Sunak has "thrown in the towel" one year on after resigning from Johnson government

The Liberal Democrats have said Rishi Sunak has “thrown in the towel” on tackling Conservative sleaze, one year to the day after he resigned from Boris Johnson’s scandal-hit government.

A year ago today, in his resignation letter to Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak said that the “public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” and these “standards are worth fighting for.”

But since then Sunak has failed to vote on the Privileges Committee report condemning Boris Johnson for misleading Parliament over partygate, refused to block Johnson’s crony’s honours list and now has the worst attendance record at PMQs of any Prime Minister since 1979.

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain commented:

“A year ago today, Sunak resigned from Boris Johnson’s government because he claimed standards like competence and integrity were worth fighting for. 

“Now he’s too weak to vote to condemn Johnson’s partygate lies and too scared to even turn up to PMQs. 

“Rishi Sunak has thrown in the towel while the country suffers from endless Conservative sleaze and scandal. 

“Families facing soaring mortgages and rents or struggling to get a GP appointment deserve better than a Prime Minister who won’t even turn up for the day job.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Rishi Sunak’s resignation letter from last year can be found here.