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| Trade Minister Conor Burns sacked after misconduct claim | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Trade minister Conor Burns has been sacked from the government after a complaint of serious misconduct. | Trade minister Conor Burns has been sacked from the government after a complaint of serious misconduct. |
| Mr Burns, 50, has also had the Tory whip removed while allegations of inappropriate behaviour during the party conference are investigated. | |
| Downing Street said the prime minister "took direct action on being informed of this allegation". | |
| Mr Burns said: "I will fully cooperate with the Party's enquiry and look forward to clearing my name." | |
| In a string of tweets Mr Burns said he was not given any information about the complaint, "nor was I asked to provide any information". | |
| He said: "I hope the party will be as quick to conduct their enquiry as they were to rush to judgement". | |
| In a statement No 10 said: "Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the prime minister has asked Conor Burns MP to leave the government with immediate effect. | |
| "The prime minister took direct action on being informed of this allegation and is clear that all ministers should maintain the high standards of behaviour - as the public rightly expects." | |
| A spokesman for the Whips' Office said: "We have suspended the whip pending [an] investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour earlier this week. | A spokesman for the Whips' Office said: "We have suspended the whip pending [an] investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour earlier this week. |
| "We take all such allegations extremely seriously. The prime minister has been clear that the highest standards in public life must be upheld." | |
| The LGBT+ Conservatives have suspended Mr Burns as a patron "pending the conclusion of investigations". | |
| In August, Mr Burns attended the funeral of former Northern Ireland First Minister Lord Trimble alongside Taoiseach Micheal Martin | |
| MP for Bournemouth West since 2010, he has served as a minister under both Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. | |
| In 2020 he resigned as a trade minister after a parliamentary watchdog ruled he used his position to "intimidate a member of the public". | |
| He later returned to government as a minister in the Northern Ireland Office, and had been working on this week's discussions about the Northern Ireland Protocol. | |
| Misconduct allegations | |
| Mr Burns sacking is the latest in a string of scandals to hit the Conservative party. | |
| Earlier this year then deputy chief whip Chris Pincher was suspended by the party after he was alleged to have groped two men in a club, setting off a chain reaction that led to Mr Johnson stepping down as an prime minister. He has denied the claims. | |
| Neil Parish resigned as a Tory MP in April after he admitted watching pornography in the House of Commons. | |
| Work and Pensions Minister Victoria Prentis said the allegations were "obviously concerning", but she had been assured the matter was being taken "very seriously". | |
| "In terms of politics as a whole it's always worrying because we all expect and hope to maintain the highest standards in public life," she told Times Radio. | |
| Conservative MP Simon Hoare defended the suspended Mr Burns, saying: "You couldn't find a harder working person, so I'm very sad he has lost his position in government." | |
| He told BBC Radio 4's PM he hoped Mr Burns would "return to government and continue as an effective minister". | |
| Any inquiry should take place "speedily" and "on the presumption...that you're innocent until proven guilty", Mr Hoare added. |