MPs Drop Plans to Cap Second Incomes

By April Ogiamien

Last week, the government chose to abandon plans to place a cap on incomes from second jobs for ministers, following Owen Paterson’s illicit lobbying scandal.

Initially, following the scandal, the government backed the Code of Conduct proposals brought forward by the Standards Committee, in November, which called for a “complete ban” on MPs taking on work as paid consultants. The proposal also called for ministers to be more transparent about potential conflicts of interest within their two roles.

The government has since revoked their support for these proposals, claiming that placing time restrictions on these second jobs would be '“impractical”, and that the cap on external earnings would “not have the intended effect.”

Stephen Barclay, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Leader of the House of Commons, Mark Spencer, told the committee that a cap on second jobs earnings "could serve to prohibit activities which do not bring undue influence to bear on the political system".

He continued, saying that earnings from activities such as writing books "would not preclude members from meeting their principal duty to their constituents".

Some ministers have instead argued that there should be a restriction on the types of secondary jobs that can be held by MPs, rather than outright banning them all.

However, MPs from the Labour Party have condemned Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, for changing his mind, accusing him of “appeasing Tory MPs to save his own skin.”

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said, “Boris Johnson’s hollow promise to clamp down on MPs’ second jobs was nothing more than a media stunt to dodge scrutiny – he is straight back to appeasing Tory MPs to save his own skin,” she said.

“The prime minister’s U-turn shows just how far he’s willing to go to put his party’s own interests ahead of the public. The public deserves a government that respects them – not one that treats the job of an MP as just another income.”