Israel: DfID Secretary of State Meetings

Lord Reid of Cardowan Excerpts

Tuesday 7th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

The point the noble Lord raises is one of procedure, in terms of how these meetings take place. The noble Lord was a very senior Cabinet Minister for many years and has held many senior positions; he will know that one of the great benefits he gained from that time is personal contacts and friendships around the world that occasionally, even on unofficial visits, it is possible to have. That is for the good of the country. Therefore, using those contacts is something the Secretary of State has done; she has said that she is sorry for that, that she did not do it in the right way and that in future she, and all other Ministers, will behave differently as the changes to the ministerial code come into play.

[Lord Reid of Cardowan (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is making—

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, I apologise to the House, but this is an Urgent Question on which questioning lasts 10 minutes. It is always open to noble Lords to put down debates on any subject in the future.