General Election 2019: Welsh secretary Alun Cairns resigns over rape trial allegations
Welsh secretary Alun Cairns has resigned following allegations his former aide “sabotaged” the trial of a rape victim.
Ross England made claims about the victim’s sexual history in an April 2018 trial which led to its collapse.
Yesterday Cairns denied knowing about this, but the BBC claimed to have seen an email sent to him in August 2018 mentioning the matter.
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Writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson – on the day the election campaign begins – Cairns said he had decided to resign because it was “a very sensitive matter” about which there had been “continued speculation”.
He added: “I will cooperate 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 of wrongdoing.”
Writing in response Johnson thanked Cairns for his work, adding: “I am pleased to hear that you will cooperate fully with the Cabinet Office during this process.”
Cairns has been Welsh secretary since March 2016.
More to follow…