Standards in Public Life

The right hon. Lady is making a powerful speech. Does she agree that, when faced with a rogue Pri...

The hon. Lady makes a crucial point that shows why the Opposition tabled the motion today.

...

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. Does she agree that, when the Prime Minister sa...

Actions speak louder than words, and my hon. Friend hits on the point that the actions of this Pr...

My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Has she had the same experience that I had this week...

I absolutely agree. I have heard Ministers talking in the media in the past 24 hours about how we...

I thank my right hon. Friend for making such a powerful speech. Does she agree that the Prime Min...

I absolutely agree. There is an important point here, because I have heard Ministers in the media...

The right hon. Lady has just suggested—and the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) made th...

I am glad that the hon. Member has mentioned this. I shall say more about it later. What the Prim...

I congratulate the right hon. Lady and her colleagues on securing the debate. She has mentioned t...

I entirely agree with the hon. and learned Lady. It is important to note that this Prime Minister...

My right hon. Friend has hit on an important point about the status and importance of the Prime M...

That too is an important point. The opposition to the Prime Minister comes from many different wa...

My right hon. Friend has talked about the ministerial code, but let us also consider just three o...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Not only does the Prime Minister not adhere to those principl...

One way of moving on would be a public inquiry. Many commitments have been made to such an inquir...

I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman. I vividly remember the contributions he made as part ...

It is extraordinary not only that the Prime Minister can refuse permission for an investigation t...

The hon. Member makes her point, but I think we are better together. The actions of the Prime Min...

I wonder if my right hon. Friend has had an opportunity to read Lord Geidt’s most recent report o...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We need look no further than the Prime Minister’s respons...

In the early days of Nolan, I was an independent assessor of public appointments, which was a rol...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She does tremendous work on the Public Accounts Committee, de...

Is my right hon. Friend as concerned as I am about the refusal of the Prime Minister and other Mi...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It says a lot about the Prime Minister, as I have outline...

Another Committee—the Committee on Standards, which is also cross-party—has produced a report. It...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: what the Labour party is promoting and what we want to see is...

I thank the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) for choosing today’s motion. ...

I will make a little progress, but I will be giving way later. Let me start by saying that the ch...

I am interested in what the Minister said in his opening remarks about supporting the terms of th...

The hon. Gentleman should be patient and wait to see. What is important is that, collectively, th...

I am speaking as a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life but not on behalf of that ...

As it should, constitutionally. The reality is, as I think the right hon. Lady will confirm, that...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman always comes to the Dispatch Box and eruditely dances on a p...

I understand the hon. Lady’s wish to paint her party’s former leaders as paragons of virtue, but ...

The Minister’s response a few moments ago was incredibly telling. For all the talk about independ...

Not at all. There is a constitutional imperative that the Prime Minister of the day, no matter wh...

The ministerial code says:

“It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and ...

If I may say so, that is a rather poor example to cite, because what the Prime Minister is doing ...

To what degree does the Minister agree that truth matters, regardless of the sanctions? We have b...

Of course I agree that the truth is an important and paramount object in public life. That goes w...

Before the Minister does that, will he give way?

I am giving way quite frequently, but I will give way to the right hon. Lady.

I thank the Minister for giving way. Will he say what the position is if the Prime Minister has b...

I am not going to get into individual examples; it would not be appropriate for me to do so. On 3...

I will give way in a moment. I must get through my remarks.

Let me return to the reforms th...

May I take my right hon. and learned Friend back to the Prime Minister’s response to the independ...

I respectfully disagree with my hon. Friend for the simple reason that there is the issue of inad...

Has not the Minister just got to the heart of the problem? It is precisely because the Prime Mini...

I respectfully disagree with the right hon. Gentleman. The Prime Minister enhances the role of hi...

The Minister seeks to justify the Government’s position by tying it back to the principle of parl...

There is the Executive, the judiciary and the legislature, and there are different arrangements f...

Let me go back to the fact that the Prime Minister can say no to the initiation of an independent...

The check and balance is that the Prime Minister would have to say in writing, I think, that he w...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way before I finish, but I want to highlight again that the changes to the ministeria...

The Minister very frequently defends the indefensible in this Chamber when many of his colleagues...

The Prime Minister understands full well when wrong has been done, and he has apologised repeated...

The Paymaster General has been here on many occasions defending the Prime Minister’s position on ...

It goes without saying that I would not appear at this Dispatch Box if I were otherwise than sati...

I pass my sincere thanks to the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) for bring...

The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech. Does he agree that if the Prime Minister —any Pri...

I absolutely agree. The system has to change, and that change has to start with us in this House....

Let me begin by welcoming this motion, and particularly welcoming the response by my right hon. a...

We have already made our recommendation and produced our report, and I hope that the Government w...

I thank the Chair for that clarification, and he is absolutely right. If we put those recommendat...

I completely agree with everything the hon. Gentleman has just said about the supposedly independ...

I did not reach that conclusion, which is why I waited until I saw the Prime Minister’s reply jus...

I have been thinking about what the hon. Gentleman said earlier, when he said that he differed fr...

I can reassure the right hon. Lady that I meant what she just said. My point about departing from...

Order. If everybody can resume their seats, I want to give some advice. First, please remember th...

I welcome the initiative of my right hon. and hon. Friends in calling this debate, and I welcome ...

Oh, go on.

I hear my hon. Friend’s representations on that point, but I simply say to him that what perhaps ...

I am honoured to be called so early in this debate—among my many colleagues keen to get in. [Laug...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger). He did a fine job of tryin...

Order. I want to give a little caution about any comments made about anything that is before the ...

I am grateful for that guidance, but I thought I would be in order because I am quoting the publi...

Order. I am sorry. Irrespective of whether it is in Hansard, this matter is before the Committee ...

With due respect, Mr Deputy Speaker, I am not making the conclusion that he has done so; I am jus...

It is a crying shame that we do not have more speakers on the Government Back Benches today, beca...

Order. Will Members look towards seven minutes for speeches, please?

2.35 pm

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the deputy Leader of the Opposition for getting the debate ...

I would like to begin by echoing the comments made by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetla...

Over the last few days, I am afraid to say that I have heard far too many people seeking to excus...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about rules. St Thomas More—a former occupant of your Cha...

I totally agree, which is why what we are arguing for today is so important. These rules will cha...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madder...

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) on a great speech and ...

Order. You used the word “lying”. May I ask you to withdraw it?

I withdraw the word “lying”.

Thank you.

Partying, amending the ministerial code, voter suppression, watering down human rights: that is a...

Once again, the Labour party has to use one of our precious Opposition days to debate not the cos...

One way to cheat is to change the rules. We have seen the rules in the ministerial code being cha...

I certainly do. That is why I am happy to support the motion today, and why I was happy to suppor...

I welcome the debate because it is important. Like so many of my colleagues, I want to see the fu...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I referred a few moments ago to the hon. Member for Newto...

Thank you very much for that point of order, and you have done so.

3.22 pm

If the House divides at the end of this debate, I shall be voting with the Opposition. Standards ...

Order. We are not having the word “lying”. That was stressed by the Speaker at the beginning of t...

I will withdraw the word “lying”, and thank you for your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I think...

Order. Was the hon. Lady trying to say that certain members of the Government were being dishones...

Yes, I think that the Prime Minister—

Were you are accusing the Prime Minister of being dishonest? If so, can you withdraw that, too, p...

Sorry. Yes, of course.

Forty-one per cent. of the Prime Minister’s own MPs want him gone, a...

It is somewhat ironic that we are debating standards in public life, given the Prime Minister app...

I thank all Members who have contributed to this important debate and to the underlining of the i...

With the leave of the House and yourself, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to close this debate.

I was struck by the Minister’s reference there to an unelected, all-powerful, unaccountable indiv...

I am afraid I do not know the answer to that question, but I will certainly look into the matter ...

I have listened to the Minister’s arguments. He is essentially saying that all power remains with...

The hon. Member and several others keep referring to chaps at the top. It is the Conservative par...