Institute for Statecraft: Integrity Initiative Debate
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Chris Williamson
Main Page: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)Department Debates - View all Chris Williamson's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Institute for Statecraft: Integrity Initiative
Chris Williamson Excerpts(6 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Sir Alan Duncan
The Foreign Office funding for the Integrity Initiative does not really pay for advertisements, so that is not really relevant to today’s urgent question. May I just refer to the earlier question regarding when we knew about the hack? We first knew about it on 23 November.
Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)
The Minister is burying his head in the sand. The fact is that this organisation has received more than £2 million of public money in just over 18 months, and it is a matter of fact that it has been engaging in a smear campaign against the Leader of the Opposition and the Labour party. It has also taken credit for derailing the appointment of Pedro Banos as the director of Homeland Security in Spain. This is a democratic outrage, and will the Minister therefore agree to an independent inquiry into the activities of this organisation?
Sir Alan Duncan
I have said this on many occasions this morning: what the hon. Gentleman says about domestic activity—smearing the Leader of the Opposition —is utterly untrue.