US Department of Justice Release of Files

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Young of Acton (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will go to the Labour Benches next.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the comprehensive Statement from the Leader of the House, but may I raise just one issue? There seem to be some questions to be answered about the role of the Cabinet Secretary in this. Is it appropriate for him to be involved in the investigation?

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

My Lords, the role of the Cabinet Secretary, working with the KC, is to ensure that all available documents are made public, that what needs to go to the police does—some documents already have, and there may be others as more is investigated—and that others can be made public. So there is a role, but it is being overseen by an independent King’s Counsel. So there is a legal element to that to make sure that there is no possibility of information being withheld that should be in the public domain or referred to the ISC because it is a matter of national security.