Scottish Conservatives are furious at the UK government’s handling of the Owen Paterson affair and have accused ministers of ruining their credibility at Holyrood.
Four out of the six Tory MPs that represent constituencies north of the border voted to back an overhaul of the standards watchdog and block the suspension of the former Northern Ireland secretary after he was found to have breached lobbying rules.
The only two who did not vote were Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, and Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, who said he “couldn’t support changing a process while a member was being investigated”.
After Paterson’s resignation as an MP, Ross added: “I’m glad the right decision has now been reached, although it should never have happened in the first place.”
Referring to Boris Johnson’s government, a senior Scottish Tory source said: “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
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Jack was more ambivalent, denying that the UK government’s decision to reverse its position on setting up a Conservative-dominated committee to judge whether MPs have breached standards was a U-turn.
However, he admitted “the optics of the timing of the debate were not ideal”. He argued that MPs should have an appeals process when they are found to have breached standards and refused to criticise Kathryn Stone, the independent parliamentary commissioner for standards, who has been attacked by other Conservatives.
A spokeswoman said that Jack missed the vote because he had to leave London to take the train to Glasgow for “long-standing Cop26 commitments”.
Despite the majority of Tory MPs, including most of the Scottish representatives, backing Paterson, there was outrage at Holyrood.
The decision to support him was questioned in various WhatsApp groups and several MSPs said it would hamper their ability to question SNP politicians over any questionable behaviour. One simply described the UK government’s actions as “madness”.
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The Scottish Tories had pushed for votes of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, and John Swinney, the deputy first minister, over their actions during the Alex Salmond inquiry and repeatedly claimed they had broken the ministerial code.
Another MSP said the actions in Westminster “make any kind of sensible comment on standards impossible now”.
Pete Wishart, the SNP MP, said: “This Tory government is the sleaziest in decades. It has been beset by scandal after scandal — with the prime minister and his Tory colleagues guilty of breaking the ministerial code, acting unlawfully, handing peerages to donors, contracts to cronies and special access to their pals. The Owen Paterson affair is just the tip of the iceberg. It absolutely stinks.”
