MPs back record ban for Ian Paisley as DUP suspends him after expenses rules breach
2 min read
The Commons has backed a record suspension for MP Ian Paisley and his DUP party has suspended him after he breached expenses rules.
MPs voted to ban Mr Paisley from parliament for 30 days and dock his salary for a month - triggering a possible bid to kick him out of his job for good.
The North Antrim MP was rapped by Commons watchdogs after he failed to declare two family holidays worth thousands of pounds which were paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
The overseas visits in 2013 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.
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".
A DUP statement meanwhile said: "The party takes this report and the matters contained within it very seriously.
"The party officers have decided to suspend Mr Ian Paisley MP from membership of the party pending further investigation into his conduct."
The decision by the Commons to back the plan is 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.
The move also opens the possibility of a recall procedure, meaning his constituents could trigger a by-election if 10% of the local electorate sign a petition demanding it.
Writing in his local paper the Ballymena Guardian this morning, Mr Paisley said those who wanted him to re-fight his seat were “opportunists, some with questionable motives”.
“I can tell them that I have no intention of going quietly into the night”, he declared.
“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.”
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