Peter Grant
Main Page: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)Department Debates - View all Peter Grant's debates with the HM Treasury
(2 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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I say to Jane that, again, I apologise unreservedly for the upset that the allegations have caused. I say to Jane that I am very sorry for her loss. We are conducting an investigation independent of Government and we will await the results of that investigation to establish what exactly has occurred as regards the gatherings that the House has been discussing.
Some think that the Paymaster General’s performance in stonewalling at the Dispatch Box for almost an hour and a quarter now is something to be congratulated, or revered, in politics. I do not. This is not a courtroom. The Paymaster General is not representing a client to whom he owes an absolute duty to represent their best interests. That Dispatch Box is where Ministers come to tell the truth with complete candour, holding nothing back. Does the Paymaster General not realise that, regardless of the Prime Minister’s non-existent reputation, his own reputation has been shredded in the past hour and 15 minutes? Does he not realise that, as a result, not only is the Prime Minister finished, but his own position has become almost untenable?
I can only say that I leave others to make those judgments.