Conservative minister Conor Burns resigns from his duties after standards regulators found that he attempted to intimidate a member of the public.
The House of Commons standards committee has came to the conclusion that he had violated standards in regards to threatening a member of the public over a debt dispute relating to the ministers father. He threatened a use of his parliamentary privileges, not with violence.
There was a recommendation that he should be suspended from the House of Commons for 7 days, but he announced his resignation on Twitter.
With deep regret I have decided to resign as Minister of State for International Trade. @BorisJohnson will continue to have my wholehearted support from the backbenches.
— Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) May 4, 2020
The House of Commons standards committee, in its conclusions, said: “The committee’s overall conclusion is that Mr Burns used his parliamentary position in an attempt to intimidate a member of the public into doing as Mr Burns wished, in a dispute relating to purely private family interests which had no connection with Mr Burns’ parliamentary duties, that he persisted in making veiled threats to use parliamentary privilege to further his family’s interests even during the course of the commissioner’s investigation, and that he misleadingly implied that his conduct had the support of the House authorities.
“The committee considers that Mr Burns’ abuse of his privileged status in an attempt to intimidate a member of the public calls for a sanction more severe than apology.
“It recommends that Mr Burns should be suspended from the service of the House for seven days.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “Conor Burns has resigned as Minister of State for International Trade following a report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
“A replacement will be announced in due course.”
