LONDON: Boris Johnson’s former ethicsadviser said on Thursday he had quit after being placed in an“odious position” by a government plan, yet another resignationto challenge the British prime minister’s authority.
Christopher Geidt, the second ethics adviser to quit underJohnson in two years, did not specify what advice the primeminister had requested but said it would have made a mockery ofthe so-called ministerial code, rules which set standards forgovernment.
It is the latest resignation from Johnson’s government,which is under pressure on multiple fronts. The prime ministerhas been criticised for his role in the so-called “partygate” aswell as his deportation policy to Rwanda, and the EU has said anew plan to deal with post-Brexit trade is illegal.
“This request has placed me in an impossible and odiousposition,” Geidt said in his resignation letter to Johnson,which was published by the government on Thursday.
“I can have no part in this,” said Geidt, who was anindependent adviser on ministers’ interests.
Johnson, responding in a letter, said he was surprised bythe resignation, adding the issue that Geidt was asked toconsider was a potential decision about trade tariffs linked toa body called the Trade Remedies Authority.
He said the issue previously had enjoyed cross-party supportbut may have conflicted with Britain’s obligations under theWorld Trade Organization.
“My intention was to seek your advice on the nationalinterest in protecting a crucial industry, which is protected inother European countries and would suffer material harm if we donot continue to apply such tariffs,” Johnson wrote.
“In seeking your advice before any decision was taken, I waslooking to ensure that we acted properly with due regard to theministerial code.”
Geidt seemed to suggest earlier this week that he wasfrustrated with the pressure he had been put under by thegovernment in his role, and a spokesman for the prime ministersaid Johnson would reflect on how best to fill the role.
Citing commercial sensitivity for not giving more detailsabout the advice that was sought, the spokesman said it was a“relatively unusual situation” regarding an industry.
British trade experts said it was most probably related tosteel tariffs.
The previous holder of the ethics role resigned in 2020 inprotest of Johnson’s support for a minister who was found tohave broken the code.
The government initially only published a brief statementfrom Geidt when it announced his resignation on Wednesday, butcame under pressure to reveal the reasons for his departure.
