Owen Paterson: the government sought to derail a respected process for regulating parliamentary conduct while justifying its actions in terms of natural justice

How should the conduct of MPs be regulated? While there is no easy answer, Liz David-Barrett writes that the UK system was, until now, widely seen as an example of international best practice, which makes the government’s attempt to overhaul it in order to avoid the suspension of Owen Peterson all the more astonishing.