A BRIGHTON MP has slammed the prime minister during her answer on a popular politics TV show.

Caroline Lucas criticised Boris Johnson for his handling of the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal, saying that it reflects the return of "Tory sleaze".

On BBC Question Time, the Green Party MP slammed the prime minister calling him a "systematic liar".

She said: “You can’t just go around changing the rules when you don’t like them and that’s exactly what this prime minister is doing and it goes much wider, sadly than just Owen Paterson.

“This is a prime minister who cares nothing for parliamentary standards or for decency or for the rule of law.”

It comes after Conservatives voted to undermine the watchdog which disciplines MPs and let Tory MP Owen Paterson off the hook for breaching lobbying rules.

Public backlash followed and the government quickly u-turned, resulting in Paterson’s resignation – but the matter has left people questioning Downing Street’s integrity.

Ms Lucas added: “We’ve seen him doing something similar when he prorogued parliament, when he doesn’t like what parliament was doing over Brexit, he refused to sack Priti Patel when she was accused of bullying.

“He himself is the biggest problem of all.”

Johnson could soon be under investigation by the standards committee himself over the financing for his Downing Street flat refurbishment.

She claimed: “I’ve tried to find out how to hold the prime minister to account when he lies – something he does repeatedly and let’s be clear, this is something the prime minister does repeatedly and systematically.

“And the trouble is judge, jury and court is all the prime minister. There's no other way of holding him to account.”

Lucas also disputed claims that the prime minister was acting with compassion when his government whipped the Tories to support dropping the suspension against Paterson for breaching the rules.

Referring to his flat refurbishment, she said: “I think there’s a school of thought that suggests Boris Johnson was actually thinking about his own skin about this because he knows that the commissioner is likely to be looking into him very soon again.”

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