Leveson Inquiry

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park Excerpts

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

To be fair, this is not driven by being in agreement with the Opposition.

I am not going to repeat what I have said in the House about boundaries, but I accept, of course, that in coalition government there will be cases—this is one instance—where it is perfectly fair, normal and transparent to the public and the House to say, in a level-headed way, “Look, these are the differences of view.” Coalition does not mean homogenised government where the differences that naturally exist between parties are somehow eliminated.

[Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman was present in the Chamber at the start of this statement. If he was, of course we will hear from him. If not, the nation will have to wait for another occasion.

[Zac Goldsmith]

For the record, I was here for both statements—but I moved around.

[Mr Speaker]

I am glad to hear it. Let us hear from the hon. Gentleman.

[Zac Goldsmith]

Given that my party appears to be split on this issue—judging by recent letters submitted to Lord Justice Leveson—given that the coalition is clearly split on it and given that the House is split, too, does the Deputy Prime Minister share my hope that the various measures we will be discussing over the coming weeks will be put to the House, preferably in a free vote?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

In the first instance, before we get to that, we should seek a cross-party approach. It is nothing for the House to be ashamed of that there are strongly held views in all parties on something of principled importance. I just hope that we do not allow those differences of view to become an alibi for inaction.