Owen Paterson, !Visible

MP’s have been discussing their concerns about the ethics and standards regarding their duty following Owen Paterson corruption / conflict of interest case.

First we must understand what corruption is in order to understand why it is dangerous and what can be done about it.

Cambridge dictionary says that it is “illegal, bad, or dishonest behaviour, especially by people in positions of power” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019).

Contextually, Owen Paterson who had full knowledge of the rules and regulations related to acting as an MP must have known that the lobbyist rules DOES NOT allow a lobbyist to have a foot in both the private and public sector.

However, the conservatives have been greatly criticised for their lack of honesty. Early this year David Cameron was brought to the public eye for his involvement with Grensill Capital (Politics.co.uk, n.d.). A company, Mr Camron lobbied for and went on to work for.

During the debate MP’s were talking about changing the standards and improving the overall trust of the public by holding Mr. Paterson accountable for his actions. And further to that, it seems that a consensus about the lack of transparency and honesty displayed by the tory party tempted to worsen the situation.

Is the current tory government ready to clean up its mess and get the public interest upfront?

I am not too sure about the answer but what is clear is that the UK needs to work on what is important today. This includes getting its dishonest political figures out of the way to continue to build a fairer society.

It is worth watching the entire debate which you can find here :

In full: MPs debate sleaze and Parliamentary standards following Owen Paterson row – YouTube

Thanks for reading,

Frederique

Reference

Cambridge Dictionary (2019). CORRUPTION | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Cambridge.org. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corruption.

Politics.co.uk. (n.d.). Lobbying in the UK – What you need to know. [online] Available at: https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/lobbying/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2021].