UK Prime Minister Once Again Reveals His Selfish and Elitist Values and His Lack of Interest in His People’s Wellbeing

Recent developments in U.K. politics have revealed a culture of corruption which, for a country that has been able to brag about its government’s transparency and trustworthiness, is a blight on the historical record that has destroyed the public’s faith in its decision-makers.

The vile perversion of political conduct started with the actions of Owen Paterson, the former MP for North Shropshire and a member of the Conservative party. Whilst also working full-time as an MP, he had part-time positions as a paid consultant for Randox Laboratories, where he was paid £8,333 a month for 16 hours of work, and also the same position at Lynn’s Country Foods where he was paid £2,000 every other month for four hours of work.

This means that, on top of the £81,932 annual salary for being an MP, he earns an extra £111,996 from his part-time consultancy work, for a total of £193,928. Considering the minimum yearly wage for a full-time adult worker in the U.K. is only £17,142, a figure which millions of people in the country work incredibly hard to gain, the base salary for MPs is already disgustingly high, and the extra income from lobbying, which is not a position unique to Paterson, makes this figure completely unacceptable.

Aside from the sickening amount of money this made Paterson, his actions also broke the rules surrounding lobbying in the UK parliament. Lobbying is “the activity of trying to persuade someone in authority, usually an elected member of a government, to support laws or rules that give your organization or industry an advantage”, and it is banned for MPs, in case their potential financial gains interrupt their ability to put the needs of their constituents first.

Political Standards Committee commissioner Kathryn Stone investigated Paterson’s behavior for over a year and found that he had not only used his political influence to further the interests and profits of the companies that he worked for but had also used his political office for non-politics related meetings and work, another behavior that is prohibited for MPs. She recommended that he be suspended from political work for 30 days.

Upset that one of his Tory comrades had been called out for breaking the rules, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cronies called for a change in the rules for MPs having second jobs. This amendment, called the Leadsom Amendment, would not only overturn the short and lenient sentence given to Owen Paterson but would also replace the Political Standards Committee with a new committee of their choosing, chaired by a Conservative MP. The amendment was voted for by a Tory majority.

The public, as well as opposition leaders and MPs, were outraged at this perversion of justice, with deputy Labour leader (filling in for leader Keir Starmer after a positive covid-19 test) calling the whole affair an “absolute disgrace” and saying that the Prime Minister and his party are “rotten to the core”. Daniel Bruce, chief executive of anti-corruption campaigners Transparency International UK, said that “with this vote, MPs have sent a clear signal that they believe there should be one set of rules for them and another set for everyone else. This is hugely damaging for trust in our democracy and the rule of law.”

This backlash caused the Prime Minister to do an embarrassing U-turn, overturning the amendment immediately. Not only did this make Boris Johnson a laughing stock yet again in his own country and on the world stage, but Owen Paterson was very disappointed, feeling he had lost the protection of his friends and long-time coworkers. He resigned from his job as an MP, saying he needed to escape the “cruel world of politics”. Aside from the Leadsom Amendment and all the drama surrounding it, Paterson believes the very public inquiry into his potential misconduct contributed to his wife’s suicide in 2020.

All of this drama has led to a serious discussion about the rules surrounding MPs’ second jobs, and a limit has been proposed so that they will only be able to accept a certain amount of hours and pay per hour. This will hopefully lead to a more reliable and committed set of public servants, but who knows how many more cases of corruption will need to be revealed before real change is finally put in place.