Despite the departure of the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser due to a disagreement over steel tariffs, Boris Johnson has been praised by his Cabinet allies for “backing British industry.”
Following weeks of uncertainty over his future in the wake of the Partygate incident, Lord Geidt resigned as the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests on Wednesday night.
The peer, a former assistant to the Queen, stated that Covid’s rule-breaking in Downing Street had driven him to the brink.
He said, however, that he was eventually forced to quit after being put in a “impossible and unpleasant position.”
This was when he was asked to explore steps that may be considered a “deliberate and purposeful breach” of ministerial regulations by potentially violating WTO rules on Chinese steel tariffs.
Lord Geidt is the second ethics adviser to retire during Mr Johnson’s administration, and opponents are pointing fingers at the PM.
Conservative rebels who tried to depose Mr Johnson as leader earlier this month were enraged when Downing Street refused to commit to replacing Lord Geidt.
They cautioned that failing to pick a successor would be a “huge blunder” that would leave “serious concerns hanging.”
Cabinet loyalists, on the other hand, praised Mr Johnson over Lord Geidt’s departure, claiming that he was “working within the law to safeguard a crucial British business.”
Last year, the Trade Remedies Authority recommended that tariffs on Chinese steel be repealed, citing a lack of legal reason.
The tariffs were extended for a year by the government, but they are set to expire at the end of this month.
Minister for Brexit Opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg emphasized that the PM was ‘correct to be supporting British business.’
‘I believe everyone in this country wants to make sure we have a competitive steel sector that isn’t vulnerable to foreign dumping,’ he told BBC Newsnight.
‘The Prime Minister is not breaching the law; rather, he is abiding by it.’
‘Whether the Trade Remedies Authority must be obeyed or not is an issue.’ That is one where Parliament has already ruled that it is not required to do so.
‘And Parliament has the ability to enact laws because it is our legislative body, and Parliament’s sovereign authority is one of the reasons we left the EU.
‘I believe the Prime Minister is acting lawfully to protect a vital British business.’ Who could possibly object to that?’
Conservative critics, on the other hand, warned Mr Johnson that if he did not replace Lord Geidt, he would be making a “huge mistake.”
It comes as Downing Street indicated the Prime Minister would ‘seriously consider’ appointing a like-for-like replacement, raising the possibility of the job being eliminated.
According to Number 10, the PM has not yet made “a final judgment on how best to carry out that duty, whether it refers to a specific individual or not.”
Former Conservative minister John Penrose, who resigned as Prime Minister David Cameron’s anti-corruption tsar earlier this month and urged on Mr Johnson to investigate Partygate, warned against failing to replace Lord Geidt.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today show, “I believe that would be potentially quite a major error.”
‘I think one of the reasons why it’s important to have some continuity, why it’s important to have, if not a precise replacement, at least an effective succession here, is to ensure that you don’t leave really damaging questions hanging, and that anything that’s outstanding doesn’t just get forgotten and lost,’ says the author.
Lord Geidt’s resignation as the Prime Minister’s ethics advisor comes little over a year after he was chosen to replace Sir Alex Allan, who quit after the Prime Minister disregarded his conclusion that Home Secretary Priti Patel had mistreated workers.
Following his successor’s worries about the PM’s reaction being fined by police for breaching Covid guidelines, Sir Alex stated that Lord Geidt’s resignation over the steel tariffs conflict was “the last straw.”
‘I think this was the last straw, coming on top of, for example, his reservations about the Prime Minister’s failure to mention the Ministerial Code in all of his explanations of the partygate debacle,’ he told BBC Newscast.
The insinuation that Mr Johnson might not succeed Lord Geidt has enraged both Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
It comes ahead of a third Partygate probe into whether Mr Johnson lied to MPs about his previous statements that Covid standards were strictly adhered to in Downing Street.
‘There are no ethics in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street,’ claimed Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner.
‘It appears he will now strive to maintain it that way, prepared to further degrade public life norms and degrade his job.’
“Only a lying lawbreaker of a Prime Minister could think they could get away with not hiring an ethics adviser to call his Government to account,” said Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.
‘Boris Johnson should not only hire a new adviser, but also give Parliament a role in who that adviser is, so he doesn’t choose a loyalist to assist him get off the hook.’