Owen Paterson has said he 'wouldn't hesitate' to act in the same manner 'tomorrow' after he was heavily criticised by a standards body for breaching lobbying rules
"When we found out about the milk I realised it was absolute dynamite. First of all it was very obvious that lives were at risk, and secondly, if it had been mishandled and had been leaked to keen media agents like you, we could have absolutely blown the UK dairy industry apart.
Mr Paterson was found to have breached rules on lobbying on behalf of Randox by making three approaches to the Food Standards Agency about the testing of antibiotics in milk in 2016 and 2017. He has also claimed the investigation"undoubtedly played a major role" in his wife, Rose Paterson, taking her own life in June last year.
Mr Paterson told Sky News the investigation had caused"catastrophic damage" to his family life, adding:"My lawyers are quite clear that there are many factual errors in the report and major questions of interpretation." The commissioner's proposal that Mr Paterson be served with a 30-day suspension - a penalty that could have resulted in a by-election - was backed by a Commons committee that included four Tory MPs.
Now that the amendment has been passed, a nine-person committee with a Conservative majority and led by Tory ex-cabinet minister John Whittingdale will review the current standards system and reconsider the case against Mr Paterson.
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