Hi, I'm Anouche. I'm Alva. And on today's New Statesman podcast, we're joined by the Labour MP and Committee on Standards Chair Chris Bryant to discuss the Corruption Scandal and how to clean up Parliament.

As the Westminster Corruption Scandal continues to envelop more and more MPs, our guest today has been at the centre of attempts to clean up Parliament, often to the frustration of number 10.

Labour MP Chris Bryant chairs the Common Standards Committee. It was his committee that last week's doomed attempt to protect Owen Patterson was seeking to undermine, but now ultimately may end up stronger.

When he outlined the case against Patterson in the House, MPs listened in silence, many perhaps knowing the anger they are about to unleash.

As we say in the report, each of Mr Patterson's several instances of paid advocacy would merit a suspension of several days, but the fact that he has repeatedly failed to perceive his conflict of interest and used his privileged position as a member of Parliament to secure benefits for two companies for whom he was a paid consultant is even more concerning.

He has brought the House into disrepute. A conservative colleague whom I respect, a great deal, said to me on Monday that justice should always be tempered by mercy. I agree.

But justice also demands no special favours. These are the precedents that we considered. Patrick Mercer was suspended for six months.

Ian Paisley, sorry I have forgotten his constituency, for 30 days. Jonathan Saeed, 14 days. George Galloway, 18 days. When Jeffrey Robinson failed to provide proper responses to the Commissioner and Committee, he was suspended for a month. These are the precedents.

This case is just as serious because it involved at least 14 instances. It was a pattern of behaviour, and the Member has said time and again over the last week that he would do the same again tomorrow.

So if the House were to vote down or water down the sanction or carry the amendment, it would be endorsing his action. We would be dismantling the rule on paid advocacy, which has been around in some shape or form since 1695.

I am afraid the public would think that we would be the Parliament that licensed cash for questions.

Chris Bryant, thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

Johnson had to felt he had to declare on the world stage that the UK is not remotely a corrupt country. You've compared his intervention over the Oh and passing case to something they do in Russia.

Do you think the UK is a corrupt country?

I'm not sure what I'm not sure the country is that I think there's a danger as Jonathan Evans, the head of the Committee on Standards and Public Life said of us lapsing into corruption.

And I think some of the actions we've taken recent or the government has taken recently have been corrupting.

And you see, I went to Mikhail Kotikowski's trial to show trial in Russia. I've met with Alexander Navalny. I know quite a lot about Russia, and I've been warning about Russia for a long time.

I've used that comparison lightly. The truth is, it is fundamental to the rule of law that you do not change the rules suddenly at the last minute during a disciplinary process to benefit a named individual.

That is the definition of the polar opposite of justice. So that's what I was referring to.

On the sort of polar opposite of justice, you voted mostly with conservatives to prevent Rob Roberts, the MP for Dell in facing a recall precisely because of this idea that, you know, it's quite fundamental.

It was going to be a retrospective notion. It would have applied. It didn't apply at the time that he went through this disciplinary process. The disciplinary process has all been gone through.

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