Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Tory MP claims she criticised Boris Johnson for damaging UK’s international reputation ‘by mistake’

Joy Morrissey, who is now PM’s top parliamentary aide, says letter criticising government policy was sent ‘in error’

Jon Stone
Policy Correspondent
Tuesday 15 February 2022 17:40 GMT
Comments
Joy Morrissey was appointed to be the prime minister’s parliamentary private secretary in last week’s reshuffle
Joy Morrissey was appointed to be the prime minister’s parliamentary private secretary in last week’s reshuffle (Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Conservative MP has said she wrote a letter criticising Boris Johnson for damaging the UK’s international reputation “in error”.

Joy Morrissey was appointed to be Mr Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary in last week’s reshuffle, a role which will see her work closely with him.

But there were blushes in Whitehall over the weekend after it emerged that Ms Morrissey had strongly criticised the government for cutting international aid.

The American-born MP for Beaconsfield had argued in a letter to a concerned constituent that the cuts were “a mere drop in ocean compared with what the government is currently borrowing, and will do little to alleviate the current domestic economic crisis” but “have a massive impact on the world’s most vulnerable people”.

When approached about the letter, in which she she says the cuts send “completely the wrong message”, Ms Morrissey initially told the Daily Mail that it was a fake.

She later U-turned and admitted writing the missive: but said it had been sent by “mistake”.

Her claim comes amid a public debate about whether politicians lie too often.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ms Morrissey said: “The letter in question was regrettably sent to said constituent in error.

“Joy fully supports the government’s foreign policy and its cut in the foreign aid budget.

“Like many MPs offices Joy’s office has experienced extremely high volumes of constituency correspondence recently and whilst unfortunate, mistakes like this do happen.

“There is no question that Joy completely supports the government’s policy agenda.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in