Minister says MPs should devote most of their time to constituents, amid row over Geoffrey Cox’s legal work
Ministers are distancing themselves from the former attorney general Geoffrey Cox over his legal work defending the British Virgin Islands (BVI) against corruption charges, with a senior cabinet minister saying MPs should not be using parliament for private jobs and ought to be devoting the vast majority of their time to their constituents.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, defended the right of MPs to have second jobs but gave a clear answer that they should not be using Commons facilities to do that. He also expressed regret about having supported the government’s motion to change the standards system last week.
