Inside Politics: Johnson says he ‘crashed the car’ on Paterson case as ‘Leeds HS2 leg derailed’

Contrary to previous reports in Inside Politics, it turns out that turkeys do sometimes vote for Christmas – but only very occasionally, and usually when their master has given them no alternative. Following a long and bruising day in parliament for Boris Johnson at PMQs and then a grilling by the liaison committee, MPs last night voted for a crackdown on their lucrative side-hustles. Under the government’s plan any outside role, paid or unpaid, should be “within reasonable limits”, Downing Street said in a statement, although what constitutes “reasonable” is still yet to be defined. Labour’s motion, which called for a ban on all second jobs bar a few exceptions, was defeated by the government, but opposition parties did not oppose No 10’s plan, meaning it passed by 297 votes to 0. However, Labour accused Johnson of “watering down” what it said were genuine attempts to curtail outside earnings, accusing the PM of “warm words but no action” as it pointed out there was no timetable to go with the vote, which was non-binding. Johnson will be hoping last night draws a line under what has been a tumultuous few weeks for him and his party amid a storm of sleaze allegations. But it remains to be seen whether the clouds have completely blown over. Reports this morning say Sir Graham Brady, chair of the powerful Tory 1992 Committee that summoned the PM to a meeting yesterday over the second jobs debacle, is facing questions over an £800 an hour payment he received from a company run by a constituent. Elsewhere, the PM is facing a backlash over his plans to axe the eastern leg of HS2.

Commons sits from 9.30am with DCMS and attorney general questions followed by weekly business statement. Later, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, outlines plans in the integrated rail plan.

Coming up:

– Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon on Sky News at 8.05am

– Deputy PM Dominic Raab on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.30am

RULES REVIEW: In a statement after the vote, No 10 said MPs had backed updating the code of conduct for MPs. “This means that MPs will be banned from acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists and that MPs are always prioritising their constituents,” it said. “This will strengthen our parliamentary system and we will work on a cross-party basis to achieve this.” Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who chairs the standards committee, said work is already being done to tighten up the code of conduct. “The committee has been engaged in an evidence based review of the code of conduct for more than a year and is close to completing its work which we hope to do before Christmas or even before the end of the month,” he said in a statement. “We will then consult on our draft proposals before putting a final report to the house at some point early in 2022. Any changes to the code would then require the government to table the necessary motions and allow time for a debate on the floor of the House.”

CAR CRASH: Prior to the vote, Johnson admitted for the first time that former Tory MP Owen Paterson broke the rules on MPs’ conduct by lobbying on behalf of companies paying him £100,000 a year. Under intensive questioning from a committee of senior MPs, the PM admitted it had been a “total mistake” for him to put forward changes to standards rules which might have got the former cabinet minister off the hook. “Do I regret that decision? I certainly do,” he told the Commons Liaison Committee. Reports say the PM went further when addressing some of his own MPs, telling the 1922 Committee that “on a clear road, I crashed the car into a ditch” – comments that make front of several news outlets this morning.

IT’S OUT OF THE FIRE: And into the frying pan of northern MP fury for the PM, who faces a significant backlash today as he is expected to break a promise to build a new railway line for the north of England by scrapping the eastern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds. Transport secretary Grant Shapps will unveil the government’s integrated rail review later, billing it as “the biggest ever” public investment in the rail network with some £96bn going to the Midlands and northern England. But despite promising a new line, No 10 is now expected to scale back the plans and green-light a cheaper series of piecemeal upgrades, following pressure from the Rishi Sunak’s Treasury to cut costs. We’ll bring you updates on this story throughout the day here.

WAIT JUST A…: No minutes of a key telephone call about a Covid contract awarded to Randox after it employed Owen Paterson as a consultant can be found, a minister says. MPs were told the failure to “locate” them meant details of the conference call could not be published – just one hour after Johnson bowed to pressure to release details of the contracts. Labour’s Angela Eagle attacked the “astonishing revelation”, saying: “There have been meetings with no minutes that are official and involve government ministers.”

SOCIAL CARE COST CHANGES: Amid the high drama and political theatre on sleaze yesterday, No 10 sneaked out watered down proposals for a cap on social care costs — a move that experts warn will hit the poorest hardest and could leave some paying twice as much. Under plans to be voted on by MPs next week, the £86,000 threshold on costs will only count direct contributions and not any means-tested money received from the state. That makes it likely that only wealthier people will benefit from the cap. Torsten Bell, the head of the Resolution Foundation, described it as a “big change” – warning the benefit of the cap will be “much reduced”. “This techy sounding shift could double your care costs if you’ve got around £90k, but makes no difference to someone with £500k who gets almost all their assets protected,” he said. Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, warned: “I am really worried about the impact of this change on disabled people of working age too. “As I understand it, it will make it considerably harder for many to reach the cap than we had hoped.”

“On a clear road I crashed the car into a ditch”.

PM admits he got it wrong on Paterson.

“Pretty telling that the PM was much more candid to his own MPs behind closed doors than he was in public at cross-party liaison cttee...just minutes earlier.”

i columnist Paul Waugh on Johnson’s meeting with Tory 1922 Committee.

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