Boris Johnson is “abusing the ministerial code” by redrafting it to reduce possible sanctions for non-compliant ministers, said a former member of the government’s ethical standards oversight body, who urged Conservative lawmakers to challenge it.
Jane Martin, a former local government ombudswoman who served on the public life standards committee for five years until December 2021, said Johnson had misused a report from her committee as a stimulus to weaken code.
The prime minister was widely criticized on Friday after announcing a revision of the ministerial code to formally state that ministers who breach the code would not be expected to resign automatically, but could apologize or lose some pay.
In the changes made before an investigation by lawmakers into illicit block parties on Downing Street, Johnson prevented his independent head of ethics, Christopher Geidt, from gaining the power to initiate his own investigations.
He also rewrote the prologue to the code, removing references to honesty, integrity, transparency, and accountability.
In a letter to the Times, Martin said Johnson had used “blatantly manipulative tactics” and ignored the committee’s report used as a basis for rewriting the code.
“His recommendations were not designed to lower standards, but to develop a balanced approach to accountability with appropriate sanctions, including preserving the waiver of the most serious offenses, such as deceiving parliament,” he wrote.
“This Prime Minister is abusing the ministerial code, which is (and should be) his. His wording degrades the seven principles of public life, indicating an option to ignore the foundations of parliamentary responsibility, which he, of course, understand.
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“I conclude that he is avoiding responsibility for all conventional channels. Conservative MPs can no longer ignore that. “
Speaking Monday morning, Culture and Media Minister Chris Philp said the decision to update the code had been made a year ago and was unrelated to the party’s investigation.
“All the rules about the importance of being honest with parliament, and all that stuff, are still there,” he told Sky News.
The main change “was the possibility of having a graduated series of sanctions, so, like any job, if someone breaks the rules they are not necessarily fired immediately, there are other sanctions that do not end up being fired,” he said. to say. dit.
When asked why Johnson’s new prologue to the code no longer included references to the importance of the core principles of ethics in public life, Philp said, “The prologue is a general introduction, and I guess I just wanted to Talk about rubbing salt in my wounds – d’oh! Talk about rubbing salt in my wounds – d’oh!