REDDITCH’s MP Rachel Maclean has resigned from her job as Safeguarding Minister and urged under fire Prime Minister Boris Johnson to go ‘for the good of the country.’
Mrs Maclean’s departure is among in excess of 30 members of Boris Johnson’s Government who have resigned since yesterday evening (Tuesday).
She becomes the latest Worcestershire MP to depart her role after Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Schools Minister Robin Walker stepped down.
In her letter to the Prime Minister, Mrs Maclean said she offered her resignation ‘with great regret’ and hailed the Prime Minister as an ‘incredible leader of our party’.
However she said she had ‘regretfully concluded’ she could no longer fulfill her role as Minister for Safeguarding and to improve the low rate of prosecutions for sexual offences while Mr Johnson remained in office.
“Recent events demonstrate that while you remain in office, it will not be possible to make progress with this vitally important task,” she said.
“I have defended you to the hilt to my constituents and to the public. You have been an incredible leader of our party through some very difficult times but you must now resign for the good of the country and our party.”
“Values, principles, integrity and decency matter more than anything and I cannot continue to stand by and do nothing.
“I ask you to step aside so that we can get on with the important task of serving the country and providing it with the leadership it so badly needs.”
Mrs Maclean said it had been an honour to serve in the Government as a transport minister and latterly in the Home Office.
“I love this country, and I am proud to have served it in the small way I have. I remain grateful to you for the opportunity to work on these hugely influential priorities, she added.
“However the greatest honour of my life remains serving my constituents in Redditch. They are the people I am accountable to and I take my responsibility as their Member of Parliament incredibly seriously.”
More follows…
