The row over MPs' standards rules and the resignation of the Conservative MP Owen Paterson is a “storm in a teacup”, a Cabinet minister has claimed.

       George Eustice admitted that the Government had “made a mistake” by trying to create a new Tory-majority committee to set up an appeals process for MPs, but dismissed wider criticism of sleaze in politics.

       His comments came on Sunday as Sir Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson is trying to undermine Westminster's sleaze watchdogs because of his own run-ins with the standards system, and Labour called for the resignation of Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader.

       “What we have seen is a Westminster storm in a teacup,” Mr Eustice said. “Yes, we made a mistake in bringing that forward in the way that we did, so we withdrew it.

       “But the overall principle, that you should have due process and a right of appeal in these types of situations, I don't think anybody doubts.”

       Labour on Sunday sought to capitalise on widespread criticism of Mr Johnson and his ministers over attempts to reform the standards system, following a week of argument about Mr Paterson’s suspension and his resignation on Thursday.

       The Prime Minister had supported the creation of a new Tory-led committee to explore the possibility of an appeals panel for MPs who have been found guilty of breaking parliamentary rules, as Mr Paterson had.

       The committee would also have revisited claims that Mr Paterson had broken lobbying regulations by taking around ￡500,000 from food companies to lobby ministers on their behalf.

       After Mr Rees-Mogg announced all MPs would instead be given a vote on whether he should be suspended from Parliament, Mr Paterson resigned his seat.

       Prime Minister 'up to his neck' in sleaze

       Sir Keir said the Prime Minister was unable to clean up Westminster because he is "up to his neck in this".

       "Instead of upholding standards, he ordered his MPs to protect his mate and rip up the whole system - that is corrupt, it is contemptible and it's not a one-off,” he said.

       "Boris Johnson is the Prime Minister who is leading his troops through the sewer - he's up to his neck in this,” he added.

       Labour is pushing for Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone to investigate the refurbishment of Mr Johnson's Downing Street flat and his Marbella holiday in a villa owned by the family of environment minister Lord Goldsmith.

       The Prime Minister has already been admonished by the commissioner on four occasions, most recently over a ￡15,000 holiday to the island of Mustique between December 26 2019 and January 5 2020, but this was later overturned by the Committee on Standards.

       Sir Keir said: "There is a whiff that the Prime Minister would quite like the scrutiny and the standards to be weakened because they are looking too closely at him."

       He claimed the Prime Minister had a sense there is "one rule for him and his mates and another rule for everybody else".

       Mr Eustice, the Environment Secretary, said the issue of the luxury Downing Street flat renovations had already been examined by Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers' interests and "put to bed", suggesting there was no need for Ms Stone to look at it.

       "It's not her role to implement the ministerial code, it's very much around parliamentary standards and MPs," he told the Andrew Marr Show.

       'Jacob-Rees Mogg's position is untenable'

       Thangham Debbonaire, Mr Rees-Mogg’s opposite number on the Labour benches, said the Leader of the Commons’ position had become “untenable” after he was forced to U-turn on the Government’s support for Mr Paterson.

       She said "conflating" the Paterson case with attempts to overhaul the standards watchdog was “Tory sleaze, pure and simple”.

       Pressed on whether Mr Rees-Mogg should resign, Ms Debbonaire told Trevor Phillips on Sunday on Sky News: "If I was him, I'd be considering my position, that's what I think he should do today."

       She added: "I think his position is untenable."

       The shadow leader of the house said Mr Rees-Mogg had left MPs in a “state of chaos” following an “extraordinary week”.

       Despite Mr Rees-Mogg’s role in fronting both the original amendment and the subsequent about turn, Tory MPs have privately also turned their ire on Boris Johnson himself and the Tory chief whip, Mark Spencer.

       Tory chief whip's authority 'machine gunned'

       The move has been seen as a major strategic error on the Government’s behalf, leading to the resignation of a former Cabinet minister and a sizeable backbench rebellion.

       One Conservative MP said Mr Spencer’s ability to corral MPs in the Commons had been “machine gunned”, while others warned the relationship between Tory backbenchers and Downing Street was worse than ever.

       Mr Paterson’s resignation came in the form of a lengthy statement, in which he said he would remain a “public servant” but would leave the “cruel world” of politics on the insistence of his children, who lost their mother Rose to suicide last year.

       Mr Paterson’s suggestion he would remain in public life prompted speculation he hoped Mr Johnson would offer him a place in the House of Lords.

       On what Labour would do if Mr Paterson was recommended for a peerage, Ms Debbonaire said yesterday: "We obviously would not be recommending anyone like Mr Paterson for a peerage and I hope the Prime Minister sees sense and rules that out."