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The DUP have suspended Ian Paisley Jnr over his freebie holidays to Sri Lanka.

In a statement issued by party headquarters, they said the “Officers of the Democratic Unionist Party have considered the report of the House of Commons Committee on Standards on Ian Paisley MP”.

They added: “The Party takes this report and the matters contained within it very seriously. The Party Officers have decided to suspend Mr Ian Paisley MP from membership of the Party pending further investigation into his conduct.

“The Party does not intend to make any further comment on these matters during the course of the above outlined process.”

The move came just minutes after his suspension from the Commons was rubber-stamped by MPs.

The DUP man will be suspended from the House for 30 sitting days from September 4 following a major breach of parliamentary rules, MPs confirmed today.

They supported the punishment recommended by the Committee on Standards during a Commons debate. The North Antrim rep was not present in the chamber for the debate.

The move comes after Mr Paisley was slated by a parliamentary watchdog over two free holidays to Sri Lanka that cost more than £50,000. He was found to have failed to declare the holidays and to have lobbied on behalf of the Sri Lanka government who paid for the holidays.

The length of the suspension is reportedly the biggest punishment given to any MP since at least 1949. The scale of the suspension means that Mr Paisley’s voters will now be given the chance to force a by-election.

Commons Speaker John Bercow told the Commons that there had never been a recall petition before but that there were now 10 days for the petition to be put in place. The Speaker said that it was a “regrettable state of affairs”.

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