Britain’s Conservatives are just one point ahead of Labor in Thursday’s latest poll, narrowing the gap by five points compared to last week.
It happens when North Shropshire faces a by-election after conservative lawmaker Owen Paterson announces his resignation on Thursday after being accused of violating lobbying rules.
In the latest YouGov In a poll released Thursday, 36% of respondents said they would vote for the Conservative Party on Wednesday and Thursday, a three-point drop from the previous week’s number if a general election were held the next day.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party almost closed the gap with 35 points after scoring 2 points.
The Johnson administration was accused of “corruption” and “reckless behavior” after blocking Patterson’s 30-day suspension in a vote on Wednesday. Officials from the two companies pay him more than £ 100,000 a year ($ 134,600), but have always claimed to be innocent by shaking disciplinary action.
The government was forced to abandon the plan on Thursday after opposition refused to join the new Tories-led committee proposed to consider Patterson’s case and the current standards system. Ministers admitted that they had made a mistake by confusing the two issues, but they are still forced to deal with the failure of the decision.
North Shropshire is a safe seat, with Patterson, a 24-year MP, accounting for 62.7% of the 2019 vote.
Though the idea of supporting an independent “anti-threes” candidate emerged, Labor said it would set up its own candidate to compete in undated by-elections.
On Friday, Minister of Education Nadhim Zahawi defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson and denied that the Patterson case questioned his decision.
“In fact, I think the Prime Minister said he wanted to do it when he wanted to follow the process of making the system more equitable,” Zahwi told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program.
“And soon realize that it’s actually one of the things we have to pursue on a cross-party basis and submit a proposal. We put politics aside and are more fair. I hope we can create a system like this. [the] I think the right to appeal is important, and your audience will think it is important, “he said.
The Secretary of Education also sought compassion for Patterson, whose wife Rose lost her life last year. The tragedy that Patterson said was partly the result of an investigation into him.
Ministers have argued that parliamentarians should have the right to appeal after being ruled by standard observers to violate parliamentary rules, but Patterson denied the charges against him and said, “Currently. “The system cannot reveal his name,” he said.
However, Labor leader Sir Kiel Starmer argued that the claim was “totally wrong,” and Patterson had submitted his claim in writing and “through appeal” by making a direct claim. Insisted.
The House of Commons will have an urgent discussion on the outcome of this week’s event on Monday.
After Patterson announced his resignation on Thursday, Johnson understood Patterson’s decision to “put his family first,” although he said he was “very sad.”
Johnson called Patterson “a friend and colleague … for decades,” and said Patterson had a “excellent career” and a “voice of freedom.”
Johnson also supported Chief Whipmark Spencer, who accused some Conservative lawmakers of whipping their votes on Wednesday.
Standards Reporting Committee
Paterson was found to have violated lobbying rules after contacting government departments and ministers on behalf of clinical diagnostics firm Randox and food manufacturing firm Lynn’s Country Foods.
according to report By the Standards Committee, Patterson contacted the Food Standards Agency (FSA) after recognizing concerns about the level of antibiotics in supermarket milk samples analyzed by Landox, and then “Randox’s Excellent “Technology” was advertised. “Illegal products [that] Not detected in the current testing regime for retail milk. “
Patterson sought to secure Landx’s new technology certification, but argued that “having more modern technology would benefit British consumers in the dairy industry,” the Commission said. Patterson admitted that he “did more than provide evidence of serious error.” And the certification will ultimately benefit Landox as well.
Paterson also approached Lynn’s Country Foods and FSA on concerns that global food producers are acting in violation of EU law by mislabeling their products.
Patterson claimed that he was “approaching the FSA with a serious mistake,” but the Commission said that regardless of Patterson’s “own subjective motivation,” solving the problem “just happens to benefit Lynn.” “It violated the rules.”
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Lily Zhou is a freelance writer who mainly covers the British news of The Epoch Times.
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