Bitter resignation of UK minister underlines divide in PM Rishi Sunak’s party
- International environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigned, saying Britain had lost its global leadership role on climate issues
- Rejected attempts to frame his resignation as a reaction to a request to apologise regarding comments about the ‘Partygate’ investigation
British international environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigned on Friday, saying Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was “uninterested” in environmental issues, in a move highlighting the deep split in the ruling Conservative Party.
With an election expected next year and the Conservative Party trailing in opinion polls, the party is split between those loyal to Sunak and those, like Goldsmith, who think former prime minister Boris Johnson has been unfairly sidelined.
Goldsmith said on Friday that Britain had lost its global leadership role on climate issues. He rejected an attempt by Sunak to frame his resignation as a reaction to being asked to apologise for criticism of a parliamentary committee investigation into Johnson.
Goldsmith said he was happy to make an apology for his criticism of the Privileges Committee.
“The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested,” said Goldsmith, who sits in parliament’s upper chamber and held the title of Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment.
Sunak replied to Goldsmith with a letter that began: