Labour has accused the Conservative Party of having a 'cash for access culture' after reports that donors who gave £3 million and served as treasurers have been nominated for seats in the House of Lords. The allegations come amid the fallout from the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has written to the House of Lords Appointments Commission arguing that former MP Owen Paterson should not be granted a peerage if recommended by Downing Street. Paterson resigned as MP for North Shropshire on Thursday after being found guilty of 'egregious' breaches of lobbying rules.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner described the Conservative Party as 'corrupt, dodgy, sleazy and on the take' following a Sunday Times report that all 16 of the party's main treasurers in the past two decades, except the most recent, have been offered Lords seats. The most controversial appointment was Lord Cruddas, who took his seat after Boris Johnson overruled the appointments commission's advice.
An anonymous former party chair told the newspaper: 'The truth is the entire political establishment knows this happens and they do nothing about it... The most telling line is once you pay your £3 million, you get your peerage.' A Conservative spokesperson responded: 'We do not believe that successful business people and philanthropists who contribute to political causes and parties should be disqualified from sitting in the legislature.'
In his letter to Lord Bew, Starmer warned that granting Paterson a peerage would 'undermine confidence in the probity of parliament'. Paterson resigned after Johnson abandoned a plan to overhaul the standards system. Former minister Caroline Nokes added to the criticism, stating that the public thinks the PM's handling of the row 'stinks'.
