Ministerial Code (Culture Secretary)

Lord Foster of Bath Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Don Foster (Bath) (LD)]

Several months ago, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made it absolutely clear, for reasons of transparency and public confidence, that if—following the appearance at Leveson by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport—questions remained to be answered, those questions should be thoroughly and adequately investigated. We believe that questions do remain to be thoroughly investigated, but let me be very clear about those questions.

The Liberal Democrats are clear that the way in which the Secretary of State handled the BSkyB bid, notwithstanding his known support for News Corporation and News International, was done absolutely by the book. Throughout, the Secretary of State, notwithstanding his own views on the matter, sought independent advice when he did not have to do so from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading, and he followed that advice. The one thing that has rarely been mentioned in this Chamber and outside is what decision the Secretary of State ultimately took. That decision was not in the interests of News Corporation because it denied it the level of involvement in Sky News that it then had and actually reduced its plurality position in news and current affairs. We therefore have no questions about how the Secretary of State handled that matter.

[Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)]

Given the right hon. Gentleman’s support for the Secretary of State, I wonder why he will not be supporting him in the Lobby.

[Mr Foster]

If the hon. Gentleman will allow me to elaborate, I shall answer that very question.

Nevertheless, as I said a few seconds ago, I believe, and the Deputy Prime Minister believes, that there are questions, in particular about the ministerial code, that deserve thorough, independent investigation. We believe, as does the Chairman of the Public Administration Committee, that there is an urgent need to review the current procedure. It is probably inappropriate for the Prime Minister alone to be the sole judge of whether an independent investigation should take place. We believe it ought to be possible either for the special adviser to make the decision himself, or for it to be made on the advice of a senior civil servant or the Public Administration Committee. However, this decision was taken under the current rules by the Prime Minister against the advice offered by the Deputy Prime Minister and without consultation with him. It is therefore one that neither the Deputy Prime Minister nor the Liberal Democrats can endorse.

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

Considering that the so-called independent adviser on ministerial interests was actually a wheeze set up by a previous Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to get out of a pickle, will my right hon. Friend ask the Labour Front-Bench team whether they would reform the system, which clearly is not fit for purpose?

[Mr Foster]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention, and I am sure that the Opposition will have an opportunity to respond to it. We are clear, however, that reforms are necessary.

[Chris Bryant]

rose—

[Mr Foster]

I shall of course give way to the hon. Gentleman, who has featured so prominently in this issue.

[Chris Bryant]

The right hon. Gentleman earlier praised the process that the Secretary of State adopted in taking forward the bid. Has he read the memo that the Culture Secretary sent to the Prime Minister before he was in charge of the bid which makes it absolutely clear that what he intended and hoped to achieve was, surprisingly, exactly the same as what he actually achieved—in other words, the best possible outcome, in law, for Sky?

[Mr Foster]

The hon. Gentleman has followed this issue assiduously, but on this occasion he has got his facts wrong. We must remember that there had been no discussion about mitigations in lieu or about reducing the BSkyB bid involvement of News Corporation—[Interruption.]

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. Mr Bryant, you hope to catch my eye, and I was thinking of calling you next. I am sure that you will want to share all your information with the House then, rather than wasting it on interventions.

[Mr Foster]

We and the Deputy Prime Minister are clear that questions need to be answered. It would have been better had the matter been addressed by the independent adviser, but that is not the system we currently have, which is the system that we would like to change. I want to make it clear, however, that this is not, as some have suggested, an issue of collective responsibility. There was not a collective decision on this. It is not part of the coalition agreement but was a decision taken solely by the Prime Minister, and in no way will our vote, or absence of votes tonight, preclude us from continuing to work with our coalition partners on the issues agreed in the coalition agreement and in sorting out the economic mess in which the previous Government have left us.

[Mrs Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Foster]

I give way to my hon. Friend and colleague in the coalition.

[Mrs Laing]

Is my right hon. Friend aware that if the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills had not acted irresponsibly and unprofessionally in the first place, thus losing the right to make this important decision, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, who was previously unprepared to take such a decision, would not have been put in this difficult position?

[Mr Foster]

The hon. Lady makes a factually correct point: if the Business Secretary had not had the responsibility removed from him, it would not have gone to my right hon. Friend the Culture Secretary.

I also want to make it absolutely clear why the Liberal Democrats are not prepared to go into the Lobby with the Labour party today. The House is well aware that this is not a decision for the House; it is a decision for the Prime Minister, and he has made his decision. This is, therefore, a political ruse by the Labour party, whose behaviour on these issues is frankly appalling. For example, paragraph 9.3 of the ministerial code states:

“Every effort should be made to avoid leaving significant announcements to the last day before a recess.”

On Tuesday 22 July 2008—the day before the recess—no fewer than 30 ministerial announcements were made, 10 of which were from the then Prime Minister. One year later, following the appalling behaviour of Mr Damian McBride, no action was taken over the Prime Minister’s responsibility for his special adviser, who was forced to resign for his behaviour. Furthermore, the Labour party misled not only the House but the country over the war in Iraq, and has spent years trying to cosy up to the Murdochs. There is no way we will join Labour Members in the Lobby today.