LONDON — The idea that “good chaps” in British politics can be relied on to do the right thing is dead — and the country’s revolving door watchdog pins part of the blame on Boris Johnson.
In a letter to the government Tuesday, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) argued that the former prime minister’s repeated breaches of the rules show the current set-up to police politicians taking on lucrative post-government jobs is “out of date.”
It comes just days after Johnson — recently censured and effectively stripped of his parliamentary pass after a damning report into his conduct — was admonished for taking on a job as the Daily Mail’s new star columnist without clearing it with the ethics watchdog.
ACOBA ruled that, in failing to wait for the body’s advice before taking on the writing gig, Johnson broke the ministerial code. He submitted his application for advice 30 minutes before the appointment was announced on Twitter.
In his letter Tuesday, ACOBA Chair Eric Pickles said Johnson’s case was a “clear and unambiguous” breach of the U.K.’s rules — and urged more teeth for his watchdog, whose rulings are only advisory and don’t carry any sanctions.
Pickles — a former Conservative Cabinet minister — said it marked a “further illustration of how out of date the government’s business rules are.”
“They were designed to offer guidance when ‘good chaps’ could be relied on to observe the letter and the spirit of the rules,” Pickles added. “If it ever existed, that time has long passed and the contemporary world has outgrown the rules.”
The “good chaps” theory of government was coined by political historian Peter Hennessy, and refers to the idea that people in positions of power will abide by an understanding of good behavior in public life — rather than needing clear rules to police them.
Pickles said a new framework for considering post-government jobs is now needed — and argued that this “must include sanctions for non compliance” with its rules.
A number of U.K. politicians have shrugged off the committee’s advisory rulings in recent years — including Johnson, who was previously blasted by ACOBA for failing to declare his new role as a Daily Telegraph columnist in 2018 until two weeks after he signed the contract.
He kept writing the lucrative column anyway.
