> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How can Parliament discipline the PM? - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2022/05/05/how-can-parliament-discipline-the-pm/ - Published: 2022-05-05T00:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2022-11-18T00:47:33.000Z - Description: The more we understand the rules, the better we all can be at making sure MPs stick to them. - Author: Good Law Project - Tags: UK Politics, Accountability, Boris Johnson, Good Law Project, House of Commons, House of Commons Committee on Standards, House of Commons Committee on Privileges, UK Parliament, UK Prime Minister, United Kingdom ### The more we understand the rules, the better we all can be at making sure MPs stick to them. ###### First published: May 2022. --- These days it feels like a week can’t pass without another story of an MP behaving in ways that would get us disciplined or fired from our jobs. But Parliament isn’t like any office most of us have worked in. It’s got its own system of rules, including for how it investigates and sanctions MPs that break the rules or damage Parliament’s reputation. These can be difficult to understand, but they’re really important. Some of these procedures can have real consequences, such as the triggering of a recall process that could lead to MPs being unseated. That is a live possibility for the PM, who is currently being investigated after he was fined for attending a lockdown-breaching party at Number 10, and potentially misled Parliament about this on numerous occasions. To help you make sense of how Parliament can respond to this, *Good Law Project* commissioned leading lawyers Jason Coppel QC and Raphael Hogarth to look into: the *Standards Committee*’s role; the process leading up to sanctions being imposed; whether the *Committee* can investigate and recommend sanctions without a referral from the Commissioner for Standards; and whether, if the *Privileges Committee* were to recommend a suspension, this could trigger a recall and by-election. Many MPs might also be seeking advice on these matters, so we hope they find this helpful in working out how they, and their colleagues, should respond. ### Believe in and value **OUR** team’s work – not theirs? [Support PMP Magazine](https://www.europeans.today/support-pmp-magazine/) ### The Standards Committee and the Privileges Committee The *Standards Committee* and *Privileges Committee* deal with slightly different things, but both focus on upholding the standards of behaviour among MPs. Their reports, if accepted by the *Commons*, can lead to an MP being suspended and then forced to fight a by-election to keep their seat. And we don’t know of any occasion when their recommendation has not been followed by the *Commons*. Jason and Raphael looked closely at the purpose and powers (known as the *‘standing orders’*) of the two committees and confirmed that reports from either could trigger the process for a recall by suspending the PM for 10 days when Parliament’s in session, or 14 days when it’s not. --- *For more stories like this, sign up to our [FREE Briefings](javascript:;) today.* --- ### What next for the PM? On 21 April 2022, the *House of Commons* took the momentous decision to refer the question of whether the PM had misled the *House* to the *Privileges Committee*. They will begin this work after the investigation by the *Met* is completed. A report and recommendation from the *Privileges Committee* to suspend the PM could feasibly trigger the recall process. A day later, two members of the public sent a [complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner](https://goodlawproject.org/news/prime-minister-democracy-disrepute/?ref=europeans.today), asking her to investigate whether the PM broke the *Code of Conduct*. If the Commissioner finds that he breached the *Code*, she would report this to the *Standards Committee*, who would make a report to the *House of Commons*. This report could recommend a suspension that also triggers the recall process. In her response to the complaint, the Commissioner said that she will decide whether to open an inquiry once the Met’s *Partygate* investigation is done. She could also decide not to proceed with any further inquiry, as the *Privileges Committee* is already investigating. ### No billionaire owner. No wealthy shareholders. **PMP Magazine** only exists thanks to donations from our readers. [Support our independent journalism](https://www.europeans.today/support-pmp-magazine/) The advice Jason and Raphael give is that, while the usual process is for the *Standards Committee* to wait for a referral from the Commissioner, it could open an inquiry on its own initiative under its general power to consider *“any matter relating to the conduct of Members”*, and then make a report to the *Commons*. They could also seek the authority to undertake an investigation into the PM’s conduct, which would remove concerns about the scope of the *Committee*’s authority. ![PMP Magazine](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png "PMP Magazine") *The full legal advice is available [here](https://glplive.org/2704-advice?ref=europeans.today) and we would encourage anyone interested in knowing more about how Parliament holds itself to account to read it. The more we understand the rules, the better we all can be at making sure MPs stick to them.* --- **What did you think of this article?** [🤩](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Great") [😀](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Good") [🤔](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Not sure") [😴](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Boring") [😮](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Surprised") [😭](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Sad") [🤬](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Angry") [🤯](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Gobsmacked") --- | **— AUTHORS —** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2022/11/good-law-project-2.jpg) ▫ **[Good Law Project](https://www.europeans.today/author/good-law-project)*, a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public.* ⚖️*GoodLawProject only exists thanks to donations from people across the UK. If you’re in a position to support their work, you can do so [here](https://glplive.org/dd-cev-2701?ref=europeans.today).* | GET THEM INVOLVED: Contact Your Politician | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | --- --- ##### Sources **Text:** This piece was originally published in [Good Law Project’s blog](https://goodlawproject.org/news/how-parliament-discipline-pm/?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in PMP Magazine on 5 May 2022, with the authors’ consent. | The authors write in a personal capacity. - **Cover:** Instagram/[UK Parliament - Jessica Taylor](https://www.instagram.com/p/CbvCCDNAUTQ/?ref=europeans.today). - PM Boris Johnson in the House of Commons. | 30 March 2022\. (Licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=europeans.today).) ![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png "Cover photograph license")