment of being defeated next week when the vote was to take place. Let us hope this has brought the issue of sleaze to the publics attention and might create some change. Sadly Randox (the company for whom Paterson lobbied) has already awarded a new contract despite immensely poor performance on testing!

I am convinced there is more to come on Randox, although it might not all be revealed for months or years. There really is something very fishy about the contracts it was awarded for testing.

Urmstongran

It may be likely that the whole row was designed to throw the current process in to the spotlight. Now Paterson has gone, attention can focus solely on Stone and Bryant. Politics is Machiavellian after all. Done any other way, the public wouldn’t get it. Knives are out.

You're being ridiculous now. Neither Bryant nor Stone has a case to answer.

There will no longer be a vote.
As a Tory, may I say we are not all "one-eyed" or blinkered to the faults of the Party. In this instance, they did the wrong thing for various and probably underhand reasons and I accept criticism.
I think it is pathetic to try to find excuses for the inexcusable.

Urmstongran

It may be likely that the whole row was designed to throw the current process in to the spotlight. Now Paterson has gone, attention can focus solely on Stone and Bryant. Politics is Machiavellian after all. Done any other way, the public wouldn’t get it. Knives are out.

Have you read the report yet? Do you think it was all made up?

Kali2

I think he has now done the right thing- but too late, too late- damage is done.

Awful that his wife committed suicide- when was it? Very recently?

AT the end of the day though, however tragic, it has nothing to do with this Government overturning an independent judiciary decision.

With respect, it wasn't a judiciary decision, Kali2. It was the decision of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Standards. They are MPs, not judges.

I guess he will bounce straight into the Lords.

Thanks for the correction Maizie.

I have now read about Mrs Paterson's suicide, and it is indeed tragic. There is no evidence that the enquiry was a major factor, although it may well have been.

It makes no difference however. The Parliamentary Select Committee came to the correct decision that Paterson took large sums of money for illegal lobbying.

Calling people liars, lambasting them for daring to vote Conservative, believe their have been some Labour MPs sent to jail for fraud. So MPs of all persuasions have been corrupt. He has now resigned.
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/11/04/cop26-nhs-owen-paterson-commons-watchdog-boycott-hpv/

Sorry, the Telegraph is behind a paywall and I can't read it.

We've come to a pretty pass when the main response to a corrupt MP being excused by his corrupt party is "the other guys did it too."

And I seriously have never seen anybody lambasted for voting Conservative, only for voting for this bunch of lying charlatans and thinking they were anything other than in it for themselves. Get over yourselves, you're not the victims here.

growstuff

Sorry, the Telegraph is behind a paywall and I can't read it.

I'm not sorry I can't read it.

Urmstongran

He requested the drugs off a constituent he was helping over a housing matter. The constituent thought giving him the drugs might ensure his MP fought for him a bit harder.

Owning such a drug without prescription carries a possible two year jail sentence.

It's nothing to do with politics if you ask one of your constituents to obtain a drug for you?!

What on earth has this got to do with Paterson?
Clutching straws comes to mind……

Soroptimum

Urmstongran

He requested the drugs off a constituent he was helping over a housing matter. The constituent thought giving him the drugs might ensure his MP fought for him a bit harder.

Owning such a drug without prescription carries a possible two year jail sentence.

It's nothing to do with politics if you ask one of your constituents to obtain a drug for you?!

What on earth has this got to do with Paterson?
Clutching straws comes to mind……

I remember asking a colleague if he thought someone had grabbed the wrong end of the stick. He replied, "What he actually did was grab the wrong end of the stick and run around waving the stick above his head shouting 'Look at my stick! Look at my stick!'"

growstuff

Sorry, the Telegraph is behind a paywall and I can't read it.

Sorry I can’t access it either, but was the first site to announce it.

Wow! I agree with Julia Hartley-Brewer:

twitter.com/i/status/1456205337732780032

Please dine bring Angela Rayner into this. I was a supporter of her at first, but hadn’t she shown her true colours. She us a found mouthed embarrassment.
Owen Patterson’s behaviour is disgusting. What a low person to blame his wife’s suicide on his treatment. Poor woman, He shamelessly broke the rules, they can’t change them to excuse him. He didn’t do it once but many times, surely he should pay the money back..If he hadn’t been found out it would have continued. I’m glad he’s gone and I hope he’s not let back in when the dust is settled. He has to live with his conscience and this others that tried to save him.
Some of the language on here is not fair and unbiased I’m afraid. Whatever party you support, you cannot excuse shocking behaviour.

I think that's a case of JHB wanting to be on the winning side growstuff. If Johnson and government have done a U-turn, it appears she can too. I have never heard her talk in that way before.

Let's hope a few more eyes have been opened and the turning of the tide has begun.

Urn the reason may well be that Johnson himself is under investigation on four different charges!

Don't panic growstuff, there were a few incidents during the past months when I found myself agreeing with Piers Morgan, but I am happy to report that normal service has now been resumed. This is a mere anomaly

Barmeyoldbat

Urn the reason may well be that Johnson himself is under investigation on four different charges!

I wondered if the drive to change the investigation process has been because of the number of contracts for mates, holidays for mates, titles for mates, jobs for mates etc that have occurred over the Covid months.

Just imagine if all that lot was picked over by an independent review panel. There would barely be a Tory bum left on a seat.

It's nothing to do with politics if you ask one of your constituents to obtain a drug for you?!
It refers to Labour MP Steven Doughty who Kathryn Stone ruled did not break the ministerial code by his action.

She most definitely needs investigating because of the inconsistency of her judgements, the fact that she acts as Investigator and Adjudicator, the fact that when she made the judgement on Owen Paterson : 'I had decided that Mr. Paterson had breached the rules by the time I had sent him my first memorandum', before discussion or interview, and finally the fact there is no appeal against a very personal and unaccountable judgement

All that being said, Owen Paterson has by his actions, including his lobbying which may or may not be illegal, created the most dreadful mess, betrayed the loyalty of his friends, defenders and constituents, and used his wife's death in an attempt to gain sympathy.
What a shameful way to end a career.

Have you read the full report eazybee? Which parts of it do you think she made up and/or are untrue? What do you think Paterson could have brought to an appeal?

BTW Kathryn Stone passes her reports to the Parliamentary Standards Committee. She is not the sole investigator and adjudicator.

As suspected, this was never an attempt to save Paterson's skin but to undermine the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

It most certainly is not a personal and unaccountable judgement. It's there in black and white, if you care to read it.

Thanks for proper journalism- how silly he sounds, how disingenuine ... how bent!

youtu.be/NQwnOS8V0-c