Rishi Sunak has appointed veteran banker Sir Laurie Magnus as his new adviser on ministerial behaviour. Sir Laurie, who also chairs Historic England, has been appointed to a non-renewable five-year term. He will be responsible for advising Mr Sunak on whether ministers are complying with their conduct rulebook.
However, the prime minister will retain the power to decide whether ministers have broken the code, and on any subsequent punishments.
Sir Laurie will not lead the ongoing investigation into deputy PM Dominic Raab, who is facing eight complaints about his behaviour in previous government roles. A senior lawyer, Adam Tolley KC, was appointed to lead that probe last month, when the PM’s adviser role was still unfilled. Mr Raab faces allegations he bullied staff, which he denies.
Opposition parties and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, an anti-sleaze watchdog, have long called for the PM’s adviser role to be beefed up. They argue the role is ineffective because the adviser cannot decide to launch their own investigations, and the PM decides whether the ministerial code has been broken.
Mr Sunak, however, has decided that Sir Laurie should keep the same remit and powers as the previous holders of the role.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner criticised Mr Sunak for keeping the “rotten ethics regime he inherited from his predecessors. This weak prime minister is failing to deliver the integrity he promised, and instead has installed yet another toothless watchdog,” she added.
Dave Penman, the boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, said Mr Sunak had missed an opportunity to “reset the relationship” between ministers and officials. “Instead of that, he’s followed exactly the same path as Boris Johnson did. So essentially he’s “Continuity” Johnson when it comes to the ministerial code,” he added.
Same old, same old … 
Skullduggery and foul connivance are oft bedfellows while guests of grace and favour … 
