Boris Johnson has watered down the ministerial code and blocked a bid to give his ethics advisor the power to investigate him.
Just days after Sue Gray’s report slammed No10’s leadership for the “culture” that led to Partygate, the Prime Minister issued a new version of the rules for ministers - allowing ministers to break the rules without resigning.
And he dismissed calls from his ethics advisor Lord Geidt, who had asked for the power to launch investigations into behaviour independently in the wake of the Downing Street flat row.
In his introduction to the previous edition of the ministerial code, the Prime Minister said ministers must "uphold the very highest standards of propriety" - words that have been removed from the revamped edition.
The new introduction says the code should "guide my ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs".
And the foreword no longer explicitly mentions the seven Nolan principles of public life - integrity, objectivity, accountability, transparency, honesty and leadership in the public interest.
Labour's
Angela Rayner said: "Boris Johnson has today rewritten his own foreword to the ministerial code, removing all reference to honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability. He is downgrading standards and debasing the principles of public life before our very eyes."
Lord Geidt told the Prime Minister his confidence had been “shaken” by the scandal over who funded the refurb of the Prime Minister’s flat, and that the episode demonstrated “insufficient regard or respect for the role of Independent Adviser.”
The Mirror understands political aides in No 10 discussed plans to strengthen Lord Geidt’s role before the publication of the Sue Gray report, but that they then had to put them to the PM to give his permission.
Today, in a long-delayed revamp of the role, the Independent Advisor on the Ministerial Code will get a proper office, staff and a website.