Contributions
2,684 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making the point that the choice of National Security Adviser is properly one for the Prime Minister. I dissent from the assertion that…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy hon. Friend, the Chairman of the Select Committee, makes a very important point. David Frost has already appeared in front of Select Committees—the Select Committee on the…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsAs ever, my right hon. Friend speaks good sense. It is the case that national security advisers, like other advisers, are there to advise, and then Ministers decide.30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsLike me, the right hon. Gentleman is a believer in experimentation, scientific method, empiricism and pragmatism. As we both know, the negotiations with the European Union are…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy hon. Friend is right. We need to ensure that we reform how the Government work in order to deliver better for the people whose taxes we spend and in whose name we act. The…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsWell, the Scottish National party knows something about the importance of political appointments in government in order to deliver its agenda. It is only fair to record that, far…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy right hon. Friend is right. He was intimately involved in a programme of Whitehall reform when he was head of the Prime Minister’s policy unit in the 1980s, as a very young…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsThe Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ are answerable to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, and MI5 to the Home Secretary, and the National Security Adviser is, and always…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsThere is no question but that David Frost is an expert. Someone who spent decades in diplomatic service, is currently conducting a complex international negotiation and was head…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy hon. Friend makes an important point. We have a superb civil service, but it is also important that we make sure it serves the people of this country even better. The Prime…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsI thank the hon. and learned Lady for her questions. The objectivity, neutrality and authority of our civil service is a source of pride to this Government, as it has been to…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsOkay. I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s kind words now. The hon. Gentleman asked about objective and challenging advice. Sir David Frost is a distinguished public servant who has…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsI am very grateful to the shadow Home Secretary for his questions. I am sorry that he did not find time to thank Sir Mark Sedwill for his service—30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. In the speech to which some hon. Members referred earlier, I made the point that we needed to disperse decision making in the civil service,…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding me of what happened in 2016, when the people of this country voted to leave the European Union. I am afraid that he has edited…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course it is the case that there will always be turnover in the civil service. The normal length of tenure for someone in a permanent…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsWe are confident that we will be making progress over the course of the next few weeks in EU negotiations. They are being conducted intensively, specifically at the request of the…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsIt is the case, as my hon. Friend rightly points out, that one aspect of our negotiations on our future relationship with the European Union relates to internal security as well…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsI am not sure to whom the hon. Gentleman is referring— [Interruption.] I’m not, I’m not—I’m a simple soul. I am not sure to whom he was referring in the second part of his…30 Jun 2020HANSARD Civil Service AppointmentsThe right hon. Lady makes an important point, and of course those reviews are carried out by those who can be fully objective, in the round, in a way that is free of any taint of…30 Jun 2020