Leadsom allegedly apologised to Tory MPs for quashing Paterson suspension

Former minister Dame Andrea Leadsom has issued a letter apologising to Conservative MPs for forwarding an amendment which would have seen Owen Paterson’s recommended six-week ban from Parliament quashed, the Guardian have reported.

Leadsom’s amendment, tabled the evening prior to the vote on Paterson’s suspension, recommended that “the current standards system should give Members of Parliament the same or similar rights as apply to those subject to investigations of alleged misconduct in other workplaces and professions”, which would entail the “right of representation, examination of witness and appeal”.

The government subsequently U-turned on the vote, for which they whipped MPs to support Paterson, and the former MP for North Shropshire officially resigned from his seat on Friday.