A Cabinet minister has criticised a fellow MP over claims that sleaze allegations have damaged the Conservative Party, insisting the current crisis is a “long way from the worst”.
Leaked messages from a Tory MP WhatsApp chat show Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, giving a dressing down to George Freeman, a junior minister.
Ms Dorries insisted the 2009 MPs' expenses scandal was “a billion times worse” than current claims of sleaze over MPs' second jobs, The Times reported.
Mr Freeman, a science and research minister, said “the damage from last week will take a lot more than good words to repair” following claims that MPs including Sir Geoffrey Cox, a former attorney general, had overlooked their parliamentary duties in favour of lucrative contracts with private firms.
“Totally not true George, those of us who were here in 2009 know that isn’t the case,” Ms Dorries responded.
“The expenses scandal, which began the day of the European elections campaign in 2009 and ended on the day of the ballot, was a billion times worse than last week. Every single MP was in the media. Half a dozen MPs were banged into prison. Many had to pay huge sums of money back in expenses claimed.
“We dominated (mainly Tories, because the press always go harder on us) the front page of every single newspaper and bulletin for five whole weeks
“Last week wasn’t great, but it was a long way from the worst.”
The Government is under pressure from all sides to reform the MPs standards system after a row over the alleged lobbying activities of Owen Paterson spilled into a wider debate on propriety in public life.
Mr Paterson has since resigned his Commons seat, telling constituents he would leave the “cruel world of politics” but insisting representations he made on behalf of two companies were in the public interest.
Earlier this week, Boris Johnson said “Britain is not a corrupt country” after a press conference at the Cop26 climate summit was dominated by sleaze claims directed at MPs.
Following a botched attempt to reform the standards system in Parliament using a new Tory-majority select committee, the Government plans to agree on reforms in cross-party talks with Labour and other opposition parties.
Rishi Sunak has said that the Government “need[s] to do better than we did last week” on the sleaze claims. However, the Chancellor did not comment directly on claims against Mr Paterson or Sir Geoffrey, who has earned more than ￡5.5 million from jobs outside Parliament since taking office.
On Friday, Boris Johnson rejected suggestions that allegations of sleaze could be reflected at the ballot box in forthcoming by-elections.
The Prime Minister visited Sidcup, where voters will elect a new MP in December after the death of James Brokenshire last month. He said the strength of the local candidate in the Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency meant voters would back the Tories.
But Lord Evans, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said: “Standards matter for our democracy, they matter for our economic prosperity and for our international influence and our foreign policy.
“The past week has shown that standards do matter to the public. Ethical standards are important for making democracy work. The public does care about this.”
On Friday night, Scotland Yard ruled out an investigation into complaints that Tory peers had paid for peerages. It followed letters from the SNP MPs Pete Wishart and Angus MacNeil asking police to consider probing the “cash for honours” claims.
The force said it had concluded that “there are not sufficient grounds to initiate an investigation”.
On Friday night, polling showed Labour has raced to a six-point lead over the Tories in the wake of the sleaze allegations. A survey of voting intention by Savanta and ComRes for the Daily Mail found 40 per cent of voters backed Labour, up from 35 last week, while the Tories had slumped from 38 per cent last week to 34 per cent this week.