Senior Tory MP says Johnson’s sleaze U-turn causing ‘dissatisfaction’ on backbenches
A senior Tory has said there is ” dissatisfaction on the backbenches” in the wake of Boris Johnson’s crackdown on MPs having second jobs in response to ongoing sleaze claims.
Johnson yesterday proposed new rules that would see MPs banned from holding outside jobs as political consultants, while there will also be a mandate that parliamentarians need to “prioritise” their constituents over any secondary jobs they have.
Around 30 Tory MPs have consultancy jobs, however the vast majority do not involve any official political consulting and they would likely not be forced to leave their positions.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, vice chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, nonetheless said a number of senior Tories were unhappy with the rules.
Brown told the BBC: “There is [frustration]. Clearly the whole issue of standards and the motion tabled before the house and then a complete U-turn and now this… there is dissatisfaction on the backbenches and that is why the Prime Minister needs to make it very clear to MPs what he expects from us.”
There has also been confusion about how sternly the Prime Minister’s proposed new rules will be adjudicated.
Johnson wrote to House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to say any outside job by MPs should be “within reasonable limits and should not prevent them from fully carrying out a range of duties”.
International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said Johnson was “taking the lead” on the sleaze scandal, before adding that around 20 hours a week of work outside parliament should still be acceptable.
“Let’s say two shifts, that would be 16 hours a week,” she said.
“Are we saying 10 to 20 hours a week outside your work as an MP and a parliamentarian? If that’s what you chose to do as your choice, that’s fine.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for Johnson to go further and to ban all secondary jobs for MPs, except for “very limited exceptions”.
Starmer said the limited exceptions would include jobs that were in the public service realm, meaning that legal work he had previously carried out as a backbencher would be banned under his proposed rules.
“The default should be a ban on all second jobs except for limited exceptions. Like if there is an element of public service [work] or a requirement for professional qualifications in terms of keeping qualifications going – something like working in A and E or a police or army reservist,” he said.