Desmond Swayne
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Committee on Standards
Desmond Swayne Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
The proposed Committee is very different from other Committees, but that will be a matter for the ad hoc Select Committee to consider.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
That is precisely the case when we serve on a Special Standing Committee for a private Bill: Members are required to be present because it is a quasi-judicial process.
Mr Rees-Mogg
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for reminding us of the procedure in private Bill Committees.
The Committee on Standards has itself noted:
“Long investigations are undesirable…place the Member concerned under considerable strain”—
and—
“should be conducted as expeditiously as possible, so long as rigour and fairness are not compromised.”
In fact, the Committee is itself examining the length of recent investigations an adjudications, as part of its inquiry into the code of conduct, to see whether further steps can be taken—