… we must uphold the very highest standards of propriety–and this code sets out how we must do so.
There must be no bullying and no harassment …
25. The 2019 Ministerial Code retained paragraphs 1.1, 1.2 and 5.1 of the 2018 Ministerial Code (set out above). The 2019 Ministerial Code was the version in force at the time of the matters raised in the FCDO Complaint and the MoJ Complaints.
26. In addition, paragraph 1.6 of both the 2018 Ministerial Code and the 2019 Ministerial Code stated:
Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Code and for justifying their actions and conduct to Parliament and the public. However, Ministers only remain in office for so long as they retain the confidence of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a Minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards.
27. This form of words has been included in the Ministerial Code since the version issued in July 2007. Similar statements had been included previously.
28. The 2019 Ministerial Code revised paragraph 1.4 to provide that the Prime Minister "may ask the Cabinet Office to investigate the facts of the case". It had previously (since July 2007) provided only for the Prime Minister to consult the Cabinet Secretary and to refer the matter to the independent adviser on Ministers' interests.
29. In view of the nature of the Complaints and the wider context in which they were made, and with no Independent Adviser in post at the time, the Prime Minister decided to appoint me, rather than a Cabinet Office official, to carry out an independent investigation into the facts surrounding the Complaints.
30. Paragraph 1.4 of the Ministerial Code also provides that it is not the role of the Cabinet Secretary or other officials to enforce the Ministerial Code. This or a similar point has been made in all versions of the Ministerial Code since 2001.
31. All of the specific and relevant provisions referred to above (paragraphs 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6 and 5.1) have been retained in the December 2022 version of the Ministerial Code issued by the Prime Minister.
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