Zac Goldsmith resigns from government with furious attack on Rishi Sunak

Foreign Office minister Lord Zac Goldsmith has announced his resignation, accusing the Government of “apathy” over environmental issues – a day after being accused of undermining a Commons investigation into Boris Johnson.

Goldsmith accused the prime minister of being “simply uninterested” in the environment as he stepped down as a Foreign Office minister.

In his two-page resignation letter, Lord Goldsmith wrote: “The past four years have been an exhilarating experience for me, and I will forever be grateful that I was put in a position where I could do more for the environment than I thought possible in a lifetime.

“I’m proud that in recent years the UK has played a critical, indeed defining role – leading powerful coalitions of ambition and securing world-changing commitments over a very wide range of environmental issues.”

He added: “Prime Minister, having been able to get so much done previously, I have struggled even to hold the line in recent months. The problem is not that the government is hostile to the environment, it is that you, our Prime Minister, are simply uninterested. That signal, or lack of it, has trickled down through Whitehall and caused a kind of paralysis.”

He concluded the letter: “It has been a privilege to be able to work with so many talented people in government, in particular my Private Office, and to have been able to make a difference to a cause I have been committed to for as long as I remember. But this government’s apathy in the face of the greatest challenge we have faced makes continuing in my current role untenable. With great reluctance I am therefore stepping down as a Minister in order to focus my energy where it can be more useful.”