Monday, December 26, 2022
Sunak misses the point on ethics
The Independent reports that Rishi Sunak has appointed a new ethics adviser, a post that has been allowed to remain vacant for six months, but has refused to relinquish the power to veto any investigation into ministers.
The paper says that Historic England chairman Sir Laurie Magnus was announced as the adviser on ministers’ interests, but the prime minister ignored calls from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and others to give his top adviser the power to start their own investigation without his permission:
Labour accused Mr Sunak of having chosen to “preserve the rotten ethics regime” that led to the resignations of both Lord Geidt and his predecessor Sir Alex Allan.
The Liberal Democrats said the new adviser was “toothless”, and the respected Institute for Government think tank said it was “unwise” for Sir Laurie to accept the role without a strengthened remit.
The rest of us will be asking how such a person can be truly independent if his work can be vetoed by the Prime Minister. Once more Sunak has missied the point on what an ethics advisor should be doing.
The paper says that Historic England chairman Sir Laurie Magnus was announced as the adviser on ministers’ interests, but the prime minister ignored calls from the Committee on Standards in Public Life and others to give his top adviser the power to start their own investigation without his permission:
Labour accused Mr Sunak of having chosen to “preserve the rotten ethics regime” that led to the resignations of both Lord Geidt and his predecessor Sir Alex Allan.
The Liberal Democrats said the new adviser was “toothless”, and the respected Institute for Government think tank said it was “unwise” for Sir Laurie to accept the role without a strengthened remit.
The rest of us will be asking how such a person can be truly independent if his work can be vetoed by the Prime Minister. Once more Sunak has missied the point on what an ethics advisor should be doing.
