Ministerial Appointments: Vetting and Managing Conflicts of Interest Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Ministerial Appointments: Vetting and Managing Conflicts of Interest

Christine Jardine Excerpts
Monday 23rd January 2023

(1 year, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Jeremy Quin Portrait Jeremy Quin
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I agree. That is the purpose of having an independent adviser. He has been asked to investigate, and to work out exactly what the facts are. It would be ill-judged to make a decision before knowing all the facts that pertain.

Christine Jardine Portrait Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
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I am sure that we all remember the Prime Minister’s first speech from Downing Street, in which he promised us

“integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

Unfortunately, we have seen precious little evidence of that so far. This weekend, yet more doubt has been heaped on the minds of the electorate, certainly in my constituency, as to whether they can trust politicians. Does the Minister accept that unless something is done very quickly about the vetting and management of conflicts of interest, further damage will be done to the British public’s confidence in this place?

Jeremy Quin Portrait Jeremy Quin
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We have the Nolan principles and the ministerial code. Both are extremely important documents, and extremely important approaches. The hon. Lady rightly refers to professionalism, but part of professionalism is being certain to take decisions based on all the facts. I know that she will respect the point that it is useful to have those facts established, but I concede that they should be established swiftly.