Region's Tory MPs under fire for not suspending Owen Paterson before he resigned
Conservative MPs in the region have been accused of "returning sleaze to Parliament" after preventing their colleague Owen Paterson from being punished before he resigned anyway.
All but two Tory MPs in the Black Country voted to change the rules in Parliament so the North Shropshire MP would not be suspended for 30 days after being found to have broken parliamentary rules.
However the MP ended up resigning anyway on Thursday after the Government backtracked and promised a fresh vote on the suspension of Mr Paterson, who lobbied for companies that between them paid him more than £100,000 a year.
Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson and Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb abstained on Wednesday's vote about Mr Paterson and the subsequent vote about introducing a new disciplinary system for MPs.
However fellow Conservatives to vote in favour included Wolverhampton North East's Stuart Anderson, Dudley's Marco Longhi and Mike Wood, Walsall's Eddie Hughes, South Staffordshire's Gavin Williamson and Stafford's Theo Clarke.
The harshest criticism was in Sandwell where Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris, West Bromwich East MP Nicola Richards and West Bromwich West MP Shaun Bailey regularly criticise the Labour-run council over its various scandals.
Labour Warley MP John Spellar told the Express & Star: "This is absolutely extraordinary from the Conservative Party. They've shamed themselves and Parliament and now after the usual Boris bluster they're desperately trying to back down on part of this without apologising."
West Bromwich East Labour Party secretary Liam Preece said: "The Tory Party put the interests of one of their own above our country and our democracy. Nicola Richards voted to give a green light to corruption because, unlike some of her Tory colleagues, she lacked the courage to stand up for what's right. Next time she attacks Sandwell Council people will see her for the hypocrite she is.'
Ian Cooper, who stood for Labour against James Morris twice, said: "Abusing Parliament to vote to clear a Tory MP guilty of corruption sums up the rottenness of Johnson's Tory party. That all three Sandwell Tory MPs conspired in this is an insult to local people, and one they won't be able to explain away with their usual mix of arrogance and bluster."
Former Halesowen councillor Hilary Bills added: "I'm deeply disappointed that my MP James Morris voted for this. We may have different political views but I always thought he was an honourable man. Since he willing participated in this grubby, squalid episode, maybe I was wrong."
Mr Paterson thanked his party colleagues for saving him from the prospect of a recall vote and a by-election but admitted they might "take a bit of heat" for the vote.
The standards committee concluded Mr Paterson's paid consultancies with Randox and Lynn's Country Food, which netted him nearly three times his MP's salary of £82,000, meant repeated approaches to ministers and officials about their industry were "an egregious case of paid advocacy."
However, the MP bitterly complained about the investigation and the process which found him guilty without the prospect of appeal and claimed the ordeal contributed to the suicide of his wife last year.
Announcing his resignation following Boris Johnson's latest U-turn, Mr Paterson said: "I have today, after consultation with my family, and with much sadness decided to resign as the MP for North Shropshire. The last two years have been an indescribable nightmare for my family and me....
"My integrity, which I hold very dear, has been repeatedly and publicly questioned.
"This is a painful decision but I believe the right one. I have loved being the MP for North Shropshire and have considered it a privilege to have been elected to serve my constituents for 24 years."
He added: "I maintain that I am totally innocent of what I have been accused of and I acted at all times in the interests of public health and safety."
He added: "I will remain a public servant but outside the cruel world of politics. I intend to devote myself to public service in whatever ways I can, but especially in the world of suicide prevention."
Long-standing Tory Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant defended voting to help Mr Paterson and change the standards committee system.
He said: "The vote does not exonerate Owen Paterson MP from the charge that he took money while promoting the interests of two companies. If he is guilty, he must and will face strict punishment. The outcome has only been delayed.
"However, I informed the Deputy Chief Whip last Saturday that I could not vote for the Motion of Censure because it had become clear that Owen Paterson’s 'trial' was deeply flawed.
"I voted for a House of Commons Select Committee to be established to find ways by which the system can be reformed. To reiterate: none of us voted one way or another on whether Owen Paterson is guilty and whether or not he should be severely punished.
"As I said in the House of Commons 'Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done'."
After the backlash against the proposals and both the Labour Party and the SNP refusing to sit on any new standards committee the Government appeared to back down, the leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg saying the administration will bring forward "a more detailed proposals once there have been cross-party discussions."
