{"id":3942,"date":"2021-11-07T18:05:26","date_gmt":"2021-11-07T18:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/?p=3942"},"modified":"2021-11-07T18:18:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-07T18:18:39","slug":"mp-owen-paterson-resigns-after-paid-lobbying-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/mp-owen-paterson-resigns-after-paid-lobbying-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"MP Owen Paterson resigns after Paid Lobbying Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Owen Paterson (65) has resigned from his position as an MP after a paid lobbying scandal. Instead of being tossed around by other government officials and the whole governing system, he decided to take the high road. The now-former MP for North Shropshire left office saying he would focus on his family and his suicide prevention charity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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By Chris McAndrew – https:\/\/api20170418155059.azure-api.net\/photo\/qJNKT8rc.jpeg?download=trueGallery: https:\/\/beta.parliament.uk\/media\/qJNKT8rc, CC BY 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=61329055<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paterson served as an MP for 24 years, and this is very commendable since he is a cadre who dedicated most of his life to working for the British government. Last month, he was \u201cfound by parliament\u2019s independent sleaze investigator to have broken lobbying rule during his \u00a3100,000-a-year private sector work\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the severe nature of these allegations, recommendations handed him a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons. But this decision faced backlash from Conservative MPs together with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He voted this week to remove the suspension, and in doing so, \u201cparliament\u2019s standards system was overhauled\u201d\u00a0<\/span>[Source]<\/span><\/a>. More drama followed in response to the government\u2019s decision to save Paterson, and it was noted that overhauling parliament\u2019s disciplinary processes was a mistake by the government as it tried to block Paterson\u2019s suspension.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi commented on re-enacting Paterson\u2019s suspension. He explained that \u201cIt was right to separate the two things out, that was the mistake, and I think it was right to reflect and return to parliament and correct that\u201d\u00a0<\/span>[Source]<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that \u201cI think the mistake\u2026is the conflation of creating a fairer system, with the right of appeal for parliamentarians to be able to put forward effectively an appeal process, and then conflating that with a particular case of Owen Paterson was a mistake\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

PM Johnson had lamented on the suspension and said it was a \u201cvery sad\u201d situation to see a distinguished politician being stripped off his powers\u00a0<\/span>[Source]<\/span><\/a>. This might be the reason why he was persuaded to defend him while defying parliament\u2019s rules. But his efforts were all in vain since the \u201cgovernment performed a U-turn in the row on Thursday less than 15 hours later with the promise of a new vote on Mr. Paterson\u2019s suspension\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid these serious political moves, Paterson decided to hang his boots and exit without causing more damage or being dragged out by the law. \u201cI have today, after consultation with my family, and with much sadness decided to resign as the MP for North Shropshire,\u201d as noted by the outgoing MP. He added that \u201cThe last two years have been an indescribable nightmare for my family and me. My integrity, which I hold very dear, has been repeatedly and publicly questioned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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By Richard Townshend – https:\/\/members-api.parliament.uk\/api\/Members\/274\/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFourGallery: https:\/\/members.parliament.uk\/member\/274\/portrait, CC BY 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=86678371<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apologetically, he expressed his innocence by saying, \u201cI maintain that I am totally innocent of what y have been accused of.\u201d According to the Commons watchdog, Mr. Paterson \u201crepeatedly used his privileged position\u201d in aiding Randox\u2019s and Lynn\u2019s Country Foods\u2019s operations. Randox is a clinical diagnostics company, while Lynn\u2019s Country Foods focuses on meat processing and distribution. Mr. Paterson refuted the findings of the parliament\u2019s sleaze watchdog and said he was \u201cnot guilty.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his resignation, he outlined his plans of prioritizing his family as he said, \u201cAt this difficult time, I will be stepping aside from my current consultancy work and to focus on my family and suicide prevention.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He outlined that \u201cWorst of all was seeing people, including MPs, publicly mock and deride Rose\u2019s death and belittle our pain. My children have therefore asked me to leave politics altogether, for my sake as well as theirs\u201d and added: \u201cI agree with them. I do not want my wife\u2019s memory and reputation to become a political football. Above all, I always put my family first\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Paterson also tweeted that \u201cThank you to the many people who have sent their kind wishes to me and my family this week.\u201d The PM responded to the resignation, saying that he did not understand why Paterson was leaving. He said, \u201cI am very sad that Parliament will lose the services of Owen Paterson, who has been a friend and colleague of mine for decades.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By leaving, Paterson might have sent a wrong message instead of proving his innocence. But assessing the reasons laid out by him, one can sympathize with him and applaud his decision to take care of his family rather than being a center of attention in British politics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owen Paterson (65) has resigned from his position as an MP after a paid lobbying scandal. Instead of being tossed around by other government officials and the whole governing system, he decided to take the high road. The now-former MP for North Shropshire left office saying he would focus on his family and his suicide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2.jpg",1500,2000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-1152x1536.jpg",1152,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2.jpg",1500,2000,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-1000x1333.jpg",1000,1333,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"jnews-360x180":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-360x180.jpg",360,180,true],"jnews-750x375":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-750x375.jpg",750,375,true],"jnews-1140x570":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-1140x570.jpg",1140,570,true],"jnews-120x86":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-120x86.jpg",120,86,true],"jnews-350x250":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-350x250.jpg",350,250,true],"jnews-750x536":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-750x536.jpg",750,536,true],"jnews-1140x815":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-1140x815.jpg",1140,815,true],"jnews-360x504":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-360x504.jpg",360,504,true],"jnews-75x75":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-75x75.jpg",75,75,true],"jnews-350x350":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-350x350.jpg",350,350,true],"jnews-featured-750":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-750x1000.jpg",750,1000,true],"jnews-featured-1140":["https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Official_portrait_of_Rt_Hon_Owen_Paterson_MP_crop_2-1140x1520.jpg",1140,1520,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Kimberly J Hudson","author_link":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/author\/k-j-hudsonpoliticsphere-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Owen Paterson (65) has resigned from his position as an MP after a paid lobbying scandal. Instead of being tossed around by other government officials and the whole governing system, he decided to take the high road. The now-former MP for North Shropshire left office saying he would focus on his family and his suicide…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3942"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3949,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions\/3949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsphere.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}