WestminsterAccounts: The debate over whether MPs should have second jobs or not has been raging for many years, but it came to a head when former prime minister Boris Johnson tried to defend an MP who was found to have broken lobbying rules
Sunday 8 January 2023 08:31, UKThree months before the general election in 2010, David Cameron declared British politics was"broken".
Thirteen years on, and five prime ministers later, some things have changed - the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority now publishes all MPs' expense claims, a register of consultant lobbyists has been established, and there is greater scrutiny of individual declarations of interests. More than four years on, it has taken the Westminster Accounts project by Sky News and Tortoise Media to edge towards a solution to the problem he identified.Recommendations to change rules around second jobs were made to Theresa May in 2018 but Brexit took overThe report stated:"MPs should not accept any paid work to provide services as a Parliamentary strategist, adviser or consultant, for example, advising on Parliamentary affairs or on how to influence parliament and its members.
The Commissioner said Mr Paterson had"repeatedly used his privileged position" to make multiple approaches to government departments and ministers on behalf of the companies.The investigation found he had made three approaches to the Food Standards Agency on behalf of Randox regarding the testing of antibiotics in milk in 2016 and 2017. He had also approached ministers at the Department for International Development four times about its blood testing technology.
However, critics of such a move said arbitrarily deciding which roles were acceptable would be problematic. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, ended his membership of Tunstall Health Group's international advisory board, a role that had been earning him £20,000 per year.Amid calls for something to be done and attempts from Labour to force the government's hand, Mr Johnson decided to act.
It proposed a new requirement for MPs to sign contracts with their outside employers, setting out the work that was expected of them and specifying that the duties would not include lobbying ministers.
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