The Prime Minister’s anti-corruption tsar has resigned, claiming it is “pretty clear” that Boris Johnson broke the Ministerial Code.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, John Penrose accused the Prime Minister of breaching the code on the grounds that he had failed to provide adequate leadership over partygate. The Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset said:
“The only fair conclusion to draw from the Sue Gray report is that you have breached a fundamental principle of the Ministerial Code – a clear resigning matter. But your letter to your independent adviser on the Ministerial Code ignores this absolutely central, non-negotiable issue completely. And, if it had addressed it, it is hard to see how it could have reached any other conclusion than that you had broken the code. As a result, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be honourable or right for me to remain as your anti-corruption champion after reaching this conclusion, nor for you to remain as Prime Minister either. I hope you will stand aside so we can look to the future and choose your successor.”
Although I have frequently lambasted the incompetent Harding for her indifferent but expensive approach to controlling COVID via the NHS (and mentioned her husband in the process) I had no idea what he looked like …
