Last week’s vote on the Standards Committee in Parliament has dealt a great blow to democracy and to public confidence in the integrity of the UK Government.

I’m sure I am not the only resident of Lancashire to be totally perplexed by the actions of the Tory MPs who voted for this travesty of natural justice.

Owen Paterson MP was found by the Parliamentary Standards Committee to have committed paid lobbying offences - one of the worst offences an MP can commit - on 14 separate occasions.

Yet the reaction of the Government, instead of accepting his entirely deserved and indeed quite mild sanction of 30 days suspension, was to try to protect “one of their own” by not only refusing to accept the decision of the Standards Committee but to try to disband the Committee and to trash the reputation of the Standards Commissioner, Kathryn Stone.

I was extremely disappointed to see that amongst the Tory MPs voting for this aggressive, unfair and ultimately self-destructive act were several Lancashire MPs including Jake Berry (Rossendale & Darwen), Sara Britcliffe (Hyndburn) and Antony Higginbotham (Burnley).

It is my understanding that Tory MPs were whipped to support the amendment and I wonder why these MPs felt it was more important to obey the Whip rather than to do the right thing.

It is incomprehensible why they voted to let a serial paid lobbyist off the hook, and to rip up the system which holds MPs to account. Their constituents deserve answers.

Liz McInnes

Former Labour MP for Heywood & Middleton