"It was a total mistake not to see that Owen's breach of the rules," Boris Johnson said (File)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended a botched bid to overhaul parliament's standards system that has prompted a weeks-long sleaze crisis for his ruling Conservatives, as he faced multiple grillings from lawmakers on Wednesday.
With opposition parties on the attack and rank-and-file Tory MPs unhappy, the embattled British leader admitted he had made a "mistake" as he faced senior colleagues for two hours of quizzing.
That came shortly after he traded angry exchanges with Labour leader Keir Starmer -- and, unusually, House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle -- over accusations of improper conduct.
Johnson's woes on the issue began last month after he tried -- and failed -- to overhaul the internal system policing MPs, just as Conservative Owen Paterson faced suspension over lobbying ministers for two firms that had him on the payroll.
"It was a total mistake not to see that Owen's breach of the rules... made any discussion about anything else impossible," Johnson told parliament's most senior cross-party watchdog committees.
"The intention genuinely was not to exonerate anybody. The intention was to see whether there was some way in which, on a cross-party basis, we could improve the system.
"In retrospect, it was obviously mistaken to think that we could conflate the two things," Johnson added, noting he regretted the move.
Hours earlier, the Commons saw fiery scenes as Starmer branded Johnson a "coward" for refusing to apologise for his role in the saga -- a remark the Labour leader later withdrew.
Meanwhile, Johnson clashed with the typically mild-tempered Hoyle over his behaviour during the weekly "prime minister's questions", as he tried to turn the tables by demanding answers from Starmer.
"You may be the prime minister of this country, but in this House, I'm in charge!" Hoyle bellowed, while ordering the British leader to "sit down".
- 'Dissatisfaction' -
Westminster has been consumed since late October by a row about MPs supplementing their publicly funded salaries with lucrative second jobs, stoking claims about conflicts of interest.
The controversy around Paterson soon became overshadowed by revelations numerous other MPs had high-paying second jobs, in particular lawyer and former attorney general Geoffrey Cox.
He has been accused of using his parliamentary office for outside legal work, which has netted him more than £6 million ($8 million, 7 million euros) since becoming an MP in 2005, on top of his annual MP's salary -- currently around £82,000.
Paterson has since resigned from parliament, while Cox denies breaking the rules.
After three weeks of negative headlines and plummeting poll ratings, Johnson tried to get on the front foot on Tuesday by backing proposals to bar lawmakers from acting as paid political consultants and advisers.
The move came just as the main opposition Labour party prepared to introduce a vote on Wednesday to bar MPs from such roles, as well as being paid directors, which its leader Keir Starmer said had forced Johnson's hand.
British lawmakers are permitted to hold outside roles, as long as they declare them, but are not allowed to use their parliamentary offices or resources for such work.
Paid lobbying is also forbidden, with wrongdoing accusations probed by parliamentary standards watchdogs.
But Johnson's proposals, which appear to stop short of an outright ban on consultancy and advisory work, have been criticised as too vague and still open to interpretation, while prompting dismay in Tory ranks.
After the watchdog committee grilling, which saw Johnson also quizzed over his handling of the COP26 climate summit and other government policies, he is due to face a meeting of his backbench MPs later on Wednesday.
"There is dissatisfaction on the backbenches and that is why the prime minister needs to make it very clear to members of parliament what he expects from us," Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs, told BBC radio.
He said he was not against MPs carrying out paid consultancy work but a blanket ban could deter prospective lawmakers from going into politics.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)