Zac Goldsmith quits with personal attack on Sunak

One name stood out yesterday in the Privileges Committee dossier on parliamentarians who had attacked the panel over its investigation into Boris Johnson. Alongside the seven MPs whose comments were criticised was the name of one peer: Zac Goldsmith, the only serving minister on the list and a longtime Johnson ally. Rishi Sunak’s spokesman was forced to subsequently confirm that the Prime Minister retained confidence in Goldsmith as a Foreign Office minister. Goldsmith was, privately, asked by No. 10 to apologise for his comments about the Privileges Committee as they felt they were incompatible with his position as a Minister of the Crown.

Instead, less than 24 hours later, Goldsmith quit Sunak’s administration – and launched a blistering attack on the PM. In his two-page resignation letter, Goldsmith blames the downgrading of environmental pledges as the reason for his departure. The examples cited by Goldsmith include the decision to abandon the Kept Animals Bill and the pledge to sign £11.6