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Boris Johnson’s ethics chief quit amid row over steel tariffs

LONDON — Boris Johnson’s ethics chief quit after being asked for advice on steel industry protections he argued would amount to a “deliberate” breach of the rules ministers are meant to follow in office.

Christopher Geidt — tasked with policing the U.K.’s ministerial code as Johnson’s ministerial interests adviser — quit the government Wednesday but gave little away about his reasoning in a terse statement issued by the U.K. prime minister’s office. It follows intense pressure on his position in the wake of the Partygate affair.

But a fiery exchange of letters published Thursday makes clear that the row centers on the government’s response to advice by U.K.’s independent trade watchdog, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), about protections for what Johnson called a “crucial industry.”

The government is currently considering extending a series of tariffs meant to protect domestic steel producers from a flood of Chinese imports.

The TRA, set up to investigate claims of unfair trade practices, previously advised ministers to scrap some of those protectionist measures, which were carried over after Britain left the EU — and concerns have been expressed by a host of countries that keeping them in place would breach World Trade Organization rules.

Although neither letter openly mentions the steel industry, Geidt told Johnson he had been asked “to offer a view about the government’s intention to consider measures which risk a deliberate and purposeful breach of the Ministerial Code,” a move which had placed him in an “impossible and odious position.”

The ex-adviser went on: “A deliberate breach, or even an intention to do so, would be to suspend the provisions of the code to suit a political end. This would make a mockery not only of respect of the code but license the suspension of its provisions in governing the conduct of Her Majesty’s Ministers. I can have no part in this.”

Johnson’s response in his own letter explicitly references the TRA, with the prime minister saying he had asked Geidt for “advice on potential future decisions related to the Trade Remedies Authority.”

PM Boris Johnson sits in the cab of a construction digger as he visits Talbot Gateway | Peter Byrne/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Johnson said he had sought Geidt’s advice on “the national interest in protecting a crucial industry, which is protected in other European countries and would suffer material harm if we do not continue to apply such tariffs.”

He added: “This has in the past had cross-party support. It would be in line with our domestic law but might be seen to conflict with our obligations under the WTO [World Trade Organization]. In seeking your advice before any decision was taken, I was looking to ensure that we acted properly with due regard to the ministerial code.”

A TRA spokesperson said the watchdog had been made aware of the prime minister’s letter to Geidt, but stressed that decisions on steel safeguards are now a matter for ministers after it presented them with its thinking.

“The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) case to which the letter appears to refer was ‘called in’ by the government earlier this year, meaning that the government holds full decision-making authority in relation to the case,” they said.

Lobby group UK Steel, which has been urging the government to keep safeguards in place, on Thursday warned that “failure to do so would risk surges in steel imports resulting in significant damage to U.K. producers, placing jobs, production, and investment at risk.”

Director general Gareth Stace argued that the U.K.’s measures “fully” comply with WTO rules, and added: “As an independent trading nation, it is more than ever critical that we maintain a robust trade remedies framework to ensure a level playing field in a global market exposed to distortions.”

Geidt’s dramatic exit also comes in the wake of the Partygate saga, which saw Johnson fined by police over a coronavirus lockdown-busting party in Downing Street.

In his resignation letter to Johnson, Geidt — the second person to quit the role under the current government — said he narrowly thought he could continue in the role after the Partygate affair, but that he had changed his mind following the latest request.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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