Boris Johnson is “abusing the ministerial code” by revising it to reduce potential sanctions for violating ministers, said a former member of the government’s Ethics Standards Service, urging Conservative lawmakers to challenge it.
Jane Martin, a former local government ombudsman who served on the Committee on Standards in Public Life for five years until December 2021, said Johnson had misused her committee’s report as an incentive to weaken the code.
The prime minister was widely criticized on Friday after announcing a revision of the ministerial code to officially state that ministers who violated the code will not be expected to automatically resign, but may instead apologize or lose some payment.
In changes made before lawmakers investigate illegal blocking parties in Downing Street, Johnson blocked his independent ethics chief, Christopher Hyde, from gaining the power to launch his own investigations.
He also rewrote the preface to the code, removing references to honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability.
In a letter to the Times, Martin said Johnson had used “shameless manipulative tactics” and ignored the commission’s report, which was used as a basis for rewriting the code.
“His recommendations are not intended to dilute standards, but aim to develop a balanced approach to accountability with appropriate sanctions – including maintaining resignation for the most serious violations, such as misleading parliament,” she wrote.
“This prime minister is abusing the ministerial code, which is (and should be) his property. Its revision lowers the seven principles of public life, which shows a choice to ignore the foundations of parliamentary accountability, which he of course understands.
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“I conclude that he avoids liability through all conventional channels. Certainly conservative MPs can no longer ignore this.
Speaking Monday morning, Junior Culture and Media Minister Chris Philip said the decision to update the code was taken a year ago and was not related to a party investigation.
“All the rules about the importance of being honest with parliament and all these things are still there,” he told Sky News.
The main change was “the possibility of having a series of sanctions, so, as in any workplace, if someone breaks the rules, they don’t have to be fired immediately, there are other sanctions that do not reach dismissal,” he said.
Asked why Johnson’s new preface to the code no longer includes references to the importance of basic ethical principles in public life, Philip said: “The preface is a general introduction and I guess he just wanted to talk about whatever he wanted to talk about in this preface. They are all still in the code. “
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