WATCH: Rishi Sunak spoke from a lectern bearing the Royal Coat of Arms
By Georgina Cutler
Published: 14/05/2024
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Rishi Sunak has been reported to his own ethics adviser after the Liberal Democrats complained about a potential breach of the ministerial code.
The Prime Minister is accused of using Government resources for a "politically charged rant".
During a speech at the Policy Exchange think-tank, Sunak spoke from a lectern bearing the Royal Coat of Arms.
The Lib Dems claim this is a "clear breach" of the Ministerial Code which states that: "Ministers must not use Government resources for party political purposes".
The Tory leader repeatedly attacked Keir Starmer as he suggested that Britain would be less safe with a Labour Government which would strengthen Vladimir Putin.
Sunak also directly penalised Starmer for being "completely and utterly unprincipled" for allowing former Conservative MP, Natalie Elphicke, to defect to Labour.
The official transcript of the event on the Government's website has been partially removed for being "overtly political".
The Liberal Democrats have now demanded that the Ethics Adviser investigate the potential breach because: "Rishi Sunak must be taking the public for fools if he thinks that the speech he gave was anything other than a politically charged rant."
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The Party added that despite it being a "political party speech", the Prime Minister "spoke from behind a Government lectern bearing the Royal Coat of Arms".
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson, Christine Jardine MP said: "The Prime Minister’s party political speech earlier today appears to be a clear breach of the Ministerial code. Taxpayers should not have to fund the lectern he gives this from.
"Rishi Sunak must be taking the public for fools if he thinks that the speech he gave was anything other than a politically charged rant. The pathetic excuses he made for his own party’s failures will fall on deaf ears.
"The country has stopped listening to the Prime Minister and the Conservative party.
"They want a General Election and to finally see the back of this awful government that has trashed our NHS, let water companies off the hook, and has forced far too many to choose between heating and eating."
In response to the speech on Monday, Starmer said: "The first duty of any Governmentparticularly an incoming Labour governmentis national security, the security of the country and that would be my first priority."
"The PM today has made a speech and I think it's his seventh reset in 18 months. I think that really shows you that the choice as we go into this election is now pretty clear," he told the Mirror.
