Contributions
1,092 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her question, and I share the anger. The reality of the matter is that we are focusing on the pandemic as a Government and as a nation.…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationI do not have that answer. What I will say, as I have already said, is that, if required, the investigation will establish whether individual disciplinary action is warranted.…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationNo doubt, if the hon. Gentleman has any evidence, he may wish to supply it to the Cabinet Secretary or the police. He has rehearsed to the House what regulations were in place at…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe right hon. Gentleman is jumping ahead with his last point. Of course, whether or not there will be any police investigation is dependent on whether the investigation by the…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe matter my hon. Friend raises is a matter for the inquiry to uncover, but I can assure him that the people who work in No. 10 Downing Street, including over the pandemic, are…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationIt is certainly true, as a matter of geography, that No. 10 Downing Street is a very large property with a multitude of offices and with many, many people working inside it. In…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationMay I first say that my heart goes out to the hon. Lady’s constituent and the many thousands of other people who have lost loved ones as a result of this pandemic? As I said in my…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationAs the Prime Minister said to the House yesterday, he understands and shares the anger up and down the country, as do I, at seeing No. 10 staff seeming to make light of lockdown…09 Dec 2021HANSARDBrexit Opportunities: Review of Retained EU LawMy noble Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, the right hon. Lord Frost CMG, has today made the following ministerial statement: On 16th September 2021 I announced a…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe Prime Minister has initiated an investigation by the Cabinet Secretary and it is a matter now for the Cabinet Secretary to delve into. He will, of course, have all the…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe nature of any gathering is, as I have repeatedly said, going to be a matter for the investigation.09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe Cabinet Secretary is independent. Cabinet Secretaries in this country serve all the political parties, dependent on who is in government, and they can be relied upon to…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationFirst, I do not think that this is my gathering—if it is anyone’s, it is Mr Speaker’s. I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman chooses again to criticise the police obliquely—I have no…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe hon. Gentleman says that we “know” certain things, but we do not—they are unproven allegations. That is why we have an investigation, just as investigations take place when…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationThe hon. Gentleman should wait for the scope of the investigation, which will be made clear in a document laid in the Library of the House later today.09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationAs the hon. Lady knows, the Prime Minister has been given repeated categorical assurances about the party that has been alleged. The reality of the matter is that the allegations…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationPublic trust is of paramount importance and it is necessary because we want to relay to the public the need for caution in dealing with this pandemic and the necessity of getting…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationI am sorry that the hon. Gentleman chooses to criticise the police. The police are entirely independent in this country, and they make their decisions based on the evidence before…09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationI have noted what the hon. Lady says. That will be a matter for the Cabinet Secretary, and he will be free to seek any documents he needs during the course of his investigation.09 Dec 2021HANSARDDowning Street Christmas Parties InvestigationMy condolences to the hon. Gentleman’s constituent. The Prime Minister has said, as I have said from this Dispatch Box, that disciplinary action will be taken if appropriate. I…09 Dec 2021