Former Conservative minister George Freeman broke the ministerial code by failing to consult the official watchdog before taking up a paid consultancy job, openDemocracy has learned.
Freeman did not consult the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) before being hired to provide “commercial advice” by a company that produces protective equipment used by the NHS during the pandemic.
In a strongly worded letter, ACOBA chairman Lord Pickles said the former transport minister’s “failure to seek and await advice in this case was a breach of the Government’s Rules and the requirement set out in the Ministerial Code.”
