Robert Jenrick’s special treatment from Boris Johnson further erodes public trust in government

Editorial: Like the Dominic Cummings affair, it looks as though it is one rule for a wealthy elite and another for everyone else

The question is, has Mr Jenrick upheld the very highest standards of propriety?

Robert Jenrick must go. At a moment when, for obvious reasons, the government needs to command the respect of the British people, it cannot afford to have its authority undermined by some unseemly row about a billionaire property developer.

On any reasonable reading of the facts so far as they are known, including the various texts and emails between Mr Jenrick and Richard Desmond, the ministerial code has been broken. Despite its mundane and voluntary sounding name, this is binding on all ministers of the crown and, in effect, forms an important part of the British constitution, though never passed as legislation.

The code could not be clearer regarding conflicts of interest. Section 1.3(f) states: “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their private interests.”