A cabinet minister has admitted it was “a mistake” for the government to attempt to overhaul parliament’s disciplinary processes in combination with saving a Conservative MP from immediate suspension.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News that ministers had reflected on the “conflation” of ripping up the current standards system with the case of Owen Paterson.

“It was right to separate the two things out, that was the mistake and I think it was right to reflect and return to parliament and correct that,” he said.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Conservative MPs to pass a motion in favour of blocking a recommended 30-day suspension for Mr Paterson, who had been found to have broken lobbying rules, while the standards system was rethought.

But, following a huge backlash that saw the government accused of “corruption”, Number 10 performed a U-turn less than 24 hours later with the promise of a new vote on Mr Paterson’s suspension.

Mr Zahawi told Sky News: “I think the mistake… is the conflation of creating a fairer system, with the right of appeal for parliamentarians to be able to put forward effectively an appeal process, and then conflating that with a particular case of Owen Paterson was a mistake.

“Upon reflection, yes it was a mistake and I think it was right to come back very quickly to the House and say ‘look we need to separate those two things out’.

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“We should work on a cross-party basis to create a fairer system, I think that’s a good thing.

“And my appeal to my fellow parliamentarians from all parties is, look, let’s come together and create a better system with the right of appeal.”

Following the climbdown by ministers, Mr Paterson announced his resignation to leave the “cruel world of politics”.

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