Liz Truss says no need for ethics adviser because she knows ‘difference between right and wrong’

‘You cannot outsource ethics to an adviser’, says Tory leadership frontrunner

Liz Truss has signalled that she will not appoint an ethics adviser if she replaces Boris Johnson, suggesting it was unnecessary because she knew “the difference between right and wrong”.

The Tory leadership contest favourite repeatedly refused to commit to replacing Lord Geidt, who quit as Mr Johnson’s independent adviser on ethics in June, saying he had been forced into an “odious” position by the prime minister.

“You cannot outsource ethics to an adviser – we need ethics running through the government,” the foreign secretary told a Tory hustings event in Birmingham on Tuesday night.