<p>Former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been accused of a "clear breach" of the ministerial code by not seeking clearance for his new role as a columnist for the Daily Mail from parliamentary authorities.&nbsp;The committee responsible for vetting ex-ministers' appointments stated that Johnson informed them only 30 minutes before the news became public.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Despite his resignation as an MP, he is still required to seek advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) for two years after leaving ministerial office.&nbsp;Acoba has sought an explanation from Johnson over the breach. Johnson's spokesperson stated that he is following the normal process by staying in touch with Acoba.</p>

<h2><strong>Acoba's criticism&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>Acoba, chaired by Conservative peer Lord Pickles, aims to ensure that there are no suspicions when former ministers or senior officials take up new jobs.&nbsp;However, some critics view Acoba as ineffective, with deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner asserting that Johnson is once again breaking the rules and taking advantage of a flawed system.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | </strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ex-uk-police-watchdog-chief-charged-with-rape-of-teen-girl-indecent-assault-605180">Ex-UK police watchdog chief charged with rape of teen girl, indecent assault</a></p>

<p>Acoba lacks the power to enforce its recommendations or punish rule-breaking MPs but can issue public rebukes. In a statement, it said, "The ministerial code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice."</p>

<p><strong>Also Read |</strong> <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/blasts-air-raid-sirens-greet-african-peace-mission-leaders-visiting-kyiv-605173">Blasts, air raid sirens greet African ‘peace mission’ leaders visiting Kyiv</a></p>

<p>"An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach," Acoba said adding, "We have written to Mr Johnson for an explanation and will publish correspondence in due course, in line with our policy of transparency."</p>

<h2><strong>Daily Mail column</strong></h2>

<p>Boris Johnson's first weekly column for the Daily Mail appeared online on Friday afternoon. In that, Johnson avoided discussing politics and recent events, fulfilling his promise to focus on other topics. Johnson, in a video shared by the paper, said, "I am thrilled to have been asked to contribute a column to the Daily Mail. It is going to be completely unexpurgated stuff. I may even have to cover politics, but I'll obviously try to do that as little as possible unless I absolutely have to."</p>

<h2><strong>Past rule-breaking incidents</strong></h2>

<p>Previously, Johnson was found to have violated the rules when he took up a £275,000 per year column with the Telegraph shortly after stepping down as foreign secretary.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Watch | India: Five terrorists killed in Kashmir</strong></p>

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<p>Acoba deemed it "unacceptable" that Johnson had not sought its advice beforehand. His Telegraph column became a platform for opposing former Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans and promoting his own leadership aspirations.&nbsp;Johnson's new role with the Daily Mail might offer him the opportunity to criticise UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with whom he has clashed recently over the resignation honours list, said media reports.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Parliamentary vote on Partygate report</strong></h2>

<p>Johnson has asked his supporters not to vote against a report that found him deliberately misleading Parliament regarding the Partygate scandal.&nbsp;Some of his allies, including Nadine Dorries, had expressed intentions to oppose the findings in a Commons vote. The main recommendation of the report is a 90-day suspension from Parliament, but Johnson has already resigned as an MP.</p>

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Former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been accused of a "clear breach" of the ministerial code by not seeking clearance for his new role as a columnist for the Daily Mail from parliamentary authorities.

Former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been accused of a "clear breach" of the ministerial code by not seeking clearance for his new role as a columnist for the Daily Mail from parliamentary authorities. The committee responsible for vetting ex-ministers' appointments stated that Johnson informed them only 30 minutes before the news became public. Despite his resignation as an MP, he is still required to seek advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) for two years after leaving ministerial office. Acoba has sought an explanation from Johnson over the breach. Johnson's spokesperson stated that he is following the normal process by staying in touch with Acoba. Acoba's criticism Acoba, chaired by Conservative peer Lord Pickles, aims to ensure that there are no suspicions when former ministers or senior officials take up new jobs. However, some critics view Acoba as ineffective, with deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner asserting that Johnson is once again breaking the rules and taking advantage of a flawed system. Also Read | Ex-UK police watchdog chief charged with rape of teen girl, indecent assault Acoba lacks the power to enforce its recommendations or punish rule-breaking MPs but can issue public rebukes. In a statement, it said, "The ministerial code states that ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the committee has been able to provide its advice." Also Read | Blasts, air raid sirens greet African ‘peace mission’ leaders visiting Kyiv "An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach," Acoba said adding, "We have written to Mr Johnson for an explanation and will publish correspondence in due course, in line with our policy of transparency." Daily Mail column Boris Johnson's first weekly column for the Daily Mail appeared online on Friday afternoon. In that, Johnson avoided discussing politics and recent events, fulfilling his promise to focus on other topics. Johnson, in a video shared by the paper, said, "I am thrilled to have been asked to contribute a column to the Daily Mail. It is going to be completely unexpurgated stuff. I may even have to cover politics, but I'll obviously try to do that as little as possible unless I absolutely have to." Past rule-breaking incidents Previously, Johnson was found to have violated the rules when he took up a £275,000 per year column with the Telegraph shortly after stepping down as foreign secretary. Watch | India: Five terrorists killed in Kashmir × Acoba deemed it "unacceptable" that Johnson had not sought its advice beforehand. His Telegraph column became a platform for opposing former Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans and promoting his own leadership aspirations. Johnson's new role with the Daily Mail might offer him the opportunity to criticise UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with whom he has clashed recently over the resignation honours list, said media reports. Parliamentary vote on Partygate report Johnson has asked his supporters not to vote against a report that found him deliberately misleading Parliament regarding the Partygate scandal. Some of his allies, including Nadine Dorries, had expressed intentions to oppose the findings in a Commons vote. The main recommendation of the report is a 90-day suspension from Parliament, but Johnson has already resigned as an MP. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. ×

UK: Ex-PM Boris Johnson breaks ministerial code with Daily Mail columnist role

<p>Nominating Supreme Court justices has always been about identity and politics. It’s just that for nearly the first two centuries of the court’s existence, the only people considered for inclusion were white men.</p>

<p>When it comes to power, white and male are silent, like the “u” in disguise. In this country, white men are the presumptive base of power from which everyone else is a deviation. They are the norm against which all others are judged to be anomalous.</p>

<p>When white men were the only people being considered for seats on the Supreme Court, qualifications didn’t always matter. James Francis Byrnes dropped out of school at the age of 14 and never went to college or law school. What he knew of the law he learned from working at law firms before he was admitted to the South Carolina bar and started his own practice.</p>

<p>His lack of any formal higher education didn’t prevent President Franklin D. Roosevelt from appointing him to the Supreme Court. He served for a little over a year before he quit. (He later became secretary of state under Harry Truman.)</p>

<p>Some justices, like John Archibald Campbell, enslaved Africans. Campbell would side with the majority in the horrendous Dred Scott case. In 1861, he resigned from the court, and the following year, he joined the Confederate government as its assistant secretary of war.</p>

<p>Not all of the white men who served on the court were paragons of morality. Not all of them went to college, let alone law school. But they each had the golden ticket: low melanin and high testosterone.</p>

<p>So now, it is fascinating to watch as people work themselves into conniptions about Joe Biden committing to choosing a Supreme Court nominee from a group that has long been overlooked: Black women.</p>

<p>It is identity politics and affirmative action, they scream.</p>

<p>Ben Carson said on “The Vince Coglianese Show” that Biden’s pledge to choose a Black woman was a sign that “we’re reverting back to identity politics” and that it would “bring more division into our country.”</p>

<p>Carson hoped, he said, that people would “be incensed about it.” In the end, he called it “abominable.”</p>

<p>As Carson explained it, “We need a Supreme Court where we have the best candidates.”</p>

<p>This from one of the most unqualified secretaries of housing and urban development the country has ever had, a man who didn’t even know the basics of his job. When Rep. Katie Porter asked him at a congressional hearing if he knew what an REO was (the initials stand for “real estate owned,” a term used to describe property that has failed to sell at a foreclosure auction), Carson seemed to think she was referring to an Oreo cookie. Even after Porter clarified the three letters, Carson was still left guessing what the O stood for, at one point suggesting: “Real Estate e-organization.”</p>

<p>This from a man whom Donald Trump may have nominated to the post only because of Trump’s own constant, problematic conflation of “Black” with “urban,” even though most Black people in this country live in the suburbs.</p>

<p>The irony here is that Ronald Reagan, the Republicans’ patron saint before the rise of Trump, made a similar promise in 1980 when he was in trouble with women for not supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. He promised to nominate a woman — again the word “white” was silent — and that’s how we got Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.</p>

<p>Carson wasn’t the only conservative making a fuss about Biden and identity politics. Tucker Carlson also railed against the impending pick, saying, “Biden claims that his race counting is essential so that the court and the rest of his administration, quote, ‘looks like America.’ ” He continued, “Of all the lies that Joe Biden tells, this could be the easiest to check. We have the latest census numbers, and we can promise you with dead certainty that Joe Biden’s nominees look nothing like America, not even close.” Instead, Carlson said, a Black woman nominee will “represent about 7% of the population.”</p>

<p>I say, look at it another way.</p>

<p>Of the 115 justices who have served on the bench since 1789, 108 — roughly 94% — have been white men. Zero percent have been Black women.</p>

<p>Viewed this way, through the long sweep of American history, the United States has some work to do.</p>

<p>There is no legitimate or logical argument against inclusion. Consciously including racial groups can be one of the most effective reparative remedies for centuries of racial exclusion.</p>

<p>Only when we disentangle the concepts of whiteness and maleness from the concept of power can we see the damage the association has done. Only then can we truly accept and celebrate the power of inclusion, diversity and equity. Only then can representative democracy in a pluralistic society begin to live up to its ideals.</p>


Nominating Supreme Court justices has always been about identity and politics. It’s just that for nearly the first two centuries of the court’s existence, the only people considered for inclusion were white men.

Nominating Supreme Court justices has always been about identity and politics. It’s just that for nearly the first two centuries of the court’s existence, the only people considered for inclusion were white men. When it comes to power, white and male are silent, like the “u” in disguise. In this country, white men are the presumptive base of power from which everyone else is a deviation. They are the norm against which all others are judged to be anomalous. When white men were the only people being considered for seats on the Supreme Court, qualifications didn’t always matter. James Francis Byrnes dropped out of school at the age of 14 and never went to college or law school. What he knew of the law he learned from working at law firms before he was admitted to the South Carolina bar and started his own practice. His lack of any formal higher education didn’t prevent President Franklin D. Roosevelt from appointing him to the Supreme Court. He served for a little over a year before he quit. (He later became secretary of state under Harry Truman.) Some justices, like John Archibald Campbell, enslaved Africans. Campbell would side with the majority in the horrendous Dred Scott case. In 1861, he resigned from the court, and the following year, he joined the Confederate government as its assistant secretary of war. Not all of the white men who served on the court were paragons of morality. Not all of them went to college, let alone law school. But they each had the golden ticket: low melanin and high testosterone. So now, it is fascinating to watch as people work themselves into conniptions about Joe Biden committing to choosing a Supreme Court nominee from a group that has long been overlooked: Black women. It is identity politics and affirmative action, they scream. Ben Carson said on “The Vince Coglianese Show” that Biden’s pledge to choose a Black woman was a sign that “we’re reverting back to identity politics” and that it would “bring more division into our country.” Carson hoped, he said, that people would “be incensed about it.” In the end, he called it “abominable.” As Carson explained it, “We need a Supreme Court where we have the best candidates.” This from one of the most unqualified secretaries of housing and urban development the country has ever had, a man who didn’t even know the basics of his job. When Rep. Katie Porter asked him at a congressional hearing if he knew what an REO was (the initials stand for “real estate owned,” a term used to describe property that has failed to sell at a foreclosure auction), Carson seemed to think she was referring to an Oreo cookie. Even after Porter clarified the three letters, Carson was still left guessing what the O stood for, at one point suggesting: “Real Estate e-organization.” This from a man whom Donald Trump may have nominated to the post only because of Trump’s own constant, problematic conflation of “Black” with “urban,” even though most Black people in this country live in the suburbs. The irony here is that Ronald Reagan, the Republicans’ patron saint before the rise of Trump, made a similar promise in 1980 when he was in trouble with women for not supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. He promised to nominate a woman — again the word “white” was silent — and that’s how we got Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Carson wasn’t the only conservative making a fuss about Biden and identity politics. Tucker Carlson also railed against the impending pick, saying, “Biden claims that his race counting is essential so that the court and the rest of his administration, quote, ‘looks like America.’ ” He continued, “Of all the lies that Joe Biden tells, this could be the easiest to check. We have the latest census numbers, and we can promise you with dead certainty that Joe Biden’s nominees look nothing like America, not even close.” Instead, Carlson said, a Black woman nominee will “represent about 7% of the population.” I say, look at it another way. Of the 115 justices who have served on the bench since 1789, 108 — roughly 94% — have been white men. Zero percent have been Black women. Viewed this way, through the long sweep of American history, the United States has some work to do. There is no legitimate or logical argument against inclusion. Consciously including racial groups can be one of the most effective reparative remedies for centuries of racial exclusion. Only when we disentangle the concepts of whiteness and maleness from the concept of power can we see the damage the association has done. Only then can we truly accept and celebrate the power of inclusion, diversity and equity. Only then can representative democracy in a pluralistic society begin to live up to its ideals.

Opinion: When all-white was all right

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