Treatment of House of Commons Staff Debate

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Department: Leader of the House

Treatment of House of Commons Staff

Matthew Offord Excerpts
Monday 12th March 2018

(6 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Andrea Leadsom Portrait Andrea Leadsom
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The right hon. Gentleman makes an interesting observation, and I will certainly look into it.

Matthew Offord Portrait Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
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Does the Leader of the House agree that every individual complaint made against a Member reflects badly on each and every one of us? Given the “Newsnight” allegation that the policy was simply not up to scratch, and that it was certainly something that we decided among ourselves, does she agree that we need not only an independent investigation, but an external independent body to establish our future policy?

Andrea Leadsom Portrait Andrea Leadsom
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I hope I can reassure my hon. Friend that the independent grievance policy that we are in the process of establishing will ensure that the culture in this place changes to the benefit of all who work here. Many hon. Members are troubled by the allegations. It is, as ever, a small minority of people who behave badly, and he is right to point out that it demeans all of us when a few of us behave badly.