30 June 2023 , 08:10
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Zac Goldsmith has launched a brutal attack on Rishi Sunak's leadership as he quit as a minister.
The Tory peer announced his resignation a day after he was named and shamed for attempting to undermine a Commons probe into Boris Johnson's Partygate lies.
In a damning two-page letter, Lord Goldsmith accused the Prime Minister of being "simply uninterested" in environmental issues.
But in a fresh bout of Tory infighting, Mr Sunak hit back as he revealed he was quitting after being told to apologise for a tweet that suggested the investigation into Mr Johnson was a "witch hunt".
"You were asked to apologise for your comments about the Privileges Committee as we felt they were incompatible with your position as a Minister of the Crown. You have decided to take a different course," he wrote.
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Lord Goldsmith had blasted the government's broken promises on animal welfare and climate change in his resignation letter.
Zac Goldsmith was accused of attempting to undermine a Commons probe into Boris Johnson's Partygate lies (Daily Mirror)He wrote: "I have been horrified as bit by bit we have abandoned these commitments - domestically and on the world stage.
"More worrying the UK has visibly stepped off the world stage and withdrawn our leadership on climate and nature."
He continued: "The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested.
"That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis."
In a message posted on Twitter, Lord Goldsmith added: "It has been a privilege to have been able to make a difference to a cause I have been committed to for as long as I remember.
"But this government’s apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we face makes continuing in my role untenable. Reluctantly I am therefore stepping down."
Opposition parties had called for Lord Goldsmith to be sacked after he was named as one of 10 Tories who intimidated MPs probing Mr Johnson's lockdown party lies.
In a special report about "vociferous attacks" on its investigation, the Privileges Committee pointed to a tweet from Lord Goldsmith characterising its work as a "kangaroo court" and "witch hunt" against Mr Johnson.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats had demanded Mr Sunak remove him from his post as Minister of State for Overseas Territories but on Thursday Downing Street said he retained the PM's full confidence.
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Jim McMahon, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, said: "Rishi Sunak’s weakness is laid bare as 24 hours after he refused to condemn Zac Goldsmith, Goldsmith scathingly condemns him. This ‘simply uninterested’ Prime Minister can’t lead his own team, never mind lead the country.
“The Conservatives are in disarray – with mortgages soaring, NHS waiting lists rocketing, and in their own words: ‘apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we face’.
Zac Goldsmith was given a peerage after he lost his seat as an MP in the 2019 election (PA)“It’s time for this chaotic Tory government to make way for a Labour government which will provide the leadership this country needs – making it a clean energy superpower for lower bills, good jobs, energy security, and the urgency the climate and environment emergency demands."
The Liberal Democrats said the Prime Minister should have "had the guts" to sack Lord Goldsmith.
Sarah Olney, the party's Treasury spokeswoman, said: "This Conservative chaos is never ending. Every day brings more resignations and scandal in this depressing Westminster soap opera.
"Rishi Sunak should have had the guts to sack Zac Goldsmith yesterday when he was brutally criticised by the partygate watchdog. Sunak is clearly too weak to control his own party.
"Zac Goldsmith's resignation has at least confirmed what we have known all along, that Rishi Sunak's Government doesn't give a damn about the environment and animal rights.
"They have scrapped plans to stop puppy smuggling, watered down climate change action and let water companies pump sewage in our rivers. What a sorry state of affairs this is."
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