Boris Johnson urged not to scrap ethics adviser role

Boris Johnson has been urged not to scrap the role of ethics adviser after Lord Geidt resigned from the job.

Following his resignation, No 10 said they would review the position before deciding on making a new appointment.

Lord Evans, chair of the Committee of Standards on Public Life, warned that scrapping the job would "further damage public perceptions of standards".

But, Business Minister Paul Scully said he would feel "comfortable" if a new ethics adviser were not appointed.

Speaking to Sky News he said there would still need to be a "mechanism that ensures the prime minister and me as a minister are held to the highest standards".

Lord Geidt stepped down from his role on Wednesday evening, accusing the prime minister of putting him in an "impossible and odious position" over an issue he believed would amount to a breach of the ministerial code - the rules about standards in government.

He is the second ethics adviser to quit under Mr Johnson's leadership, after Sir Alex Allan who left in 2020.

Sir Alex told BBC Newscast he believed Lord Geidt had partly resigned over a "combination of the issues" concerning parties in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown.

He said it would be "very hard" to find a replacement to step into the role "exactly as it is".

Asked about recruiting a new adviser, a Downing Street spokesman said "the prime minister's view is that what is absolutely vital is that there is a way to police those standards", but added "the exact mechanism to do that is something he wants to reflect on."

The spokesman said Mr Johnson would not begin to search for a new advisor until he had decided whether the role need changing.

Lord Evans of Weardale - whose committee advises the prime minister on standards - said the decision "may be driven by concerns about the difficulty of finding a successor for this sensitive and important role".

But, he added: "Removing this independent voice on standards issues at the heart of government could risk further damage to public perceptions of standards.

"At a time of heightened concern about standards in public life, any change to the oversight of ministerial behaviour must be stronger, not weaker, than we have now."

Conservative MP John Penrose - who quit as the government's anti-corruption tsar last week - told the BBC's Today programme the prime minister "shouldn't be weakening the role" and that getting rid of it altogether would be a "big mistake".

"The PM is currently overdrawn on his account with both the voters and the parliamentary party. They need to show they are serious about this," he said.

Opposition parties reacted angrily to suggestions No 10 may not replace Lord Geidt.

Labour's Angela Rayner said there was "no ethics in Downing Street under this prime minister" while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "Boris Johnson has no ethics, so not surprising he wants to scrap his ethics adviser."

The FDA union - which represents senior civil servants said that if the prime minister did not intend to replace Lord Geidt, "then he must immediately put in place measures that ensure a civil servant can, with confidence, raise a complaint about ministerial misconduct".

"Ministers cannot be exempt from the standards that apply to civil servants - and any modern workplace - when it comes to their conduct."