Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update Debate
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Louie French
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Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update
Louie French Excerpts(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)
When he was asked on 20 April why there is no record of his and Peter Mandelson’s meeting with Palantir in Washington, the Prime Minister said:
“That was a routine meeting in the course of a visit I was on in the US.”—[Official Report, 20 April 2026; Vol. 784, c. 62.]
Does the Minister agree that that was a routine meeting, and if so, where is the record of it, as required by the ministerial code?
Darren Jones
As the Prime Minister said, that was part of a series of visits that he was undertaking. It is of course proper that closed-door meetings between Ministers and stakeholders are attended by officials, minuted and reported in the normal way, but when visits are undertaken, they are managed differently. This was no secret to anyone; photos were taken and published on the Government’s social media account.