Leveson Inquiry

Lord Cormack Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, we are hearing consensus from all sides of the Chamber on that, and I entirely agree with the noble Lord.

[Lord Cormack]

My Lords, is there not another issue we should be considering: the exact role of special advisers? I cast absolutely no aspersions on Mr Jeremy Hunt, for whom I have a very high regard, but it seems to me that while special advisers have an understandable role in liaising with party politicians and so on, they should not usurp the role of the career civil servant. I believe—I raised this as long ago as the early 1970s in another place—that Governments of all parties have tended to be careless in the way in which they have used special advisers. This is not the first example we have had in the past 12 months. Could we have a review of the exact role, position and duties of special advisers within government departments?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My understanding is that in this case the special adviser was one of a number of people, including officials, who had particular roles in respect to the BSkyB bid—but I hear what my noble friend says and if there are matters I can write to him on, I will do so.