British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday faced fresh accusations of sleaze among his ruling Conservatives, following a report that a party lawmaker earned more than £1 million in the last year from a second job. Geoffrey Cox, a lawyer and former attorney general, netted the lucrative sums for legal work while collecting his annual MP’s salary of around £82,000 ($111,000, 96,000 euros), the Daily Mail said. The additional pay, detailed in parliament’s register of interests, came in part from advising the government of the British Virgin Islands, a UK overseas territory and tax haven accused of corruption, it added. Cox also used changes to parliamentary attendance rules brought in during the coronavirus pandemic to vote remotely in the House of Commons from the Caribbean while working there, the paper found. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Johnson’s spokesman declined to discuss the case directly but said the British leader believes that “MPs’ primary job is, and must be, to serve their constituents”. But he said Johnson “doesn’t back an outright ban on second jobs”, noting it could target lawmakers who also work as teachers, doctors and nurses. The revelations intensify the pressure on Johnson, following days of criticism over sleaze and cronyism claims against his government which began with the botched handling of another Conservative lawmaker’s case. The UK leader sparked outrage last week when he tried to overhaul parliament’s internal disciplinary process, which would have prevented the 30-day suspension of Owen Paterson. Paterson was found to have committed an “egregious” rules breach, after repeatedly lobbying ministers and officials on behalf of two companies paying him more than £100,000 a year. Although Johnson swiftly abandoned the unprecedented overhaul attempts — prompting Paterson to resign from parliament — it led to fierce criticism and threw the spotlight on a raft of allegations around MPs’ behaviour. Former Conservative prime minister John Major said the episode was “shameful” and “had the effect of trashing the reputation of parliament”. Meanwhile Johnson has drawn renewed fire for refusing to apologise and skipping an emergency debate Monday on the standards system regulating lawmakers, instead making a visit to a hospital. But rather than dissipate, concerns are now increasingly turning to the issue of MPs’ second jobs. Reports Tuesday detailed at least 10 other Conservatives with outside work earning them more than £50,000 a year. In a series of interviews, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab said there were already “strict rules about declarations and accountability” over second jobs. Raab told Times Radio that Cox’s work in the British Virgin Islands “is a legitimate thing to do as long as it’s properly declared”. “In terms of accountability, it will be up to voters to decide whether their MP representing them (has) got the right priorities and that’s the same for all of us,” he added to LBC radio. “That’s the ultimate accountability we have in our democracy.” House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle — the current holder of the politically impartial post overseeing the chamber — said he had “deep concerns” about its reputation after the past week. “Everybody gets tarnished. That’s the problem. It isn’t the one person or one party, everybody is tarnished with the same impression,” he told Times Radio.