Inside Politics: Tory MP thwarts No 10 move to get Paterson U-turn through Commons

Christopher Chope blocks motion on standards committee findings, forcing No 10 to reschedule or axe move entirely, writes Matt Mathers

Tuesday 16 November 2021 03:42 EST
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Downing Street’s bid to sneak through a late night motion to accept the standards committee’s findings on Owen Paterson – and by extension Boris Johnson’s wider attempt to move the conversation on from allegations of Tory sleaze – backfired dramatically last night, after a government motion was blocked in the Commons. All it took was the single objection of Tory MP Christopher Chope, whose intervention means No 10 will now have to reschedule the motion or axe it entirely – as well as likely having to contend with another embarrassing debate in chamber later today. Away from Westminster, the PM is facing a considerable backlash from civic leaders, MPs and media outlets over reports that his government is planning to water down rail upgrades for the North of England, reneging on his promises to “level up” the country outside London. Elsewhere, police have named the Liverpool bomber and business chiefs have warned the government against suspending the Brexit agreement with the EU, saying it could launch a “devastating” trade war.

Inside the bubble

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

The cabinet meets this morning, followed by questions in the Commons to Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary (from 11.30am). In select committees, Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire County Cricket Club player will give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee about racism in cricket. The business committee will hear evidence about decarbonising heat in homes. George Eustice, the environment secretary, will face questions from the committee scrutinising his department about labour shortages in food and farming.

Coming up:

– Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds on Sky News at 8.05am

– Security minister Damian Hinds on ITV GMB at 8.30am

Daily Briefing

U-TURN FARCE: A single Tory MP last night blocked a government motion to reverse changes to parliamentary standards following the Owen Paterson case, thereby scuppering Boris Johnson’s attempt to draw a line under sleaze allegations that have rocked his government of late. Downing Street tried to get the plans through the Commons without a vote, avoiding another division. But as the deputy speaker Nigel Evans read out the name of the motion at 10pm he was greeted with a single shout of “object” from his colleague Christopher Chope. It means that the government will now have to drop the motion entirely or reschedule it, most likely resulting in an embarrassing debate – exactly what the PM wanted to avoid. Opposition parties branded the late-night episode a “farce”. Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow leader of the Commons, said Johnson had no one to blame but himself. “Tonight’s farce is of the Tories’ own making and serves Boris Johnson right for trying to sneak a U-turn out at night rather than do the decent thing and come to the House to apologise for the Tory sleaze scandal.”

THE HARDEST WORD: The whole sleaze saga showed that sorry really did seem to be the hardest word for politicians but now we have had two apologies from government ministers in the space of just a few days. After Cop26 president Alok Sharma said sorry for the watered down climate deal on coal (which wasn’t even really his fault) Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has apologised to standards commissioner Kathryn Stone for suggesting she should consider her position after concluding that Paterson broke the rules.

TRAINSPOTTING: Johnson is facing a significant backlash this morning from MPs, civic leaders and northern media outlets over reports that his government is to significantly water down rail improvements across the North of England and Midlands. Last month, The Independent revealed that Johnson was to offer the regions a cut-price “bare minimum” of railway upgrades despite the PM’s pledge to “level up” the country outside London. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is expected to set out the final proposals of the integrated rail review on Thursday, sparking renewed media interest in the Sunday papers, who reported that plans the plans are being scaled back. One senior Tory MP told the Financial Times that the move exposed that Johnson “has never had a plan for levelling up”. “Now they’ve cancelled half of HS2, a project that’s enjoyed cross party support over a decade and over four PMs.” The person dismissed the new northern rail plan as merely “the same upgrade proposals that Network Rail had back in 2009”. Several northern papers splash on the story today in what appears to be a coordinated media campaign demanding Johnson “deliver what you promised”. Jon Stone, our policy correspondent, says the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme is in fact being cancelled rather than cut back.

LIVERPOOL BOMBER NAMED: On a visit to a medical centre in east London yesterday, the PM praised the heroics of the taxi driver David Perry, who managed to escape the Liverpool Women’s Hospital explosion relatively unharmed. The investigation continues at pace this morning and police last night named the bomber as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen, who several media outlets report is a Middle Eastern man who converted to Christianity. In the wake of the attack, Britain’s terror threat level has been upgraded to ‘severe’, meaning a further attack is highly likely. Home secretary Priti Patel said the level had been raised because there had been two attacks in the span of a month. Speaking to broadcasters, she said: “The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, Jtac, are now increasing the United Kingdom’s threat level from substantial to severe. “And there’s a reason for that, and that reason is because what we saw yesterday is the second incident in a month.” We’ll be bringing you live updates on the investigation throughout the day.

BREXIT WARS LATEST: British business chiefs have urged Johnson’s government against suspending the Brexit agreement with the EU, warning it could launch a “devastating” trade war in the weeks ahead. Brexit minister Lord Frost said last week that the option to trigger Article 16 to suspend the Northern Ireland protocol remained on the table if “significant gaps” with the EU cannot be bridged, but appeared to seek to calm the row for now. But while Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission negotiator, welcomed the “change in tone” from the UK, Brussels is prepared for immediate retaliatory measures against the UK if No 10 does go ahead and suspend the protocol, legal experts and analysts have told The Independent.

On the record

“I did not mean to express doubt about your ability to discharge your role and I apologise for any upset or distress my choice of words may have caused.”

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says he didn’t mean it when he said standards commissioner should consider her position.

From the Twitterati

“PM accuses Starmer of ‘trying to suck and blow at the same time’ which has raised some eyebrows in the press gallery.”

Sun politics editor Harry Cole on PM’s response to Starmer criticism on Cop26.

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