Boris Johnson: watchdog questions PM’s commitment to public standards | Boris Johnson

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Boris Johnson faces fresh criticism of his conduct over Partygate as the committee on standards in public life issues and a statement raising questions about his commitment to uphholding the ministerial code.

Members of the independent watchdog are understood to have been particularly irked by Johnson’s decision, announced last week, not to give his independent ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, the power to launch his own inquiries in future.

That was one of nine recommendations made by the committee earlier this year, of which Johnson has implemented only two – one of which was to allow ministers to escape resignation for minor infractions.

A source close to the committee said members were angered by what they saw as “cherrypicking” – and that its chair, Jonathan Evans, a former director general of MI5, was expected to express those concerns publicly.

Even before Partygate, Johnson’s government had been accused of undermining standards in public life, including by overruling the finding of Geidt’s predecessor, Alex Allan, that the home secretary, Priti Patel, had bullied staff, albeit inadvertently. Allan resigned in protest.

Geidt used his annual report, published on Tuesday, to pose what he called the “legitimate question” of whether Johnson had broken the ministerial code, in receiving a fixed penalty notice for breaching lockdown rules. The code includes an “overarching duty” to comply with the law.

Geidt reportedly considered resigning, over the fact that until Tuesday evening, Johnson had failed to make any statement setting out why he believed he had not broken the code. However, it is understood he now has no intention of stepping down.

The prime minister, who is the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code, then published a letter in which he exonerated himself, on several grounds including the fact that he had apologised, and did not believe he was breaking the rules at the time.

He also stated that he believes the principles of good conduct in public life, which include selflessness and integrity, remain “the bedrock of standards in our country and in this administration”.

Johnson still faces an investigation by the House of Commons privileges committee over whether he lied to MPs, when repeatedly asserting that “all guidance was followed” in Downing Street.

The committee on standards in public life is an independent body, advising the prime minister. Evans had already expressed concerns about the government’s proposed reforms to the standards system.

He said last week in a letter to the Cabinet Office minister Lord True: “We continue to be of the view that a system where the independent advisor requires the prime minister’s permission to launch an investigation is not sufficiently independent.

“Similarly, current arrangements retain the risk that -spective of sanction – the prime minister can directly overrule the adviser on the finding of a breach, circumstances that would critically critical the credibility of the adviser’s office.”

In Geidt’s annual report, he appeared to be trying to avoid that eventuality, by declining to advise the prime minister about whether Johnson himself had breached the code.

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