Geidt f lounces out

IF Lord Geidt had resigned as the PM’s ethics adviser on a point of high principle, it would have been entirely understandable.

The Queen’s former private secretary likes to paint himself as a man of honour. And Boris Johnson can at times display a casual attitude towards propriety.

Instead, Lord Geidt has flounced out in farcical circumstances. He is angered at Downing Street’s ‘odious’ plan to keep tariffs on cheap Chinese steel imports, breaking World Trade Organisation rules.

But why? This would protect jobs and industry in Red Wall steel communities. The US, EU and many other countries impose levies. And Labour keenly supports them (while hypocritically citing the resignation as evidence of No10 wrongdoing). Some breach of the ministerial code!

The truth is, this is a fig leaf. Lord Geidt wanted a reason to step down because of the PM’s Partygate misjudgments. But throwing such an undignified strop is a distinctly ignominious way to depart.