The department for international trade, which aims to clinch a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India by Diwali, is in disarray after the sacking of one of its ministers for allegedly groping another man at last week’s Tory party conference in Birmingham.

Conor Burns, who was appointed minister for trade policy in the department of international trade, on September 7 when Liz Truss took office has been dismissed by the Prime Minister after she had received “a complaint of serious misconduct”.

His whip has also been removed, which means he can no longer sit as a Tory MP but must do so as an independent and face the possibility of being deselected at the next general election even though he has protested his innocence.“The Telegraph understands the incident that triggered the complaint took place on Tuesday night in the bar at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham, which partly hosted the Tory conference,” said a report in the Daily Telegraph.

It added: “The complaint alleged that Burns made inappropriate remarks and actions towards a younger man, according to a source close to the investigation.”

One of Burns’s tasks was to support his boss, Kemi Badenoch, the international trade secretary, “on all free trade agreements”, including especially the one with India, which Truss considers a priority. The problem for the Prime Minister is that her home secretary has very different priorities, notably the need to be seen to be cutting inward immigration — not least from India. International trade is not Braverman’s responsibility but her spokeswoman told TheDaily Telegraph: “A trade deal between the UK and India is a huge opportunity to deepen our already strong trading relationship worth £24.3 billion a year, which will benefit businesses and sectors right across both our countries.”

But the statement injected a belligerent note: “We remain clear that we won’t sacrifice quality for speed and will only sign when we have a deal that meets the UK’s interests.”

The home office believes that the dash to Diwali is “focusing efforts and driving progress. It also wants to make it clear that business mobility is not the same as immigration. Business mobility covers temporary entry for talent to work for a specific time period in a trade partner country.

“Any commitments made on a temporary entry will aim to encourage the best and brightest talent in India to temporarily work in the UK. And such agreements would be consistent with the points-based immigration system, subject to collective cabinet agreement.”

In the past, the UK did have a problem with illegal immigration from India. Braverman did not provide any evidence but claimed that “the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants”.

However, government research has established the vast majority of students return home, simply because they believe they have better prospects in India. According to the Financial Times, “Truss is drawing up plans to make it easier for companies to bring in talented staff from overseas for short-term placements in the UK as employers complain about post-Brexit labour shortages in multiple industries.

“The new Prime Minister is keen to streamline ‘intra-company transfers’ under which a multinational company moves a skilled worker into the UK from abroad on a temporary basis, according to her allies.

“At the same time, she wants to crack down on ‘unskilled’ immigration and is concerned about an influx of people entering the country as relatives of overseas students, said the allies.“Meanwhile, Truss has ordered a review of the UK visa system to tackle labour shortages in certain industries, despite resistance from home secretary Suella Braverman and other cabinet ministers who want tight restraints on immigration.”