Keir Starmer has labelled Boris Johnson “a coward, not a leader” in refusing to apologise for seeking to overturn Commons rules to save Owen Paterson from punishment, as the pair had a particularly bad-tempered Commons clash over Tory sleaze. In a noisy prime minister’s questions, Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, cut Johnson off a number of times as the prime minister sought to avoid answering Starmer’s questions by asking about the Labour leader’s additional work as a lawyer. “I don’t think this has done this house any good today,” Hoyle said after Johnson and Starmer ended their exchanges, adding that the Commons needed to “gain respect” from the watching public. After PMQs was over, following a point of order raised by Tory MP Michael Fabricant, Hoyle also ruled that Starmer should not have called Johnson a coward, and asked he withdraw it. Starmer then said: “I withdraw it – but he’s not a leader.” Ahead of a debate later on Wednesday about Johnson’s hastily announced plans to ban MPs from having paid political consultancies, or working too many hours in second jobs, Starmer focused his questions on the subject, and what he said was a wider issue of Johnson’s untrustworthiness. Noting that a series of other government figures had apologised for the abortive attempt to save Paterson, the Tory MP who has now resigned, from punishment for breaking lobbying rules by replacing the entire disciplinary system, Starmer said Johnson had not yet done so. “So will he do the decent thing and just say sorry for trying to give the green light to corruption?” he asked. The prime minister declined to apologise, saying: “As I have said before, it certainly was a mistake to conflate the case of an individual member, no matter how sad, with the point of principle at stake.” Starmer replied: “That’s not an apology. Everybody else has apologised for him, but he won’t apologise for himself. A coward, not a leader. “Weeks defending corruption. Yesterday, a screeching, last-minute U-turn to avoid defeat on Labour’s plan to ban MPs from dodgy second contracts. But waving one white flag won’t be enough to restore trust. There are plenty of opposition days to come, and we won’t let the prime minister water down the proposals or pretend it’s job done.” Several times, Johnson tried to ask Starmer about his outside work as a lawyer he has previously declared while being an MP, including for the law firm Mishcon de Reya. Three times, Hoyle interrupted to tell Johnson it was up to him to answer questions, not ask them. On the final occasion, Hoyle appeared notably angry, saying: “Prime minister, sit down. I’m not going to be challenged. You may be the prime minister of this county, but in this house I’m in charge.” Starmer returned to the attack, having used earlier questions to ask Johnson if a new rail plan, to be unveiled on Thursday, would ditch previous commitments on having HS2 go to Leeds, and building a new, high-speed Manchester-Leeds rail line. “He has been investigated by every organisation he’s ever been elected to. That’s the difference,” Starmer said. “The prime minister somehow expects us to believe that he’s the man to clean up Westminster. He led his troops through the sewers to cover up corruption, and he can’t even say sorry. “At the same time his government is engulfed in sleaze. They are rowing back on the promises they made to the north. And it’s working people who are paying the price. Is it any wonder that people are beginning to think that the joke isn’t funny any more?” Johnson replied by saying Starmer “seeks to criticise this government while refusing to explain his own position”, adding, “but his own mish-conduct is absolutely clear to everybody,” a pun on Mishcon de Reya. Hoyle, believing Johnson had said “misconduct”, intervened to object: “We cannot accuse anybody of misconduct.” Johnson clarified what he had said, bringing the lament from Hoyle about the tone of PMQs.