Lord Mandelson
Debate between Derek Twigg and Chris Ward(3 days, 23 hours ago)
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Chris Ward
Any correspondence involving Peter Mandelson is within scope. As I say, that will be looked at by the Cabinet Secretary, who will make decisions with independent lawyers and working with the ISC.
Derek Twigg
Can I give an assurance that we in the ISC are very confident that we can do an effective job on this? It is worth pointing out that we cannot be told what we can and cannot publish. That will be a matter and a decision for us. May I ask for an assurance, following on from what the Minister has just said, that there will be no block whatsoever on the documents that the ISC should be getting?
Chris Ward
Yes, I can confirm that. I thank my hon. Friend, who has huge expertise. We will work with the ISC on this.
Official Secrets Act Case: Witness Statements
Debate between Derek Twigg and Chris Ward(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Derek Twigg (Widnes and Halewood) (Lab)
Paragraph 8 of the 4 August statement says:
“It is important for me to emphasise…that the UK Government is committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China to strengthen understanding, cooperation and stability.”
Why did the deputy National Security Adviser think it was a good idea to include that in the statement?
Chris Ward
The deputy National Security Adviser was reflecting Government policy at the time. That was his choice of words, and it was his decision to include that. But if we look across the statements, we see there is broad consistency and no material difference on the policy relating to China, which has been pretty much shared across the House.