Ex-deputy PM Therese Coffey claims civil servants advised her to break the law
Lady Coffey, who also held several other cabinet positions, including work and pensions secretary, health secretary and environment secretary, became a Conservative peer earlier this year.
She told the House of Lords on Friday: 'There were several occasions when I was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law.
'Now, they may have only been minor infringements, but I challenge about how is that possible under the Civil Service Code that, in your advice and in your inaction, you are advising me to knowingly break the law? And I wasn't prepared to do it.'
Lady Coffey went on to recall another situation when she felt the Civil Service Code was not adhered to.
She said: 'I learned that my shadow secretary of state had written to me on Twitter, and I knew it because he also published my response to him on Twitter.
'I'd never seen the letter from the shadow secretary of state. I had never seen the letter written in my name, but there it was: my response and my signature.
'And these sorts of things, unfortunately, in the Civil Service Code should be more serious than it was.'
The Tory peer added: 'Sometimes people try and suggest it's just politicians trying to do this, that and the other.
'I'm not accusing the Civil Service, but their job is to try and manage and, ultimately, I could go on about another legal case where I was named as the defendant.
'I didn't know until a ruling had come against me, formally.
'These things, I'm afraid, do happen.'
Her comments came as peers debated a report from the Constitution Select Committee entitled Executive Oversight And Responsibility For The UK Constitution.
Lady Coffey was deputy prime minister in the Liz Truss government in September and October of 2022.
After her brief premiership, Ms Truss took swipes at the Civil Service and blamed the so-called deep state for 'sabotaging' her.
Speaking at a conference in the US in 2024, the former prime minister said: 'I wanted to cut taxes, reduce the administrative state, take back control as people talked about in the Brexit referendum.
'What I did face was a huge establishment backlash and a lot of it actually came from the state itself.'
Ms Truss added: 'Now people are joining the Civil Service who are essentially activists.
'They might be trans activists, they might be environmental extremists, but they are now having a voice within the Civil Service in a way I don't think was true 30 or 40 years ago.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
UK retailers weigh in on new employment rights roadmap
The UK government has unveiled a roadmap for the Employment Rights Bill, aiming to enhance protections for around half of the country's workforce and bring greater clarity for employers. The retail sector, a major employer in the UK, has issued measured reactions to the proposals, emphasising the need for balance between workers' rights and business certainty. The government's Employment Rights Bill roadmap sets out plans to update and extend workers' rights in response to the evolving labour market. It focuses on providing clearer definitions around employment status, simplifying employment law, and improving protections for workers in flexible or gig economy roles. The objective is to offer more certainty to both employees and employers, reducing disputes and ensuring fair treatment across sectors. The proposals include new rights for a significant portion of workers who currently fall outside traditional employment protections, as well as measures aimed at streamlining the regulatory environment for businesses. The government's announcement stresses a dual goal of improving worker security while maintaining economic competitiveness. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), representing UK retail businesses, welcomed the government's intention to provide certainty for employers but urged caution regarding the potential operational impact. Helen Dickinson, BRC Chief Executive, acknowledged the positive intent behind the roadmap, stating that 'clarity and fairness for workers is vital.' She recognised the government's attempt to address the changing nature of work and called for practical implementation that avoids unintended consequences for retailers. Dickinson highlighted the scale and diversity of the retail workforce, noting the sector's reliance on a range of employment types, including part-time and flexible contracts. She stressed the importance of ensuring that new legislation 'supports the flexible working patterns that many retail workers rely on.' The BRC emphasised that reforms should avoid introducing additional complexity or costs that could hinder retailers' ability to manage their workforce effectively. In her detailed comments, Helen Dickinson addressed several key areas of the roadmap. She welcomed efforts to simplify employment status definitions, saying this 'could reduce confusion and legal disputes.' However, she cautioned that any changes must be carefully designed to avoid increasing costs or risks for employers, which could impact retail sector stability. Dickinson also pointed to the need for clear guidance and transition arrangements to help businesses adapt to new regulations without disruption. The BRC supports the government's stated goal of balancing enhanced rights for workers with a regulatory framework that does not stifle business growth or flexibility. Finally, Dickinson called for ongoing dialogue between government and industry to ensure that reforms meet the practical needs of both workers and employers in the retail sector. She said, 'Engagement will be essential to create policies that protect workers while sustaining the sector's vital contribution to the UK economy.' The roadmap for the Employment Rights Bill marks a significant step in updating UK labour law, with the retail industry watching closely to see how changes will affect its workforce and operations. As the government progresses with consultations and legislative development, retailers will continue to voice the need for workable solutions that balance rights and responsibilities. "UK retailers weigh in on new employment rights roadmap" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Palestine Action to make Court of Appeal bid at evening hearing over terror ban
Palestine Action will head to the Court of Appeal to ask for permission to challenge a High Court judge's refusal to temporarily block it from being designated as a terror group. Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, asked the High Court to temporarily block the Government from banning the group as a terrorist organisation before a potential legal challenge against the decision to proscribe it under the Terrorism Act 2000. The move was to come into force at midnight after High Court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain refused Ms Ammori's bid for a temporary block. However, the PA news agency understands that lawyers on behalf of the group will ask appeal judges for the go-ahead to challenge the decision in a hearing due to begin at about 7pm on Friday. In his decision refusing the temporary block, Mr Justice Chamberlain said: 'I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force.' Shortly after the decision was handed down, Ms Ammori said that she would be 'seeking an urgent appeal to try to prevent a dystopian nightmare of the Government's making'. She added: 'The Home Secretary is rushing through the implementation of the proscription at midnight tonight despite the fact that our legal challenge is ongoing and that she has been completely unclear about how it will be enforced, leaving the public in the dark about their rights to free speech and expression after midnight tonight when this proscription comes into effect. 'Hundreds of thousands of people across the country have expressed support for Palestine Action by joining our mailing list, following and sharing our social media content and signing petitions, and many, including iconic figures like Sally Rooney, say they will continue to declare 'we are all Palestine Action' and speak out against this preposterous proscription, demonstrating how utterly unworkable it will be.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Indefinite jail terms ‘not right and not fair', Lords say in call to end IPP injustice
Peers have demanded answers over the government's refusal to resentence prisoners trapped under 'no hope' indefinite jail terms, insisting: 'It is not right and it is not fair.' In an impassioned debate in the House of Lords, peers urged prisons minister James Timpson to take decisive action to end the injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms. Successive governments have refused justice committee recommendations to resentence more than 2,500 prisoners still trapped under the abolished jail term. The open-ended sentences were scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving those already jailed incarcerated indefinitely. Victims of the scandal, whose tragic cases have been highlighted by The Independent, include: Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for stealing a mobile phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell and has served 13 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. In a speech as his private members' bill to resentence IPP prisoners reached committee stage on Friday, Labour peer Lord Tony Woodley admitted it will not succeed without government support. Addressing IPP prisoners and their families, he told them not to give up hope, but added: 'Sadly, my bill by itself will not bring you justice. But it can help build pressure on the government to do the right thing, and it can help build public awareness of this industrial-scale miscarriage of justice. 'So please don't have false hope in my bill. Hope – but not false hope – is my aim here.' Raising a series of 'probing' amendments designed to 'expose the lack of logic' behind the government's refusal to resentence IPP prisoners, he said it is 'as big a scandal as the Post Office and the infected blood scandal'. 'Almost 100 prisoners have taken their own lives – hundreds more have been driven to insanity, with this no-hope, never-ending sentence,' he said. 'The only difference with IPP is that not enough people know about it.' He reminded the government that almost 700 IPP prisoners have served at least 10 years longer than their original minimum tariff. He added: 'How can the government deny resentencing to these people, still inside, over 10 years past their minimum sentence? 'My lords, let me remind you we are talking about people who have been locked up for over a decade longer than someone else convicted of the exact same crime, but before 2005 or after 2012. 'My lords, a lot of nonsense is spoken about 'two-tier' justice, but this is one situation where that label seems to apply. It is not right and it is not fair.' His proposals were backed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Alice Edwards, who said the jail terms have caused 'unlawful psychological torture' to prisoners. In a statement before the debate, she said: 'It is time to end the perpetual damage caused by the IPP scheme. 'These sentences have caused unlawful psychological torture and ill-treatment to too many prisoners under the care of successive British governments. 'A resentencing court is a promising way forward, in which there could be an initial prioritisation exercise of cases, necessary exclusions and, for those whose mental state requires psychiatric or other intensive treatment, their transfer to a secure mental health facility outside the prison service until such time as they are deemed fit, with regular reviews.' However, prisons minister James Timpson said none of the amendments eased his fears over resentencing, insisting the government's priority is public protection. He said the IPP Action Plan, designed to support each prisoner's progress to release by the parole board, is 'where we will sort this out'. However, he vowed to 'pull hard on every operational lever' to address the crisis and said he was carefully considering separate proposals put forward last month by an expert panel convened by the Howard League for Penal Reform. The panel, led by former lord chief justice Lord John Thomas, called for all IPP prisoners to be given a release date within a two-year window at their next parole hearing and for fewer offenders to be recalled.
