Boris Johnson insists UK is not corrupt and defends MPs second job

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Boris Johnson on Thursday defended the principle of MPs taking second jobs and insisted the UK was not a corrupt country as he continued to face ‘sordid’ accusations in his Conservative Party .

The Prime Minister’s comments followed footage which appeared to show Sir Geoffrey Cox, a Tory MP and former Attorney General, using his House of Commons office for legal work advising the British Virgin Islands through which he won hundreds of dollars. thousands of pounds.

The growing scandal that engulfed Tories over MPs’ outside interests sparked his first resignation on Wednesday when Andrew Bowie stepped down as the party’s vice-chair.

Johnson said MPs should be punished if they break parliamentary rules for second jobs – a week after being accused of blocking the punishment of former Tory cabinet minister Owen Paterson, who did so.

“The most important thing is that those who break the rules should be investigated and should be punished,” he said at a press conference at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, where he twice refused to apologize for the scandal surrounding Paterson.

But the prime minister defended the principle of MPs pursuing outside interests, arguing that they broadened the experience of the House of Commons.

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“For hundreds of years MPs went to Parliament and also worked as doctors, lawyers, soldiers, firefighters or writers. . . on the whole, the British people have understood that this has in fact strengthened our democracy because people fundamentally think that parliamentarians need some experience of the world. “

Johnson added he did not believe the UK was “a corrupt country from afar” after Labor accused him of being corrupt. “I sincerely believe that our institutions are not corrupt. We have a very, very hard system of parliamentary democracy and control, especially through the media. “

Labor called on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to assess whether Cox’s use of his office in the House of Commons violated the MPs code of conduct. This states that all facilities paid for by the taxpayer should only support the “parliamentary duties” of a deputy and that the use of public resources by deputies should not “confer on themselves any personal or financial benefit. undue ”.

A statement released by Cox’s office said: “He does not think he broke the rules but will of course accept the judgment of the parliamentary commissioner or the committee on the matter.”

Cox earned almost £ 1million from his legal work last year, in addition to his salary of £ 82,000 as a Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon. It emerged on Tuesday that Cox had also taken advantage of Covid-19 rules allowing him to vote in the Commons by proxy of the BVI, which faces an investigation into his governance.

While Johnson has not commented on the allegations regarding Cox, he said outside interests should not clash with being an MP. “You have to put your job as an MP first and be dedicated first and foremost to your constituents, the people who send you to Westminster.”

However, Cox claimed that Tory Chief Whip Mark Spencer knew he was in BVI when he voted remotely. “Regarding the use of the power of attorney, prior to his visit to BVI, he consulted the Chief Whip specifically on this matter and was advised that this was appropriate,” the statement said.

Angela Rayner, Deputy Labor leader, said: ‘A Tory MP using a taxpayer funded office in Parliament to work for a tax haven amid corruption allegations is a slap in the face and an insult to UK taxpayers.

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“The Prime Minister needs to explain why he has an MP in his parliamentary party who treats Parliament as a collaborative workspace allowing him to devote himself to all his other jobs instead of representing his constituents.”

Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary standards commissioner, concluded last month that Paterson broke the rules when he used his parliamentary office to hold 25 meetings with two companies for which he was a paid consultant.

Meanwhile, it emerged that Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer continued to make money from his legal work even after his election as a Member of Parliament in 2015, according to the House of Commons Interest Register.

However, that ended in 2019 when Starmer, a prominent lawyer and former Director of Public Prosecutions, relinquished his certificate of practice.

He made the move after Labor announced it would ban most second jobs if it came to power.

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