'I will not go quietly into the night' - DUP's Ian Paisley vows to fight any by-election after expenses rules breach
3 min read
Scandal-hit Ian Paisley has vowed to fight a by-election if critics try to boot him out of parliament over an expenses rule breach that left him facing a record ban.
The DUP veteran blasted “opportunists” who want to bring him down as he declared: “I have no intention of going quietly into the night.”
MPs will vote later on whether Mr Paisley should be suspended for 30 days after he failed to declare two family holidays worth thousands of pounds which were paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
If the ban - proposed by the Standards Committee - goes through, he could also face a by-election provided 10% of eligible voters in his North Antrim constituency sign a petition demanding it.
But writing in his local paper the Ballymena Guardian, Mr Paisley said: “There are also some who would have me booted out of parliament and a by-election called to fill that vacancy.
“They are opportunists, some with questionable motives, and I can tell them that I have no intention of going quietly into the night.
“If a petition leads to a by-election, make no mistake about it, I will seek re-election as I have never run away from an election in my life and I don't intend to do so now.”
The overseas visits included seven helicopter flights and hospitality for the MP's family worth tens of thousands of pounds.
He later lobbied then-Prime Minister David Cameron against supporting a UN resolution on human rights abuses in Sri Lanka - again without disclosing the trips.
Mr Paisley said he “deeply regrets” his failure to register the plush holidays but insisted he was “man enough” to accept the decision of the Standards Committee.
He added: “There are things we occasionally do in life that if given a second chance we'd do differently.”
'SURPRISING'
Following an investigation into the rules breach, Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone said: “I find it surprising that such an experienced MP did not ask himself whether it was proper to accept such benefits from a foreign government.
"I also find it surprising that he did not realise that, if accepted, these benefits would call into question his impartiality when he next spoke about the affairs of that government."
The Commissioner found that the DUP MP's omissions had breached three Commons rules, citing a ban on "paid advocacy", a failure to declare "personal benefit and hospitality" in the letter to Mr Cameron, and a failure to register the two 2013 trips within a 28-day time limit.
MPs on the cross-party Committee on Standards recommended that the DUP MP "be suspended from the service of the House for a period of 30 sitting days starting on 4 September 2018".
The suspension will be a blow for Theresa May as it means he will probably miss any meaningful vote on her Brexit deal - reducing her wafer-thin working majority by one.
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