May Advisor Quits, Saying Gov’t Tried to Silence Him

Lord Adonis has said he was forced to resign as an independent advisor after the government “tried to silence” him.

The former Labour minister quit his role as chairman of the government’s Infrastructure Commission with an attack on Theresa May’s government, BBC reported.

He said it had become “hyper sensitive to any criticism” as Brexit was “infecting” the whole conduct of government—including infrastructure.

Conservative MP Chris Philp called his comments “complete nonsense”.

Philp told BBC Breakfast Lord Adonis should “temper his remarks” which are “ill judged and inflammatory”.

A government source has said the peer quit before he was pushed—which Lord Adonis has denied.

“He’s been moving closer towards the exit door with each new onslaught he makes against Brexit,” the source said.

Lord Adonis—who is a campaigner against Brexit—said May was “pursuing a course fraught with danger”.

But as well as Brexit, he also called the decision to end the East Coast rail franchise three years early a mistake.

“I think if we’d had proper conduct of government, as happened before Brexit, no way would Whitehall have allowed a hard-right minister to have agreed the bailout of private rail companies,” he said.

The government deny it was a bailout.

Lord Adonis said it was the government attempts to silence him after his criticism of this decision, that pushed him to resign.

“Even if they are independent advisors, they get attacked,” he added.

“It’s time for people like me to speak completely frankly, openly and honestly with the British people about the challenges we face and I’ll be doing that day after day in the new year.”

In March, former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine was sacked as an adviser from Lord Adonis’s commission after rebelling over Brexit in the House of Lords.