The UK business secretary, who is in India to restart free trade talks, said he had spoken to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) last week after it told him it was deciding whether to open a formal investigation.
“And I just want to be absolutely clear, for a speech, I think, and I think a tweet or maybe a Facebook post over a decade ago – I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but I should apologise for that if anyone has misunderstood that, but I don’t think they have.”.
The business secretary said he had spoken twice to Howard Lutnick, the new US commerce secretary, and was “hoping to get the United States to have those conversations in person” at the end of March, after a visit to Japan.
Speaking to the Guardian in New Delhi, Reynolds said that “over a decade ago” he had “used shorthand” in a speech that was “not a speech about the legal profession or legal regulation or the law”.
After being contacted by the SRA, which said it was examining “new information” at the end of last week after receiving new complaints, Reynolds wrote to Keir Starmer to apologise.
