apart from a brief statement saying lord geidt was stepping down with regret , there has so far been no explanation for the peer s departure. just two days ago, lord geidt told mps it was reasonable to suggest borisjohnson had breached the ministerial code when he was fined over lockdown gatherings at downing street. in the past half hour, the cabinet office minister michael ellis made this statement to mps in the commons. the government is particularly disappointed, of course, that lord geidt has taken this decision, as only very recently as this has magners from the debate last week, significant changes were made to the role and status of independent adviser on ministers interests. as i sit at the house last week, these changes represent the most substantial strengthening of the role of independent advisers since its creation. the most substantial
reasonably necessary to assist with discharging the role. in conclusion, as lord geidt himself has made clear, the new arrangements are workable and he noted the increased transparency that they bring. the government will, of course, now move to make new arrangements and looks forward to working within the strengthen system i have described. can i say to the minister who i had the greatest respect for, i am sure the greatest respect for, i am sure the team the greatest respect for, i am sure the team can manage to get that speach the team can manage to get that speech in the team can manage to get that speech in three minutes and i say to all the speech in three minutes and i say to all the benches, do not take advantage, there is a lot of business advantage, there is a lot of business to follow. right. mr speaker. business to follow. right. mr speaker, thank you. i welcome the fact this speaker, thank you. i welcome the fact this letter speaker, thank you. i welcome the f
thoughts. the oscar winning actor kevin spacey has arrived at westminster magistrates court. he s appearing in person for his first court hearing since being charged with five sex offences, which he denies. they relate to four counts of sexual assault against three men, and a charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. the british prime minister s ethics adviser lord geidt has resigned the second to do so in under two years. apart from a brief statement saying he was stepping down with regret , no explanation has been given for his departure. just two days ago, lord geidt told mps it was reasonable to suggest borisjohnson had breached the ministerial code when he was fined over lockdown gatherings at downing street. our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. did the prime minister break- the ministerial code, lord geidt? he may not be a household name, but he had, until yesterday, a crucialjob in government.
we are surprised by this decision, given lord geidt s commitment to the role. whilst we re disappointed, we thank lord geidt for his public service. the person who should have left downing street tonight is the prime minister himself, and the whole country will be wondering, just how long do they have to wait for those tory mps to do the right thing? lord geidt is the second standards adviser to quit in less than two years, leaving the key role of scrutinising standards in government vacant, once again. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. we expect an urgent question in the next few minutes in the house of commons at westminster. our political correspondent nick eardley told me more about what s happened. so we have this short statement that was put on the government s website last night, where lord geidt says with regret , he s standing down from the position. but the long letter that lord geidt wrote to the prime minister
we mentioned in my last evidence to this committee. lord geidt, being questioned here by mps earlier this week, advised boris johnson on whether ministers had broken their code of conduct. all i can do is to try and i do try to make things work as well as i can. but later, he decided things weren t working and last night, in a brief statement, said. lord geidt used to be the queen s private secretary. in his more recentjob, he oversaw ethics and behaviour in government, amid rows about the prime minister s own conduct and, at times, a strained relationship with number 10. there ve been lots of reports, lots of rumours that he was unhappy. there was that suggestion that he was 60 110 in favour of resignation a few weeks ago.