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Parliament should decide whether ministers break the rules not the PM, Labour's Dawn Butler says

PARLIAMENT should be in charge of deciding whether ministers break the rules, rather than the prime minister, Labour’s Dawn Butler urged today.

The PM is currently responsible for making a final decision over whether ministers have breached the ministerial code of practice.

In an early day motion, signed by 103 MPs, the former Labour minister said that Boris Johnson should not be the judge of whether parliamentary rules have been broken, given his record of dishonesty. 

Ms Butler suggested that the Commons standards committee, which currently oversees how MPs carry out their jobs, could also be responsible for ministerial behaviour.

The call follows a number of high-profile standards rows in Parliament.

The PM was criticised for the way he handled the case of former MP Owen Paterson and allegations of staff bullying by Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Mr Paterson was eventually forced to resign as an MP after an outcry over the way Mr Johnson handled the affair.

Ms Butler said that Mr Johnson had “proved time and time again that he’s not able to play fair, to show dignity in regards to the code or to treat Parliament with the respect it deserves” and the change would “start to rebuild trust in our democracy.”

She told the Morning Star: “Currently the Prime Minister can commit an act of lying and then be the judge and jury over whether he, or one of his ministers, has lied to the House. It makes no sense.

“These rules are outdated and were created at a time when the prime minister would never lie to the House.

“Now lying appears to be an Olympic sport for our Prime Minister, and he has several gold medals.”

The Cabinet Office has insisted that the Prime Minister is the “ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister,” but investigations into misconduct are overseen by an independent adviser, currently Lord Geidt.

Ms Butler was forced to leave Parliament in July last year after she refused to withdraw a remark that Mr Johnson was a liar.

Accusing another member of lying is considered to be unparliamentary language and subject to disciplinary measures from the Speaker.

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