‘No ethics at No 10’: Boris Johnson considers scrapping Lord Geidt’s role
Boris Johnson is considering scrapping the role of ethics adviser after the resignation of Lord Geidt, who accused him of making a mockery of his position overseeing standards in government.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said Johnson would not immediately start looking for a replacement for Geidt, but would instead review the system of enforcing the ministerial code.
The spokesperson said it was “vitally important” that the code was upheld, but that the prime minister had not yet decided the “exact mechanism” of doing so.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the move demonstrated “there are no ethics in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street”. She said: “It appears he will now try to keep it that way, content to further debase standards in public life and demean his office.”
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said: “Boris Johnson has no ethics, so it’s no surprise he wants to scrap his ethics adviser.”
In a strongly worded resignation letter published by Downing Street on Thursday, Geidt cited Johnson’s problematic response to the Partygate scandal as one reason for his departure.
But he made clear the final straw had been a request from Johnson for Geidt to approve a plan to extend tariffs on steel imports, which could break World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, putting the government in breach of international law.
The ministerial code includes an “overarching duty,” for ministers to comply with the law. Geidt said the request had put him in an “impossible and odious position”.
“The idea that a prime minister might to any degree be in the business of deliberately breaching his own code is an affront. A deliberate breach, or even an intention to do so, would be to suspend the provisions of the code to suit a
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