Contributions
1,092 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI have already dealt with that matter but I will say this. I do not think that any Member of this House from any of the Opposition political parties should take the moral high…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI do not accept the hon. Lady’s characterisation. What she obviously does not wish to recognise is that, as days pass during a heated episode, investigation and media inquiries,…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeWhat the hon. Lady wishes to do is to draw politics into this matter. I would respectfully suggest to her that her drive to remove the Prime Minister will fail. The reason is that…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI would expect of the hon. Lady perhaps more than she would expect of me. By that, I mean that I would expect her to act fairly. I hope that answers her question. If she was in…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI have already adumbrated that there was an exercise within the Foreign Office at the time. The reality of the matter is that there was a process that was undertaken.05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeIf the right hon. Gentleman is asking me about machinery-of-Government processes and changes, that is not within my area of responsibility, but he knows what has been said about…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI would ask the hon. Lady to understand that a Prime Minister has myriad urgent and pressing responsibilities. He may be told literally hundreds of things in any one day. The…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeThe hon. Gentleman is completely wrong. There is no such culture either in this legislature or in the Executive. I have already said from this Dispatch Box that any victim should…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeThe hon. Lady mentions her constituents and mine and the focus on cost of living, but I am afraid that the Labour party has requested and been granted numerous hours in this…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI have no idea what the hon. Gentleman is referring to. I do not recall at any point anyone’s saying that that would be the case. I cannot confirm something that I do not know to…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI think we have said that arrangements will be put in place. [Hon. Members: “When?”] In due course.05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeI have already said that the matter is being given the closest attention by the Prime Minister and by Downing Street. We do focus on standards in public life, as we do, as I have…05 Jul 2022HANSARDStandards in Public LifeDisagreeing with the hon. Lady is not dishonest. The fact of the matter is that she simply seeks to make political points, and the reality of the matter is that they will not work…05 Jul 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsIn a moment; I will just make some progress. Let me move on to the detail of the motion, which is constitutionally rather important. It is predicated on a misplaced worry about…21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsThose are two different things, as the right hon. Member knows. We are talking about strengthening the role of the independent adviser, on which we had time to reflect and which…21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsI can certainly say to my hon. Friend that those sorts of questions are being worked through now in detail. As I said, the challenge to constitutional norms is not confined to the…21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsI am in the business of protecting our judiciary from becoming politicised, which would be a danger with the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion. Select Committees already have a vital…21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsClearly, it is for that Select Committee to decide how it conducts its own affairs, but certainly as far as this motion is concerned, it would be unconstitutional. Rather than…21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsWhat I can say to my right hon. and learned Friend is that the matter is being given very careful and full consideration. I hope that answers the point.21 Jun 2022HANSARD Adviser on Ministerial InterestsNo. The creation of an adviser with the power to initiate consideration of a potential breach of the ministerial code is different, and we can safely predict it would open the…21 Jun 2022