Dear David,

This letter is to submit with much regret my resignation as Energy and Climate Change Secretary. I intend to mount a robust defence against the charges brought against me, and I have concluded that it would be distracting both to that effort and to my official duties if I were to continue in office.

It has been an honour to negotiate and then serve in the first coalition government of modern times which has substantial achievements both in reducing the economic dangers faced by our country, and in making progress with policies to tackle climate change and provide energy security. Internationally, we have helped to build a coalition of ambitious countries in Europe and beyond to put the United Nations process back on track.

It has been a privilege to be a minister in the coalition government, and I wish the administration every success with the environmental and economic challenges that lie ahead.

Best wishes 

Chris Huhne

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your letter informing me of your decision to resign from the Government. I believe you have made the right decision under the circumstances.
You have made a very significant contribution to the Government, of which you can be justly proud.

You were a member of the team which negotiated the formation of the Coalition Government between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats in those crucial days after the General Election, with our shared commitment to come together as two distinct political parties and govern in the national interest.

As Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, you have led the Government’s efforts to live up to its responsibility to tackle climate change with great passion and distinction. You played a key role in securing the progress made at the Cancun and Durban summits, and I pay tribute to the leadership you showed at both. You have been determined to deliver on our pledge that this should be the greenest Government ever, recognising that cutting carbon emissions is not a luxury but a necessity. And you have relentlessly championed green growth.

Thank you too for the important contribution you have made as a member of the National Security Council since its inception, not only on security of our energy supply, but also in our discussions on Afghanistan, and during the Libya campaign.

Like the Deputy Prime Minister, I am sorry to see you leave the Government under these circumstances and wish you well for the future.

“The CPS’s decision today is deeply regrettable. I am innocent of these charges and I intend to fight them in the courts and I am confident a jury will agree. To avoid any distraction to my official duties or my trial defence I am standing down as secretary of state for energy and climate change. I will of course continue to serve my constituents in Eastleigh.”

In less than thirty seconds Chris Huhne confirmed the end of his career. He’s standing down to spend more time with his simple sword of truth. Bye!

UPDATE:

FLASHBACK:

It’s been a long eight months…

“Dear Prime Minister” time…

BBC correspondent tweeting unconfirmed rumour:

Vicky Pryce just told me "I understand there will be charges #huhne CANNOT CONFIRM—
Sally Chidzoy (@sallychidzoy) February 03, 2012

As is a copper. Developing… 

In about half an hour Chris Huhne will learn his fate. If he’s not charged it will leak within minutes. Westminster waits with baited breath. Runes are being read left, right and centre but nobody has the foggiest. Roll on Ten O’Clock…

As he calls the nations’ media to Reuters, Canary Wharf for a briefing tomorrow morning about his future business plans, Ed’s attacks on capitalism are gaining traction around the world. He’s becoming a serious player:

The head of Iran’s judiciary announced on Wednesday that the courts will readily “issue death penalties” to the “disruptors” of the country’s foreign currency market. ISNA reports that Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani emphasized that the judiciary will deal with those who have been “identified as economic disruptors” just as it would with “smugglers, bandits and drug traffickers.”

While we are on the subject of banker bashing, some strong words from Peston in an interview with Standard:

“He ums and ahs for a moment and then, with a rare edge of crossness, eschewing his usual idiosyncratic syntax, gives a startlingly clear reply: “Look, I do think it’s completely inappropriate for bankers to be earning these colossal sums. Completely inappropriate.

There are certain people who I regard as being just evil but I don’t regard people who make a lot of money and don’t do anything useful with it as evil.” He stops and thinks for a second. “Just misguided and bonkers.”"

Are these comments really appropriate from the neutral Business Editor of our state broadcaster?

The smart money is on Cameron not reshuffling until after the Olympics and opting for a quick yellow for yellow swap if Huhne is forced out, but that hasn’t stopped some intriguing ideas being floated around Tory circles. Firstly there was the hilarious “bigging up” of Sarah Teather, whose civil servants give a very different picture from the one painted in Black Dog:

“Small but perfectly formed Lib Dem Schools Minister Sarah Teather is being tipped by friends of Michael Gove to succeed Chris Huhne as Energy Secretary if he is forced to quit over his speeding offence wrangle. ‘Like most of us, Michael didn’t rate Sarah but he has changed his view after seeing how she sends mandarins twice her size packing,’ said a friend of Gove.”

Whoever Gove’s friend is, he’s a master of reverse psychology. Guido is sure that many tears will be shed if Sarah does move on from Education.

Today’s pipe dream is shifting Vince Cable from BIS over to DECC. There was vicious briefing against the Sage of Twickenham in the Sun today, with unknown Tory Ministers accusing him of stunting growth:

“Cable is obsessed with punishing the bankers — and little else.He has failed to deliver any meaningful strategy to help struggling British companies. Time is running out for us to get this right. We’re doing not nearly enough — and we won’t until Vince gets out of the way.”

Do they really want to put him in charge of growth-choking green-taxes?

With the announcement coming in the morning, in all likelihood it will be Ed Davey or Jeremy Browne laying awake in wonder tonight. There is talk of Norman Lamb and Jo Swinson moving up a rung as a result. Guido doubts we will see the return of David  Laws to the Cabinet, but he could well take the vacant Junior Minister slot. 

The pre-announcement of an announcement does not bode too well…

There has been a bitter backlash against hopping mad Kate Green. She says Strangers selling “Top Totty Ale”  is beyond the pale, but there’s trouble brewing. Centre right women’s think tank WomenOn have hit back:

“More authoritarian posturing from radical feministas who are after a fun-free and sex-free world.”

Guido hears the ban will happen though. You can protest it with an offensive Twibbon here.

UPDATE: It’s officially banned. A sud day.

UPDATE: UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass is on the rampage:

“Ms Green really is a humourless sort. She thinks by throwing about this well loved ale will deflect from her own failings. Failings that include failing to declare her financial interests properly. After all she has been censured for not mentioning her Union sponsorship.

Top Totty, first arrived at the strangers bar in 2007 as a guest beer, and was sold out within 3 days. It has been a finalist in the National Beer Awards and is a fine brew. Ms Green obviously wouldn’t know this given that she boasts that she hasn’t set foot in the Stranger’s Bar in year and a half since she was elected. In may ways that tells us everything we need to know.

This sort of knee-jerk Puritanism does more to damage the cause of equality than a thousand beer labels”, he said. “It suggests that to be in favour of equality you must indulge in dour-faced, insult-searching misery.”