Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns has resigned after being accused of “brazenly lying” about his knowledge of an allegation that a Tory candidate had sabotaged a rape trial.
A leaked email to the cabinet minister by his special advisor suggested he knew ex-staff member Ross England was involved in the collapse of rape proceedings in 2018.
England was said by judge Stephen Hopkins to have “single-handedly” and “deliberately” sabotaged the trial of his friend, James Hackett, after referring to the victim’s sexual history, it emerged last week. Hackett was convicted after a retrial in 2018.
England has since been suspended from the Conservative Party and withdrawn as a candidate for a Welsh Assembly seat, but the controversy over how he came to be selected continues.
But how much Cairns knew about England’s past had led to a torrent of calls for his resignation as a minister and he now faces demands to stand down as a Tory candidate altogether.
Cairns’ letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, sent as the Conservatives prepare to launch their general election campaign, acknowledges he will face an investigation into whether he breached the ministerial code.
It reads: “You will be aware of allegations relating to the actions of a party employee and candidate for the Welsh Assembly elections in the Vale of Glamorgan.
“This is a very sensitive matter, and in light of continued speculation, I write to tender my resignation as secretary of state for Wales.
“I will co-operate in full with the investigation under the ministerial code which will now take place and I am confident I will be cleared of any breach or wrong doing.”
The email, dated August 2 2018, leaked to the BBC, was sent to Cairns by his aide Geraint Evans, and was also copied to Richard Minshull, director of the Welsh Conservatives.
It said: “I have spoken to Ross and he is confident no action will be taken by the court.”
Four months after the email England was selected as the Welsh Conservatives’ candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan – the same constituency area as Cairns represents – for the 2021 Welsh Assembly election.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Cairns should stand down as a candidate to be MP.
He told Sky News: “Obviously, legally [Cairns] can stand as a candidate but does he have a moral right to stand as a candidate?
“If he’s stepping down as a minister because of his involvement then I would have thought the very least the Conservative party can do is not put him up as a candidate in the next election.”
Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts had also accused Cairns of a cover-up and has called for Cairns to now withdraw himself as a candidate at the general election.
Following his resignation, she said: “I hope that Alun Cairns’ resignation as Secretary of State proves to be some solace to the woman at the centre of this case, who still has received no apology from the Conservative party.
“Mr Cairns’ conduct proved unquestionably that he is not fit to hold ministerial office. You simply cannot be complicit in the attempted cover up of sabotaging a rape trial and hope to get away with it.
“Such conduct is neither befitting of a government minister, nor of a member of parliament. Mr Cairns should do the honourable thing and withdraw from the election – and if he doesn’t, the Conservative party should insist he withdraws.”
Labour MP Jess Phillips has also tweeted about Cairns’ resignation.
Paul Davies AM, the leader of the Conservatives at the Welsh Assembly, said: “I am sorry to see Alun resign today as the secretary of state for Wales however, under the circumstances this was the right decision for him.
“Alun has rightly stated that he will co-operate fully with any investigations.
“I would like to thank Alun for his service to Wales as our secretary of state where he brought an end to the Severn Bridge tolls which will leave a lasting legacy on the Welsh economy.”