Just when Johnson thought it was all over….

Whitewavemark2, since Johnson clearly has no idea of what ethics are, in spite of having read Classical Greats at Oxford, when presumably he dipped into what Aristotle had to say on the subject, there is clearly no point in his wasting our money on an adviser.

Looking back, I can think of PMs I have regarded as incompetent, others whom I have disliked, and of course many with whose policies I have disagreed, but Johnson is the first one whom I have positively despised.

Whitewavemark2

???? love it

BREAKING: Boris Johnson’s spokesman says the PM is reviewing whether he still needs an independent ethics adviser, following Lord Geidt’s resignation.

No commitment to hire a replacement.

Well there's a surprise for us all!

A new PM?

True Dinahmo and I think everyone is sick of empty promises anyway. It may come down to personalities.

Joseanne It's difficult for opposition members to come up with plans to deal with the cost of living crisis when the next GE is likely to be several months away. They cannot come up with any firm ideas whilst they do not know what the state of the economy will be then.

DiamondLily

The trouble is with Johnson having an Ethics Adviser is that no one has ever educated him to the fact that "Ethics" is not just the county that's next to London.?

Another one - Ethics is just south of Suffolk.

The Daily Mail have managed to bury Lord Geidt’s resignation story well down their online page.

Boz

Will someone remove us of this turbulent priest.

Come on Honiton and Tiviton.

Ed Davey is certainly getting around East Devon addressing local concerns about water and sewage. He hasn't particularly come up with a lot on the cost of living which concerns a lot of young people. 23rd June will be interesting.

So we aren’t even joining the WTO by the sound of it??? I suppose we can just trade with ourselves

Sorry - meant Geidt. Typo!

I don't think BoJo needs an ethics adviser as he wouldn't take any notice of his/her advice anyway, as evidenced by the findings re. bullying by Priti Vacant.

Lord Geist was clearly uncomfortable when questioned in committee yesterday and I was hoping his resignation letter would be more forthright about the powerlessness and futility of the role.

What we need IMHO is an effective system for holding Ministers (including a PM) to account for their behaviour judged against a code of conduct setting out standards that must be adhered to.

There is a Ministerial Code which may be underpinned by the Standards of Public Life but if the PM has the power to ride roughshod over it and there are no penalties that would make Ministers think twice about not following the Code what is the point???

Such a system should not allow the PM to be the final arbiter like the system we have now. It must have been conceived when Ministers used to have integrity and a moral compass but that time has long passed.

No wonder this country is in such a mess (sigh)......!

Will someone remove us of this turbulent priest.

Come on Honiton and Tiviton.

?

David Gauke
@DavidGauke
·
2h
So much for Brexit being about 'free trade' as the PM loses his Ethics Adviser because of a desire to break WTO rules in order to put illegal tariffs on steel.

???? love it

BREAKING: Boris Johnson’s spokesman says the PM is reviewing whether he still needs an independent ethics adviser, following Lord Geidt’s resignation.

No commitment to hire a replacement.

I suspect that Boris thinks of an ethics advisor as being rather like a tax advisor, there to give advice on how to avoid tax as opposed to evading it which is illegal. When dealing with Boris who is going to ďo whatever he wants then ask the ethics advisor to clear it for him must make the position untenable.

Yes, I've read it. No indication of what the 'purposeful breach' was.

MaizieD

So, no details as to what this 'purposeful breach of the Ministerial Code' entailed.

Will Geidt stay silent on the detail or will he reveal it to the public? I don't hold out much hope of the latter. This is 'Establishment' stuff, I feel. Not for the 'little people'.

(Hoping that I am wrong)

The letter has been published.

So Geidt “was constantly coming across instances of breaching the ministers code”

Listening to politics live - I don’t for one minute believe that explanation.

Sorry network went down for a couple of minutes.

Well I think that Johnson’s letter brings a bit more light on the matter, but honestly I can never rely on anything Johnson says.

That didn't copy well. Sorry.

Is Johnson refering to this:

This week, however, | was tasked to offera view about the Government's intention to consider measures which risk adeliberate and purposeful breachof the Ministerial Code.

DaisyAnne

Johnson's reply seems odd. It seems to reply to something that isn't in Lord Geidt's letter. Is that reference to, as you point out WWM breaking the law relating to WTO tariffs? Or am I missing something else?

YEs listening to the radio. Breaking WTO trading rules is one of the reasons cited.

I think Geidt has also had words with Johnson over his behaviour and breaking the ministerial code, but I’m not sure this is what prompted his resignation.

It is certainly opaque.

Steel tariffs mentioned.

Johnson's reply seems odd. It seems to reply to something that isn't in Lord Geidt's letter. Is that reference to, as you point out WWM breaking the law relating to WTO tariffs? Or am I missing something else?