DUP MP Ian Paisley suspended from Commons and party

The DUP's Ian Paisley will be suspended from the House of Commons for 30 sitting days and his own party.

The House supported the punishment recommended by the Committee on Standards during a Commons debate.

Following the vote, the DUP quickly released a statement to confirm the party has also suspended Mr Paisley.

It 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."

Commons speaker John Bercow will now inform the chief electoral officer of the decision and they have 10 working days to set up a petition.

If 10% of North Antrim constituents sign that - it will lead to a by-election and Mr Paisley having to stand down.

This is one of the longest bans ever to be handed down at Westminster and the suspension will begin on the 4th of September.

The Commons Standards Committee said he had committed "serious misconduct'' and his actions were of a nature to bring the Commons into disrepute.

The report said the cost of the hospitality may have been "significantly more'' than Mr Paisley's £50,000 estimate, with the holidays including business-class air travel, accommodation at first-class hotels and more for him and his wider family.

Reaction

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O'Neil called on the DUP leadership to "end its silence''.

She said: "Ian Paisley's colleagues in Westminster have overwhelmingly voted to impose the most serious sanction handed down to any MP since 1949.

"When you consider some of the sleaze, corruption and criminal scandals that have engulfed the British parliament during that time, that is quite extraordinary.''

Patrick Corrigan, head of Amnesty International in Northern Ireland, said the victims were those killed in Sri Lanka.

“Ian Paisley’s historic suspension from parliament has received a lot of attention, but let us not forget that the real victims of this scandal are those who were disappeared, tortured and killed in Sri Lanka. This is really a scandal about an MP attempting to stand in the way of international justice for the tens of thousands of civilians who lost their lives at the hands of the Sri Lankan government and the so-called Tamil Tigers.

“Mr Paisley saw fit to lobby the Prime Minister against a UN investigation into gross human rights violations, including the mass-killing of civilians at the end of the Sri Lankan war, for which no adequate investigation has ever been carried out. Mr Paisley’s intervention – which the House of Commons has found to be a breach of the rules on paid advocacy - was a moral disgrace, serving the interests of an abusive regime, not its victims.

“Amnesty has long held concerns about Sri Lanka’s attempts to whitewash its image and both delay and deny justice for the families of those who were killed or disappeared, including through the use of accommodating parliamentarians. This episode should serve as a reminder that, nine years on from the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, its victims are still waiting for justice."

TUV MLA Jim Allister said:

“Today in Parliament Ian Paisley reaped what he sowed.

“The biggest losers in this scandalous saga are the Brexit voting people of North Antrim who in upcoming crucial votes will now be left without a voice or a vote, because of the selfish antics of Mr Paisley”.

Mr Paisley has denied having any ulterior motive for the "genuine mistake'' in 2013, adding that he accepted his "total failure'' and offered an unreserved apology to the House of Commons.