You know things are bad when even Keir Starmer can reach into his vest and find his backbone:
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
.@Keir_Starmer
on Owen Paterson: “This has been an unbelievable 24 hours even by this govt’s chaotic standards. Only yday Boris Johnson was forcing his MPs to rip up the rules on standards in public life is a truly damning indictment of this PM and the corrupt govt he leads.”
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
“Boris Johnson must now apologise to the entire country for this grubby attempt to cover up for the misdemeanour of his friend. This isn't the first time he's done this but it must be the last. And Boris Johnson must explain how he intends to fix the immense harm he has done...”
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
“...to confidence in the probity of him and his MPs.”
The Tory rebels who refused to buckle under to the whips deserve some credit - though it's alarming that it took such an extreme circumstance to drive them to it. As for the others ...
David Schneider
@davidschneider
All those Tory MPs who are now going to vote for Owen Paterson to be suspended must be livid with their actual selves who voted for him to not be suspended yesterday.
Meanwhile, schadenfreude and trebles all round:
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Chris Bryant (Chair of the Standards Committee) on Jacob Rees Mogg tells @BBCPM:
“He knew perfectly well that it conflated those two issues yesterday and I think he should have apologised to the House much more fulsomely today. It’s like he doesn’t understand the rule of law.”
Kevin Maguire
@Kevin_Maguire
The Tory sleaze scandal
Coming out with credit: Chris Bryant, Tory rebels, opposition leaders and MPs
Totally discredited: Owen Paterson, Boris Johnson, Kwasi Kwarteng, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mark Spencer, Angela Leadsom, Paterson's "friends" and Tory sheep
It would be nice, but terminally naive, to think that the likes of Johnson are going to mend their ways as a result of this kerfuffle.
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