Alun Cairns: Tory cabinet minister resigns over ‘sabotaged’ rape trial

Resignation plunges Boris Johnson’s election campaign into deeper trouble – after controversies over Jacob Rees-Mogg and a doctored video

Alun Cairns has dramatically quit as Welsh secretary after being accused of lying over an aide’s sabotaging of a rape trial.

The resignation plunges Boris Johnson’s election campaign into deeper trouble, after the furore over Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments about Grenfell and a doctored video.

Mr Cairns had faced growing calls to quit after he claimed he had been unaware that evidence given by the aide, Ross England, led to the collapse of the case in Cardiff in April last year.

Last December, he endorsed Mr England’s candidacy to stand as assembly member for the Vale of Glamorgan.

However, the BBC then revealed that Mr Cairns had been alerted to the case by his special adviser in August last year.

An email sent to Mr Cairns by Geraint Evans, the adviser, said that he had spoken to Mr England and he was confident no further action would be taken against him for collapsing the trial.

Yet, only last week, the Conservatives had insisted “categorically” that Mr Cairns was “completely unaware of the details of the collapse of this trial until they became public”.

In a resignation letter to the prime minister, the cabinet minister wrote: “This is a very sensitive matter, and in light of continued speculation, I will tender my resignation as secretary of state for Wales.”

Mr Cairns made clear he intended to fight on as the Conservative candidate in the crucial marginal seat of Vale of Glamorgan, which he holds over Labour with a majority of just 2,190.

But Christina Rees, Labour’s shadow Welsh secretary, led calls for him to quit politics completely, calling the situation “a shoddy halfway house that will fool nobody”.

“He has still not explained his behaviour and still not addressed the grave issues raised by the leaked emails yesterday,” Ms Rees said.

“Worse still, neither he nor any senior Welsh Tory have apologised to one person who most deserves it – the victim herself. He should do the right thing – apologise, and step down as a candidate.”

Mr England was suspended as a candidate by the Conservatives last week. The defendant was convicted at a retrial and jailed for five years.

The victim had called for Mr Cairns to go, saying: “I can’t believe that not one senior Welsh Conservative has said that what he did was wrong.”

In his letter, Mr Cairns 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 or wrong doing.

“I will continue to work to support your vision and ambitions for the country and am grateful for the honour of serving in your cabinet.”

Mr Johnson praised his “unstinting record of service to the party in the Wales with over a decade as assembly member for South Wales West”.