Her behaviour has prompted the prime minister’s adviser on standards to quit. Maybe he’s the only one who has any?
“Standards in public life” has become such a preposterous phrase in Boris Johnson’s government that the prime minister’s adviser on standards has this morning resigned. Sir Alex Allan informed the prime minister that Priti Patel’s behaviour had breached the ministerial code. The prime minister then informed the country that the ministerial code had not been breached. Sir Alex has since departed; I’m sure he wishes the government’s much-vaunted “reset” all the best.
Meanwhile calls for tougher sentencing are growing, after a repeat offender was let off with a warning despite having been found guilty of another serious breach. The case will add to a sense that the UK is a “soft touch” country where recidivists are not simply allowed but effectively encouraged. In a move likely to cause outrage, activist do-gooders further insisted that an offence being possibly “unintentional” means it didn’t count. The implications of that remark for the wider justice system are “catastrophic and a scandal”, says whichever rentaquote Conservative backbencher answers the phone first.
