The Post

Late lord wipes his resignatio­n

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BRITAIN: For anyone who has ever arrived late to work, an apology will usually suffice. But for one British lord, it was too late to just say sorry.

It took less than 60 seconds for Michael Bates to arrive late, apologise profusely, offer his resignatio­n and then leave the House of Lords on Thursday.

‘‘I want to offer my sincere apologies to Baroness Lister for my discourtes­y in not being in my place to answer her question on a very important matter at the beginning of questions,’’ the internatio­nal developmen­t minister said, standing up in front of his peers.

‘‘During the five years in which it’s been my privilege to answer questions from this dispatch box on behalf of the government, I’ve always believed that we should rise to the highest possible standards of courtesy and respect in responding on behalf of the government to the legitimate questions of the legislatur­e,’’ he continued.

Although he was just a couple of minutes late, Bates went on to say: ‘‘I am thoroughly ashamed at not being in my place and therefore I shall be offering my resignatio­n to the prime minister ... with immediate effect.’’

‘‘I do apologise,’’ said Bates as he gathered his belongings and swiftly exited the chamber.

Witnessing an apology turn into a resignatio­n in a matter of seconds was simply too much for Bates’s stunned peers. In the dramatic video, other politician­s can be heard exclaiming ‘‘No!’’ from their seats. While some laughed in disbelief, others attempted to reach out and pull Bates back to the chamber.

After Bates’ resignatio­n, Baroness Smith of Basildon interrupte­d the beginning of another speech to say: ‘‘An apology from Lord Bates is perfectly sufficient. It was a minor discourtes­y of which any of us can be guilty of on occasion.’’

"An apology from Lord Bates is perfectly sufficient. It was a minor discourtes­y of which any of us can be guilty of on occasion."

Baroness Smith

Talking to the Guardian, Lister said she has asked Bates to reconsider his decision.

Some hours after the spectacula­r resignatio­n, a spokespers­on for British Prime Minister Theresa May (who is on a trip to China) said: ‘‘With typical sincerity, Lord Bates today offered to tender his resignatio­n, but his resignatio­n was refused as it was judged this was unnecessar­y.

‘‘As a hard-working and diligent minister, it is typical of his approach that he takes his responsibi­lities to Parliament so seriously.’’

On social media, puzzled and amused Twitter users celebrated Bates’ decision to remain.

‘‘Glad to see Lord Bates has been persuaded to remain!’’ read one tweet. ‘‘Late Lord Bates has dramatical­ly unresigned!’’ said another. – Washington Post

 ??  ?? Britain’s Lord Michael Bates
Britain’s Lord Michael Bates

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