In the past few minutes, Conor Burns has been told to leave the government after a complaint of ‘serious misconduct’ was made against him. Downing Street has released a statement saying:
Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the Prime Minister has asked Conor Burns MP to leave the government with immediate effect. The Prime Minister took direct action on being informed of this allegation and is clear that all ministers should maintain the high standards of behaviour – as the public rightly expects.
No. 10’s press release is keen to stress that the Prime Minister took immediate action
Burns was moved sideways by Liz Truss in the recent reshuffle, from Northern Ireland to the same Minister of State position in the International Trade department. Burns, who had been a Boris loyalist, was known not to be very happy about this move. At Tory conference, he praised his new boss Kemi Badenoch while taking a not-so-sly dig at Truss, saying Badenoch ‘totally gets that trade needs to move beyond Instagram posts about free trade agreements’. Some MPs critical of Truss are pointing to that statement as being a factor in the speed of his expulsion from the party.
No. 10’s press release is keen to stress that the Prime Minister took immediate action – in contrast to the delayed response from Boris Johnson when Chris Pincher was alleged to have groped two men in the Carlton Club. Pincher resigned from the government but did not have the party whip removed from him until later. It subsequently emerged that Johnson had known about allegations surrounding Pincher’s behaviour on other occasions when he had appointed him, which was arguably the decisive factor in the eventual rebellion against him. Truss has shown she has a very different way of dealing with these matters than her predecessor. It appears that Burns had the whip withdrawn before any investigation: he says he was victim of a “rush to judgement”. His statement is below:
