By Ben Kerrigan-
A UK cabinet minister has resigned after lying about his knowledge of a former aide’s role in the “sabotage” of a rape trial.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns resigned after he was exposed for denying awareness of a Tory Welsh assembly candidate’s claims about a woman’s sexual history in a rape trial in April 2018, causing the case to collapse.
An email about the case sent to him over a year ago was uncovered by BBC Wales, but he claimed to have only heard about it last week. His former aide, Ross England, was chosen as the Vale of Glamorgan candidate for the 2021 Welsh assembly election in December 2018 – four months after the email about him was sent to Mr Cairns.
Mr Cairns had endorsed Mr England as a “friend and colleague” with whom “it will be a pleasure to campaign”, paving the way for his selection during England’s campaign.Mr Cairns, who represented the Vale of Glamorgan, was one of the longest-serving ministers in the cabinet and worked under three prime ministers after being appointed in 2016.Mr England was suspended after it emerged that his conduct as a witness in a rape trial led to its collapse.
Ross England was condemned of falling short of the standards required of a Tory Welsh Assembly candidate, the party’s leader in the Senedd Paul Davies had said.