Downing Street Garden Event Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Downing Street Garden Event

Peter Grant Excerpts
Tuesday 11th January 2022

(2 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Michael Ellis Portrait Michael Ellis
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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.

Peter Grant Portrait Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)
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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?

Michael Ellis Portrait Michael Ellis
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I can only say that I leave others to make those judgments.