On Wednesday, the House of commons voted on an amendment to the Committee on Standards, which looks into complaints about the conduct of Members of Parliament, by setting out proposals for a new Standards Committee structure and process. Richard did not support the amendment.
Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire, said:
Constituents have contacted me about the votes yesterday on the Report from the Committee on Standards regarding Mr Owen Paterson MP, and the Committee’s conclusion that there had been a breach of the rules, that this brought the House into disrepute and that he should be suspended for 30 days.
MPs were asked to accept this report but an amendment was proposed merely to “note” the report and to create a new process to conduct enquiries about the conduct of MPs.
I agree that the process needs reform but I also believe that the findings in the report considered yesterday should have been accepted and the MP held to account.
Consequently I voted against the amendment. However the amendment was passed by 250 to 232.
You can read the full report and the committee's findings here.
