[Obamao]

"The principles at stake in the Ridout ministerial review go far beyond narrow, commercial considerations. They involve the propriety of ministerial conduct and compliance with ethical and governance standards under a strict Code which has been in place since 1954. In this case, the absence of an independent process in the separate ministerial review undermines the validity of the conclusions in SM Teo’s report. It is worth noting that the UK Ministerial Code provides for such investigations to be conducted by the (non-political) Cabinet Office or an Independent Adviser."