Boris Johnson’s spokesman repeatedly refuses to deny on the record that the prime minister offered Owen Paterson a peerage yesterday, or plans to give him one in the future.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson repeatedly refused to say whether disgraced Tory MP Owen Paterson will be given a peerage in the future, after he quit as an MP.

Paterson resigned following a backlash to a motion passed by Tory MPs which blocked his suspension from the Commons for 30 days after he was found guilty of an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules by the parliamentary watchdog.

An investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, found that Paterson had “repeatedly” used his position as an MP to benefit two firms who paid him as a consultant. The decision by Tory MPs to let him off the hook was condemned as ‘corruption’ by opposition parties, with some Tory MPs also refusing to back the motion that had the support of the prime minister.

The government was then forced into a humiliating U-turn after Labour, SNP and the Lib Dems said they would not be taking part in any new standards committee set up by the Tories after they sought to scrap the sleaze watchdog.

After being told that the government was U-turning, Paterson called Johnson to inform of his resignation from Parliament.

It’s been reported today however that the prime minister’s spokesperson repeatedly refused to deny on the record that the prime minister offered Owen Paterson a peerage yesterday, or plans to give him one in the future.

Adam Bienkov, Chief Westminster Correspondent at Byline Times tweeted: “Boris Johnson’s spokesman repeatedly refuses to deny on the record that the prime minister offered Owen Paterson a peerage yesterday, or plans to give him one in the future.”

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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