Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

I do not think there is anything wrong with profit. Profit is a reward for investment made by businesses. Perhaps if the hon. Gentleman had listened to my answer, he would not have had to read a pre-scripted question. I gently suggest to him that this is something the Government take very seriously. We, for the first time, as a Government—this had not been done for 13 years previously—started measuring the number of small and medium-sized enterprises that have Government contracts. We set a target of 25% in the last Parliament, and we have delivered on that, so I think that is a record of success for this Government.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to ensure that democratic processes are protected against foreign influence.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

The first duty of the Government is of course to safeguard the nation, and we take the security and integrity of our democratic processes very seriously. Although we have not seen evidence of successful foreign interference, we are not complacent, and we will continue to do what is necessary to protect ourselves.

[Jeff Smith]

In order to protect ourselves, the chair of the Electoral Commission has said that we need new rules for online political advertising to combat external influence, particularly via Facebook and Twitter. When will the Government bring forward the legislation we need?

[Chloe Smith]

One of the very first things for me to do in my new role is to meet the Electoral Commission, and I look forward to discussing that with it.