Contributions
860 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I, too, read the article by Sir Vernon Bogdanor. He raised interesting questions. It is why we are taking this issue so seriously. It is…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI understand that the Leader of the Opposition may be short of a chief of staff at the moment, but I am sure he has someone who keeps an eye on his diary. I am sure there is…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend raises a fair question, but it is one that we need to explore, given the questions that we are now asking about the timeline towards the resignation of Sue Gray. As…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend has expressed his view in his own style. He knows me and will know that my style is to say I am going to await the conclusions that come out of the factual inquiry…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI set out the rules in response to the urgent question. They are there in Hansard and people can read through them. There are protections in the rules to try to ensure that…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI am grateful to my hon. Friend. There are rules in place. As I have already said, there is a means by which civil servants who choose to leave the world of the civil service—and…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is considering proposals made by PACAC, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and Sir Nigel Boardman about how we could improve the…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThat would help. I have been pondering the earlier question about the efficacy of people moving from the civil service into party political roles. Clearly that cannot be deemed an…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI will conduct the analysis first and then I will be better informed as to exactly what took place, but as I say, this could be cleared up by the Labour party quite swiftly.06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityAs I have said, there is work in progress to ensure that all the facts are identified, but I am not aware that there were any such discussions prior to Thursday last week.06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityMy hon. Friend closes this urgent question by noting that it is not necessarily about Sue Gray and her actions. She is a public servant who has, for many decades, worked hard at…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that. I share his disappointment; whatever the merits of the individual, I stress that it is critical that we all, on both sides of…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityFurther to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am happy to clarify. If that was the impression that I gave the hon. Gentleman, it was not my intention. The Conservative…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI can confirm that, following a media report the previous day, Sue Gray, formerly second permanent secretary to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and to the…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThe tragedy is that a public servant’s hard work over a long period of time is called into question, given the nature of the process that appears to have taken place. That is…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI respect the work of those hard-working civil servants in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Right across the civil service, there is an absolute desire to retain their reputation…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityThe right hon. Gentleman puts it rather well. It would be very simple to help put minds at rest by publishing the data, setting out when the meetings took place—who met whom, when…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI believe that transparency would help. It is important that processes are followed, because this is an unprecedented appointment, and in those circumstances, it is not too much…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI am deliberately not getting drawn into matters related to individuals, nor should I. I am happy to be drawn on whether there is a right way of making this kind of appointment.…06 Mar 2023HANSARDCivil Service ImpartialityI have two points to make to my right hon. Friend. First, we need to make certain that this does not damage the impartiality—or the perception of impartiality—of the civil service…06 Mar 2023