Senior Conservative MP says ‘A gulf in trust between ministers and the backbenches has now opened up’

Mark Harper, the Conservative MP for Forest of Dean, has written in The Sun that “a gulf in trust between ministers and the backbenches has now opened up”.

Mr Harper writes that the government’s “downhill journey” started when the prime minister instructed MPs “to blow up the House of Commons’ standards system” during the dispute over Owen Paterson MP’s lobbying activities.

The MP accuses Boris Johnson of using the case of Owen Paterson as “cover” to change the system during the row in early November. He described the events as an “infuriating episode” in which leadership was “absent”, adding: “If the team captain gets something wrong, they should take personal responsibility and apologise”.

Mr Harper also argues that the timing of the government’s decision to trigger Plan B Covid restrictions is “suspicious”, suggesting that restrictions only came under consideration following the publication of the video of Downing Street staff laughing about a Christmas party. 

Mr Harper is one of a number of Conservative backbench MPs who plan to vote against the Plan B restrictions in the Commons on Tuesday. 65 of Harper’s Conservative colleagues have also said they will vote against the restrictions. 

Mark Harper has been a Member of Parliament since 2005 and has held a number of government roles. He was a candidate for Leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 leadership contest.