IMMIGRATION minister Robert Jenrick has responded following an allegation that he “broke ministerial code”.
According to The Sun, witnesses say that Jenrick left his briefcase, known as the red box, for at least four minutes – which would be a breach of security rules.
Pictures show the box left on a chair in a first-class carriage of an LNER train.
A family travelling from Peterborough to York for a day out told The Sun that they spotted Jenrick on the train.
🚨 | NEW: Cabinet Minister Robert Jenrick may have BROKEN the ministerial code for leaving his red box unattended for 4 mins on a public train while he went toilet
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) July 31, 2023
[@NatashaC] pic.twitter.com/iWuByTSO3x
The father of the family told the newspaper: “He was sat in first class with us. He walked off in the direction of the toilet and didn’t take it [the box] with him. I couldn’t believe it so we took pictures.
“He was gone for about four minutes. He came back, picked up the case and headed for the exit – we didn’t see him again.”
A spokesman for Jenrick (below) has since responded to say that the image is “misleading” and that he had in fact kept the box close by.
They said: “Mr Jenrick was working on the train throughout the journey, with his ministerial box close by at all times.
“He sat in the seat directly to the left of this misleading photo and he left the train with his locked ministerial box.”
However, the father who sent in the photo said: “He 100% left it – it’s an important document case, we were baffled.
“There were around 10 others in the carriage with us.”
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