Ethics adviser slams Johnson
Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser said he resigned because was put in an “impossible and odious position” by the UK prime minister, who he stated was considering a potential deliberate breach of the ministerial code.
In his resignation letter, Christopher Geidt didn’t specify the issue Johnson asked him to advise upon and that led him to quit. In his reply — which also didn’t give specifics — the prime minister referred to a planned decision on tariffs that “might be seen to conflict with our obligations under the WTO.”
Johnson’s spokesman said it was “relatively unusual” for Geidt to have been consulted on a WTO issue, though declined to say why it happened in this case.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the issue relates to safeguard tariffs on imports of Chinese steel, and the decision on whether to keep them beyond their scheduled expiration date at the end of the month.
“A deliberate breach, or even an intention to do so, would be to suspend the provisions of the code to suit a political end,” Geidt said in his letter to the prime minister. “I can have no part in this.”
That explanation, though, is likely to raise more questions — especially given the scandals that Geidt has dealt with since Johnson appointed him in April 2021. In a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, he spoke of the workload and said the option of resigning was always “on the agenda.”
Yet Geidt gave no hint he was about to do so. According to Johnson’s office, he had spoken to the prime minister as recently as Monday about staying until the end of the year. Johnson himself called Geidt’s resignation a surprise.
Opposition Labour MP Fleur Anderson said the resignation of another ethics adviser is a “badge of shame” for the government.