Prime Minister Boris Johnson must apologise to the country for his handling of the Owen Paterson sleaze row, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader said Mr Johnson must also confirm that Mr Paterson, a former cabinet minister, will not be nominated for a peerage.
Ahead of an emergency Commons debate on standards at Westminster, Sir Keir said Mr Johnson needed to act to clean up politics.
It comes as former Tory deputy PM Michael Heseltine told Sky News he cannot “disagree” with Sir John Major’s assessment that recent behaviour of Mr Johnson’s government could be considered “politically corrupt”.
Sir Keir has also called for action against disgraced MP Rob Roberts, who was readmitted to the Conservative Party despite breaking parliament’s sexual misconduct policy.
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Although he is back in the party, the Delyn MP sits as an independent in the Commons as the Conservative whip remains suspended.
A Commons debate last Monday was granted by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle following Tory attempts to block an immediate 30-day suspension for Mr Paterson over an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules.
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Conservative MPs were ordered to back the creation of a Tory-led committee to look again at Mr Paterson’s case and the whole standards system.
But after a backlash over the plan, the government performed a U-turn and Mr Paterson subsequently quit as an MP, leaving what he called the “cruel world of politics”.
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1:33
Heseltine: ‘This country has been misled’
After one of his shadow cabinet called on the PM to consider his position, Sir Keir said: “Boris Johnson needs to attend this debate, answer for his mistakes, apologise to the country and take action to undo the damage he has done.
“The country is yet to hear a word of contrition over his attempts to create one rule for him and his friends and another for everyone else. He must now come to the House and say sorry.
“And he needs to go beyond just words. Today, the prime minister must begin to clean out the filthy Augean stable he has created.”
The reference to cleaning the Augean stable will be familiar to the classics-loving prime minister, as it was one of the labours of Hercules.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer is preparing for a Commons showdown with Boris Johnson on Monday
Sir Keir, who will lead Labour’s response in the Commons debate, said Mr Johnson should confirm he will not nominate Mr Paterson “or any other MPs who have been handed suspensions from parliament” for a peerage.
He also urged Mr Johnson to work together on plans to throw Mr Roberts out of the Commons – a loophole meant the Delyn MP’s six-week suspension could not trigger the recall process which leads to a by-election.
Mr Roberts voted with Tory MPs for the plan to spare Mr Paterson an immediate suspension.
Sir Keir said: “It is disgraceful that Mr Roberts has been welcomed back as both a member of parliament and the Conservative Party despite having been found to have sexually harassed a junior member of staff.
“That he was able to aid and abet the prime minister in his attempts to corrupt British politics last week should be a source of shame to the Tories.
“The prime minister was prepared to rip up the system to save one of his disgraced MPs – why will he not take action to protect others from this one?”
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0:56
PM’s constituents give their verdict
Sir Keir also demanded a “full, transparent investigation” into how Randox – one of the firms that paid Mr Paterson – came to win COVID-19 testing contracts.
He said it was “vital the public has confidence that Owen Paterson’s paid advocacy did not influence these decisions”.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards’ investigation into Mr Paterson’s activities covered from October 2016 and February 2020, before the pandemic struck.
Conservative heavyweights have also attacked Mr Johnson’s government over the lobbying row.
Asked about ex-Tory PM Sir John’s comments that the current government is “corrupt”, Mr Heseltine told Sky News: “I don’t think you can disagree with that.”
He added: “The background is extremely uncomfortable because we’re going into a very difficult period.
“We’ve got the disaster of Brexit, we’ve got the environmental conference hanging by a thread in Glasgow, we’ve got the COVID situation, and there’s no doubt at all that people’s living standards by this time next year are going to look very, very different to those they enjoy today.
“This is a bad moment for the government by any standards.”
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0:51
‘PM should consider his position’ – Labour
The Liberal Democrats, who secured the emergency debate, have called for an independent statutory public inquiry into sleaze and corruption allegations.
The inquiry, which would have the power to summon witnesses and take evidence under oath, would examine not only the Paterson row but also the awarding of coronavirus contracts, whether Mr Johnson’s holidays were properly declared, and the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.
The party also said that any MPs being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards should not be able to vote or propose amendments to motions related to disciplinary issues.
Rachel Reeves will stress the need for “hard work matched by fair reward” when she unveils plans for a “youth guarantee” to drive down unemployment.
The chancellor will make the case for a society founded on “contribution” in her speech at Labour‘s annual conference in Liverpool today.
She is expected to confirm plans for every young person who has received universal credit (UC) for 18 months without “earning or learning” to be guaranteed an offer of paid work.
Those who refuse to take up jobs without a “reasonable excuse” will face sanctions such as losing their benefits, it is understood.
The guarantee, which will be overseen by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, forms part of a pledge of “nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment“.
Ms Reeves is expected to say: “I believe in a Britain founded on contribution – where we do our duty for each other, and where hard work is matched by fair reward.
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“I believe in a Britain based on opportunity – where ordinary kids can flourish, unhindered by their background.
“And I believe that Britain’s real wealth is found not only in the success of the fortunate few, but in the talents of all our people, in every part of our great country.”
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Trevor’s Takeaway at Labour Party Conference
It comes in the wake of concerns among some Labour members that the government needs to offer voters a clearer vision of its agenda.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously avoided using buzzwords to define his politics, but thinktank Labour Together published a paper last week in which it argued the concept of contribution should be put at the heart of policymaking.
Ms Reeves is expected to add: “We won’t leave a generation of young people to languish without prospects – denied the dignity, the security and the ladders of opportunity that good work provides.
“Just as the last Labour government, with its new deal for young people, abolished long-term youth unemployment I can commit this government to nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment.
“We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again.”
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Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, accused Labour of “contradictions” within their policies.
He said: “Rachel Reeves says she wants to abolish youth unemployment – yet in her very first budget, she introduced a £25bn jobs tax that made it more expensive for businesses to hire, especially young people.
“That’s the contradiction at the heart of Labour’s plan: they talk about opportunity, but their policies kill jobs.
“Since Labour came to power, unemployment is up. Business confidence is down. And now Reeves is trying to fix a problem she created – while pointing the finger of blame, as she so often does, at everyone else.”
Andy Burnham has hit out at allies of Sir Keir Starmer for “demanding simplistic statements of loyalty”, claiming they are underestimating the “peril” Labour is in.
The mayor of Greater Manchester insisted his recent interventions have not been about “personal ambition”, but starting an “open debate” about the direction of the party ahead of potentially catastrophic local and devolved elections next year.
In the lead up to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool this week, the so-called “King of the North” has accused Sir Keir of having no vision for the country, while setting out his own policy proposals.
It has fuelled mounting speculation he could launch a future leadership challenge against the prime minister, who in turn has compared Mr Burnham to Liz Truss.
At a fringe event on the opening day of the conference, the Northern mayor said: “I was clear in the interviews I gave last week, I wanted to launch a debate about the direction of the party and getting a plan to beat Reform UK.
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“Those out there making calls for simplistic statements of loyalty are underestimating the peril the party is in.”
Two polls this week have predicted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will become the next prime minister, while a poll of Labour members found more than half of them don’t want Sir Keir to fight the next general election.
Mr Burnham later turned up to a rally about Proportional Representation (PR), in which he insisted he wanted “this government to work”.
He received a rapturous reception as he entered the room, flanked by over a dozen photographers.
Image: Andy Bunrham flanked by media at a fringe event
Mr Burnham made light of the attention, quipping that “there’s nothing more unstoppable than an idea whose time has come”, in reference to PR.
But this was not the focus of the punchy speech that followed, in which he criticised the Labour leadership’s handling of dissent, saying a “climate of fear” was preventing MPs from having an “open debate” about the direction of the party.
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A handful of Labour MPs have been suspended over the past year for criticising the government on issues like welfare reform and the two child benefit cap, but Mr Burnham has the freedom to be outspoken as he is not a member of parliament.
He said he had been accused of “all sorts of things” in the past week but had done “nothing more than launch a debate”.
Mr Burnham drew clear dividing lines in a recent interview with The New Statesman, as he said the country should be “less in hock to the bond markets”, called for a greater focus on council housing and said public utilities should be nationalised.
It fuelled speculation of an impending leadership challenge, given Mr Burnham fought twice to run the Labour Party while he was an MP, before stepping down in 2017 to run for the metro mayor position. He has not ruled out a return to Westminster and last week claimed Labour MPs have privately asked him to stand.
Sir Keir tried to shut down the narrative by suggesting Mr Burnham’s policies would unleash the economic chaos of Ms Truss, whose fatal mini budget sent the markets into meltdown, as he dismissed the “personal ambitions of the mayor”.
However, in a direct message to “those who say that I’m speaking out purely for my own ambition”, a defiant Mr Burnham said: “I can say to you tonight I am speaking out for the thousands of councillors here at this conference who are worried about going to those doorsteps next May, speaking for the members of the Senedd who, again, are working hard to keep Wales Labour… and, of course, members of the Scottish parliament as well, who want a stronger story about Labour to go to those doorsteps.
“I’m speaking out for the millions of good people around Britain who want a more hopeful direction for the country.
“I think we can do it. I honestly believe it can be done. We can make this government work, we can find that more hopeful direction and we can win again at the next general election.”
The speech was met with a big round of applause from members, while one Labour MP told Sky News it was a “great speech”.
And while cabinet ministers have called for the party to unite behind the prime minister to fight Reform UK – there appeared to a change in tone from Wes Streeting as the first day of conference drew to a close.
The health secretary told a fringe event that the government must be “open to challenge” from within.
He said: “We’ve got to be self-confident enough as ministers to be open to challenge, and openly debate different ideas, because it makes you stronger as a government.”