Owen Paterson

[Francescaisstressed]

Political parties aside, surely Owen Patterson avoiding suspension and the Tory party changing the rules for the mates goes against the very core of democracy?

When the people in power can bend the rules when they seee fit, and have noone to hold them to account I find it incredibly troubling.

Yesterdays voting record

votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1124#ayes

I wish Chris Bryant was my MP. Cheered him on from my kitchen on the Today programme this morning.

Here are the 13 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment to suspend a vote on Paterson.
Looks like Conservative Home is more disappointed with their action than Johnson or Patterson.

www.conservativehome.com/parliament/2021/11/the-13-conservative-mps-who-voted-against-the-amendment-to-suspend-a-vote-on-paterson.html

Kwasi Kwarteng on the radio this morning was claiming that Patterson didn't have a right to an appeal (not true according to the Committee Chair) and that if he was in a "normal job" he would. Once again showing Tories don't live in the real world - most jobs would have fired him without question for gross misconduct not given him a 30 day paid holiday - and anyone with less than 2 years service would have no rights.

That seat has been Tory since 1832, no non-Tory is ever going to win there

There's a movement for all opposition parties not to field anyone in that constituency to give a clear run to an anti-corruption candidate, as happened with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton was in the fourth safest Conservative seat in the country, and still lost it. So Paterson isn't necessarily as secure as he thinks.

In fact, if he is so convinced he hasn't acted improperly, he really ought to resign and let the voters decide.

Seems fair enough to me, effectively Parliament is a workplace and if you are sanctioned or disciplined in any other workplace you have the right of appeal - if you are not allowed to appeal, the sanction will usually be automatically ruled invalid.

Most people who are up in arms about this won't have heard of this guy until yesterday, I certainly hadn't. He may well be guilty of what he's accused of doing, but that doesn't mean he should not have the right to appeal against the decision.

Yes it looks bad that the Tories have decided to do this now, but it also reflects badly on the opposition that they are so opposed to justice being done. If Labour want there to be no right of appeal in one workplace, what's to stop them stripping away the rights and employment standards of workers generally, as they did during the Blair/Brown years?

Ironically this Tory mess suggests the Tories are more in favour of workers' rights than Labour, which goes against what I'd traditionally expect.

@Notonthestairs

Oh goodness I'm so bloody slow.

I've just realised that they are worried about future conduct issues - all those covid contracts for millions dolled out to their mates and families. They'd be roasted by an independent standards committee.

They need to rig the process now to save themselves in the future.

Ohhhhh!

I couldn't understand why they'd gone all in for this one unimportant MP. Doh! Makes perfect sense now.

@HarrietsChariot

Seems fair enough to me, effectively Parliament is a workplace and if you are sanctioned or disciplined in any other workplace you have the right of appeal - if you are not allowed to appeal, the sanction will usually be automatically ruled invalid.

Most people who are up in arms about this won't have heard of this guy until yesterday, I certainly hadn't. He may well be guilty of what he's accused of doing, but that doesn't mean he should not have the right to appeal against the decision.

Yes it looks bad that the Tories have decided to do this now, but it also reflects badly on the opposition that they are so opposed to justice being done. If Labour want there to be no right of appeal in one workplace, what's to stop them stripping away the rights and employment standards of workers generally, as they did during the Blair/Brown years?

Ironically this Tory mess suggests the Tories are more in favour of workers' rights than Labour, which goes against what I'd traditionally expect.

Well.

This approach has been in place and has been used for many MPs (including tories) before.

So why now? The process was put in place by MPs…. I’m sure it was Leadsom herself that championed it.

If they felt a right of appeal was needed, then why deal with it this way?

That’s what stinks - it’s being used as an excuse to kick the can down the road, to delay matters including an investigation into Boris Johnson.

The timing is “coincidental” at the very least. That’s the corruption.

Pretending it’s about wanting an appeal process is a neat little excuse.

And then they have the gall to suggest a replacement committee which has mainly Tories on it and is chaired by a discredited Tory is pretty fucking bolshy to say the least.

And MPs are not employees. That’s been established for years now.

They should be held accountable to their constituents- their constituents are the ones who put them in place. So let Owen Paterson be subject to a by election 🤷🏻‍♀️

@HarrietsChariot

Seems fair enough to me, effectively Parliament is a workplace and if you are sanctioned or disciplined in any other workplace you have the right of appeal - if you are not allowed to appeal, the sanction will usually be automatically ruled invalid.

Most people who are up in arms about this won't have heard of this guy until yesterday, I certainly hadn't. He may well be guilty of what he's accused of doing, but that doesn't mean he should not have the right to appeal against the decision.

Yes it looks bad that the Tories have decided to do this now, but it also reflects badly on the opposition that they are so opposed to justice being done. If Labour want there to be no right of appeal in one workplace, what's to stop them stripping away the rights and employment standards of workers generally, as they did during the Blair/Brown years?

Ironically this Tory mess suggests the Tories are more in favour of workers' rights than Labour, which goes against what I'd traditionally expect.

It doesn't look bad for the opposition at all. Or the tories who voted against it. It looks very very bad for the tories who voted for it.

And I suspect a lot of people had heard of Owen Paterson before yesterday. I certainly had.

The extent to which tory supporters will twist and squirm to attach the blame to labour is truly astonishing

@HarrietsChariot

Seems fair enough to me, effectively Parliament is a workplace and if you are sanctioned or disciplined in any other workplace you have the right of appeal - if you are not allowed to appeal, the sanction will usually be automatically ruled invalid.

Most people who are up in arms about this won't have heard of this guy until yesterday, I certainly hadn't. He may well be guilty of what he's accused of doing, but that doesn't mean he should not have the right to appeal against the decision.

Yes it looks bad that the Tories have decided to do this now, but it also reflects badly on the opposition that they are so opposed to justice being done. If Labour want there to be no right of appeal in one workplace, what's to stop them stripping away the rights and employment standards of workers generally, as they did during the Blair/Brown years?

Ironically this Tory mess suggests the Tories are more in favour of workers' rights than Labour, which goes against what I'd traditionally expect.

Utter nonsense. Parliament isn't anything like other workplaces - I don't see MPs demanding to have their tax treatment for expenses, which is way more generous than anyone else gets, aligned with "normal employment".

It's also fiction to say he didn't have a right to appeal, and that employees always get one.

We can clearly see what is going on here, and it is not a righteous campaign to remedy injustice for the downtrodden.

@DerTrotzkopf

The extent to which tory supporters will twist and squirm to attach the blame to labour is truly astonishing

Isn't it? This man got paid £100K to break the rules, but somehow he's the injured party.

@HarrietsChariot 🤣🤣🤣 I'm sure that plays well with the Tory faithful but it really cuts no ice with anyone else.

@DerTrotzkopf

The extent to which tory supporters will twist and squirm to attach the blame to labour is truly astonishing

I know. It’s incredible!

I’m sure soon people will try and make comparisons for previous Labour politicians - but I seem to remember that politicians used to fucking resign for far less.

Not seeing that here.

I think this is the worst position we have ever been in.
This government are dangerous and utterly unprincipled.
And even now the tories are all lining up to say what a lovely bloke Owen Paterson is. Just a lovely bloke who took backhanders to lobby numerous times. They don't care what the public think, they'll do anything to stay in power - lie, deflect and obfuscate to ensure they protect themselves.
I don't believe they give a monkeys about the average person, most of them don't have a clue what life is like for a majority of their constituents. It's evolved into a new breed of totally heartless, deceitful, detached, self-serving tories with absolute power to do as they please. They are loathsome.

My Tory MP has a majority of 800 or so. I look forward to welcoming our new MP as I expect this one to be out on his arse as soon as possible.

@Threewheeler1

I think this is the worst position we have ever been in. This government are dangerous and utterly unprincipled. And even now the tories are all lining up to say what a lovely bloke Owen Paterson is. Just a lovely bloke who took backhanders to lobby numerous times. They don't care what the public think, they'll do anything to stay in power - lie, deflect and obfuscate to ensure they protect themselves. I don't believe they give a monkeys about the average person, most of them don't have a clue what life is like for a majority of their constituents. It's evolved into a new breed of totally heartless, deceitful, detached, self-serving tories with absolute power to do as they please. They are loathsome.

I think they’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole, they cannot see the wood for the trees and genuinely believe that it’s all fine. Seriously.

I remember working at an essentially failed organisation and this is how those at the top behaved. They were in a bubble where they just didn’t get how bad things were. A few of us, who hadn’t been around that long were shocked and it took a long painful road for them to realise what a shit show it was. And even then they still didn’t get it.

In one way it’s a clear demonstration of the bubble that the Tories live in. They’ve got no sense of how out of touch they are because they’re all so similar.

Pointless having the “sort list by party” filter isn’t it.

I think they’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole, they cannot see the wood for the trees and genuinely believe that it’s all fine. Seriously.

So true. Like the boiled frog, and taking a sizeable chunk of the voting population with them. We desperately need people to wake up.

• Paterson paid £500ph to advise for Randox

• Randox wins £133m contract for Covid testing without any other firms getting chance to bid

• Govt makes Randox tests mandatory for travel

• Randox reports £218m revenue (+85%)

Nope, nothing to see here. Move along please…

This whole pandemic has been a complete shit show. They’ve gone from scandal to scandal not giving a shit as they know tomorrow we will have all “moved on” to the next scandal.
We never have time to deal or be properly outraged as they fuck up something else.
They shrug and that’s it.
There’s no accountability
No fucks given, at all.

@EvilPea

Pointless having the “sort list by party” filter isn’t it.

Yes, the only party voting 'Aye' was the Tory party

@PermanentTemporary

Please can we STOP blaming a man for his wife’s suicide. I am telling you now there are fewer more painful experiences than to lose a family member that way. To say it was anyone's 'fault' including the person who took their own life is to misunderstand and misrepresent something very deeply traumatic. He may have brought it up but its still not OK.

Concentrate on his professional responsibilities to us. The way he should have done.

He's blaming the investigation, which is an unspeakably low blow to a public official who can't fight back.

The current Labour Party must have Bojo and Co creaming their pants with delight every morning.