Tory peer Zac Goldsmith has resigned from his role as a Foreign Office minister accusing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, of being “simply uninterested” in the environment.
Lord Goldsmith has been the Minister for the international environment for the past four years saying it had been an "exhilarating experience".
But in a two-page resignation letter, Lord Goldsmith said he had struggled to "hold the line" in recent months blaming the Prime Minister and his lack of interest in the environment.
It has been a privilege to have been able to make a difference to a cause I have been committed to for as long as I remember. But this govt’s apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we face makes continuing in my role untenable. Reluctantly I am therefore stepping down pic.twitter.com/KDJKN3i6ER
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) June 30, 2023
Lord Goldsmith wrote: “The past four years have been an exhilarating experience for me, and I will forever be grateful that I was put in a position where I could do more for the environment than I thought possible in a lifetime.
“I’m proud that in recent years the UK has played a critical, indeed defining role – leading powerful coalitions of ambition and securing world-changing commitments over a very wide range of environmental issues.”
He added: “Prime Minister, having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months.
"The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested.
"That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis.”
He concluded the letter by saying: “It has been a privilege to be able to work with so many talented people in government, in particular my Private Office, and to have been able to make a difference to a cause I have been committed to for as long as I remember.
"But this government’s apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we have faced makes continuing in my current role untenable.
"With great reluctance I am therefore stepping down as a Minister in order to focus my energy where it can be more useful.”
Rishi Sunak refused to answer questions about Lord Goldsmith’s ministerial resignation when asked about the departure as he left a hospital visit in Cambridge.
Lord Goldsmith's departure comes a day after he was criticised in a report by the Privileges Committee which named Boris Johnson allies said to have put “improper pressure” on its investigation into the former PM's lies to Parliament about 'Partygate'.
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