London: Thanasis Gavos
Boris Johnson, the leader of Britain’s main opposition party, has accused Boris Johnson of “eroding public confidence” in MPs and of “giving the green light to corruption”.
The Labor leader attacked the British Prime Minister during an out-of-agenda debate in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon over the government’s handling of corruption allegations against Conservative MP Owen Patterson.
Mr Patterson was judged by the Independent Parliamentary Rules Commissioner to have breached the Code of Conduct for MPs, as he had pressured ministers to look into issues involving two companies from which he had been paid ως 110,000 a year as a consultant.
The commissioner had recommended the 30-day expulsion of the former environment minister from the House of Commons, but the government was quick to propose ignoring the sentence and setting up a new committee to look into the parliamentary transparency control system. Mr Johnson even raised the issue of party discipline in an emergency vote last week.
The government proposal was approved due to the comfortable majority of the Conservatives in Parliament, releasing Mr. Patterson from the proposed sentence. However, when it became clear that the opposition parties refused to participate in the formation of a new committee to control the conduct of MPs, the government withdrew the initiative, with the result that Mr. Patterson later announced his resignation from the parliamentary office. after 24 years.
With Boris Johnson abstaining from Monday’s special debate, Mr. Starmer commented that “instead of repairing the damage he has done, the Prime Minister is putting it on his feet in fear.”
“When the Prime Minister gives the green light to corruption, then he erodes the trust (towards the deputies). “When he says that the rules to put an end to the vested interests do not apply to his friends, he erodes that trust, and when he deliberately undermines those who have undertaken to stop corruption, he erodes that trust,” he added.
Earlier, Mr Johnson refused to apologize for last week’s parliamentary action, which he did during a debate this afternoon with Prime Minister Steven Barkley, citing a “mistake” in trying to link changes to the control system. conduct in the Patterson case.
However, a poll by the company Ipsos MORI in the aftermath of the case, gives for the first time in a year a lead in the intention to vote for Labor, with 36% versus 35% of the Conservatives.
Citizens’ satisfaction with the Prime Minister has also decreased by five percentage points, from 39% to 34%, while dissatisfaction with his actions has increased by 10% to 61%.
Monday’s debate moved to a very high tone, with the Speaker of the House of Commons scolding an angry Labor MP who described Boris Johnson as a “second-class dictator”.
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