This content was published on 17 November 2021 – 15:33
London, Nov 17 (EFE) .- The leader of British Labor, Keir Starmer, called Prime Minister Boris Johnson a “coward” on Wednesday for his management of the additional jobs of some deputies as lobbyists and lobbyists, in a scandal that shakes the conservative government.
In the weekly session of questions to the prime minister in Parliament, the two politicians got into a strong verbal confrontation that forced the speaker of the chamber, Lindsay Hoyle, to ask for better behavior in the chamber.
The controversy is linked to the debate on the paid jobs that some deputies do for companies, in general as advisers and lobbyists, in violation of parliamentary rules due to possible conflict of interest.
The scandal erupted when it was revealed last October that “Tory” congressman Owen Paterson, who works as an advisor to the Randox laboratory, violated the rules on “parliamentary standards” when it was learned that he had lobbied various ministries in favor of that company.
The controversy deepened when, to avoid sanction of the parliamentarian, the Johnson government decided to propose a change of the rules on the “parliamentary standards”.
However, the scope of criticism for that decision, both from Labor and from the conservative ranks themselves, forced the Executive to back down.
Johnson “will not apologize for himself. (He is) a coward, not a leader. Weeks defending corruption,” Starmer said today in the Commons.
“When someone in my party misbehaves, I miss him. When someone in his party misbehaves, he tries to bail him out. I lead, he covers himself,” added the Labor politician.
The prime minister told Starmer to give more details about his own work as a lawyer for a well-known law firm since 2015, forcing the Speaker of the House to remind him that this was a question session with the prime minister and not the leader of the opposition.
In addition to the Owen case, other deputies have been questioned about their jobs as business consultants and the amount of hours they dedicate to it, to the detriment of their functions as parliamentarians. EFE
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