- Steve Brine MP broke lobbying rules by contacting his former department for an employer.
- The government's response was merely to send a letter to Brine, a former health minister.
- Campaigners say it shows the limited interest Boris Johnson's officials have in enforcing the rules.
The UK government responded to one of its former ministers breaking its standards rules by issuing a vague warning that it could harm his career or rule him out of winning honours, a letter acquired by Insider shows.
Steve Brine, a Conservative MP and former health minister, was the subject of the letter, which campaigners said typified the limp UK response to rule-breaking at the top of government.
The letter, obtained under Freedom of Information law, concerns a breach of "revolving door" rules designed to stop former ministers from cashing in on their experience by lobbying.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which examines former ministers' post-government work, found Brine breached the rules by arranging meetings between an employer and health ministers.
Brine worked in the health department until March 2019, but in September 2020 took up a £1,666-a-month job with Sigma, a pharmaceutical firm.
Brine did not consult ACOBA before taking the role, another breach of the rules.
Brine organised and hosted appearances at a Sigma seminar by then-health ministers Nadhim Zahawi and Matt Hancock in June and July 2021. The firm went on to win a £100,000 government contract to deliver lateral flow tests to pharmacies.
ACOBA's only ability to punish wrong-doing is to write a letter to the government and publish it along with the government's reply, which Insider obtained.
The government response was to write to Brine noting ACOBA's finding and suggesting that the breach might harm his ability to get future ministerial roles or feature on official honours lists.
In practice, breaking ACOBA rules has not proved to be of much harm to MPs. Boris Johnson returned backbench MP George Freeman to a ministerial position earlier last year despite Freeman having breached the rules after serving as a minister.
Some figures, including ACOBA chair Lord Pickles, have called for greater powers to punish wrongdoing.
Such reform was not mentioned in last week's Queen's speech which outlined the government's legislative priorities for the new parliamentary session.
Susan Hawley is executive director at Spotlight on Corruption, a anti-corruption campaigning charity. She said the omission of standards reform in the Queen's speech was "alarming."
Hawley told Insider: "Breaches of ACOBA's business rules need to attract more than a stern letter if they're ever to be taken seriously. It is high time that the government got on with introducing the reforms that Boardman and the Committee on Standards in Public Life have called for, including mending how the revolving door is policed.
"The resounding silence in the Queen's speech about the government's intention to implement these reforms is alarming. The ongoing drip-feed of scandals about politicians acting without integrity and ignoring the rules is hugely damaging to our democracy."
The Cabinet Office declined to comment. Brine did not respond to a request for comment.
Read the letter in full here
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