Downing Street has declined to rule out the possibility Owen Paterson could receive a peerage after his decision to step down as a Conservative MP amid a lobbying scandal.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson also did not deny reports that some Tory MPs had been warned they could lose future funding for their constituencies if they did not support a Commons vote to halt punishment for Paterson and rip up the anti-sleaze rules he broke……….