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Category: Parliament

  • Emily Thornberry – 2022 Comments on the Personal Conduct of Liz Truss

    Emily Thornberry – 2022 Comments on the Personal Conduct of Liz Truss

    The post on Twitter made by Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Attorney General, on 3 January 2022.

    I predict today’s Sunday Times story by @Gabriel_Pogrund won’t be the last time Liz Truss gets in trouble asking the taxpayer to foot the bill for her expensive tastes. She had a bit of form during her time as Trade Secretary. Let me take you through another example.

    Back in December 2020, Truss and 3 staff went on a four-night trip to Singapore and Vietnam to sign the cut-and-paste rollover agreements to maintain free trade post-Brexit. After details of the visit were published on 7th May 2021, I asked how much it had all cost.

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    This was the first answer I got back, which was odd. If the only costs for the travelling party were flights and accommodation, who had paid for their meals and drinks? And why hadn’t that hospitality been declared? So my office put in an FOI on 1st June to ask them.

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    We got the usual delaying tactics on the FOI. First, they said they’d respond by 27th July. Then they pushed it back again to 24th August. But before then, on 5th August, I got this email providing a ‘corrected answer’ to my original PQ. Can you spot the corrections!?

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    How did they go from saying there were no subsistence expenses at all, to saying the travelling party incurred expenses of £1,000 per head, equivalent to £250 per night? And why did the cost of the accommodation go up £1,640 from the first answer to the second?

    I never got answers to those questions, and some will say it doesn’t matter. But this is about character, and if Truss’s natural instinct is to hide the truth and hope no-one asks questions when it comes to small things, don’t be surprised when she does it about big things.

  • Tony Blair – 2021 Comments on His Knighthood

    Tony Blair – 2021 Comments on His Knighthood

    The comments made by Sir Tony Blair on 31 December 2021.

    It is an immense honour to be appointed Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and I am deeply grateful to Her Majesty the Queen.

    It was a great privilege to serve as prime minister and I would like to thank all those who served alongside me, in politics, public service and all parts of our society, for their dedication and commitment to our country.

  • Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on Tony Blair’s Knighthood

    Keir Starmer – 2021 Comments on Tony Blair’s Knighthood

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 31 December 2021.

    The last Labour government delivered enduring change from the national minimum wage to the peace process in Northern Ireland. My congratulations to Tony Blair on this recognition for his public service to our country.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Letter of Response to Resignation of Lord Frost

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Letter of Response to Resignation of Lord Frost

    The letter sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, to Lord Frost, the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, on 18 December 2021.

    Text of letter [in .pdf format]

  • Lord Frost – 2021 Resignation Letter Sent to Boris Johnson

    Lord Frost – 2021 Resignation Letter Sent to Boris Johnson

    The letter sent by Lord Frost, the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, to Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 18 December 2021.

    Text of letter [in .pdf format]

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement on the Covid-19 Inquiry Led by Baroness Heather Hallett

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Statement on the Covid-19 Inquiry Led by Baroness Heather Hallett

    The statement made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2021.

    I am announcing today the appointment of the right hon. Baroness Heather Hallett DBE as chair of the forthcoming public inquiry into the covid-19 pandemic, which is set to begin its work in spring 2022. The inquiry will be established under the 2005 Inquiries Act, with full powers, including the power to compel the production of documents and to summon witnesses to give evidence on oath. The inquiry will be held in public. In consultation with Baroness Hallett, I intend to appoint additional panel members in the new year in order that the inquiry has access to the full range of expertise needed to complete its important work.

    Baroness Hallett retired from the Court of Appeal in 2019 and was made a crossbench life peer. She has conducted a range of high-profile and complex inquests, inquiries and reviews, including acting as coroner for the inquests into the deaths of the 52 victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings; as chair of the Iraq Fatalities Investigations; and as chair of the 2014 Hallett Review of the administrative scheme to deal with “on the runs” in Northern Ireland. Baroness Hallett’s appointment to this role follows a recommendation made by the Lord Chief Justice.

    Baroness Hallett is currently acting as coroner in the inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who died in July 2018 following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok. The Home Secretary announced on 18 November that a public inquiry would be established into these matters, and the inquest adjourned, in order to permit all relevant evidence to be heard. A new chair for that inquiry will be appointed early in the new year.

    The public inquiry into covid-19 will play a key role in examining the UK’s pandemic response and ensuring that we learn the right lessons for the future. In doing so, it must ensure that those most affected by the pandemic—including those who have sadly lost loved ones—can play their proper role in the process. I will now consult Baroness Hallett and ministers in the devolved Administrations on the terms of reference for the inquiry and will publish these in draft in the new year. Baroness Hallett has agreed to then take forward a process of public engagement and consultation—including with bereaved families and other affected groups—before the terms of reference are finalised. I will make a further statement when it is time for that process to begin.

  • Julian Smith – 2021 Comments on the Personal Conduct of John Redwood

    Julian Smith – 2021 Comments on the Personal Conduct of John Redwood

    The comments made by Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, on Twitter on 17 December 2021.

    Just heard you on @BBCr4today – wasn’t the BBC just deciding how to run its own show? ‘usual tricks’ is an unnecessary slur & just corrodes trust in another U.K. institution on the basis of no fact. You got on their show. What is the actual issue?

    [in response to John Redwood – BBC up to usual tricks. Invited me on for a live on Today at 7.10. I agreed. After hearing what I might say they cancelled and are talking about a pre record later! No surprise there.]

  • Julian Smith – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    Julian Smith – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    The comments made by Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, on Twitter on 16 December 2021.

    Personal attacks by any politician on members of the UK Civil Service are completely unacceptable. The UK Civil Service supports the government, works flat out and needs to be encouraged and defended in its role of offering impartial and confident advice.

  • Joy Morrissey – 2021 Comments Criticising Government’s Scientific Advisers

    Joy Morrissey – 2021 Comments Criticising Government’s Scientific Advisers

    The comments made by Joy Morrissey, the Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, on Twitter on 15 December 2021.

    Perhaps the unelected covid public health spokesperson should defer to what our elected Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister have decided.

    I know it’s difficult to remember but that’s how democracy works. This is not a public health socialist state.

  • Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Personal Conduct of Joy Morrissey After Attack on Public Servant

    The comments made by Steve Reed, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 16 December 2021.

    It is vital, especially during this pandemic, that our leading scientists have the freedom to give public health advice to the public and to offer their expertise without fear of reprisal.

    As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly through Britain, there must not be any sign of the Government censoring or intimidating our leading scientific experts.

    [the press release in full below]

    Labour has called on the Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, to force his PPS, Joy Morrissey, to apologise or face the sack over her attack on the Chief Medical Officer.

    In response to Chris Whitty’s comment made yesterday that “people should be prioritising the things that really matter to them”, Morrisey posted an attack on him on social media, suggesting Whitty should “defer to what our ELECTED Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister have decided.”

    Morrissey’s attack on the Chief Medical Officer was followed in the House of Commons by Conservative MPs Steve Baker, Greg Smith and former Health Minister Steve Brine, in a further indication that Boris Johnson’s waning authority over his party is enabling Conservative MPs to undermine crucial public health messaging.

    In response, Steve Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, has written to Raab calling the comments “unacceptable and dangerous”.