Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address
Debate between Polly Billington and Darren Jones(4 days, 5 hours ago)
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Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman invites me to itemise the documents that have been held back by the Metropolitan police. I am advised that I am not at liberty to do that from the Dispatch Box, but I say again to him and the House that all documents that the Government have and are able to publish at this time have been published.
Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
Much of the discussion has been about tightening up the process. It has become increasingly clear from the documents already in the public domain that this is as much to do with the personnel delegated to make this political judgment. Will my right hon. Friend explain how tightening up the process might ensure that such personnel are not in a position to make political judgments of this kind in future?
Darren Jones
I refer my hon. Friend to the content of my statement, and the very wide-ranging review by the Ethics and Integrity Commission into the process not just for appointments but for vetting, as well as into transparency on lobbying, declarations of interests and business appointment rules. The Government hope that the work of the commission will allow us to have a process that avoids these problems in future.
Standards in Public Life
Debate between Polly Billington and Darren Jones(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Darren Jones
On the first question, I agree that we need to ensure that we have a standards system, both in this place and the other place, that meets the challenges we are talking about. That is not a party political issue. I merely referred to the performance of the last Government given the chuntering from those on the Opposition Benches when I talked about the reforms that we are bringing forward to ensure justice for victims and appropriate powers to tackle corruption in the future.
On the second question, I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman writes to the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s office will engage with him and his Committee on the invitation.
Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
I think it is worth reminding my right hon. Friend that one of the things that people keep going back to is that a decision was made that this appointment was “worth the risk”, and we finally found out that some people decided that the rules did not apply to them. Considering how important tackling violence against women and girls is to this Government and this Prime Minister, would my right hon. Friend agree to meet women Back Benchers in particular to discuss the possibility of exploring further how we tackle misogyny in public life?
Growing the UK Economy
Debate between Polly Billington and Darren Jones(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
I welcome the statement and congratulate my right hon. Friend on it, but may I ask him for some reassurance? When we are looking at strategies for logistics, will we consider the importance of our ports, adopt a proper national strategy for making the most of them, and ensure that our coastal communities can be part of that growth strategy and that our economy is rebalanced towards those communities?
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; our ports play a really important role in the UK economy—I declare an interest in respect of my own constituency. She will, I am sure, have welcomed initial Government investment in our ports, not just for trade and logistics but for our ability to deliver infrastructure—for example, in floating offshore wind. I know that the Government have more plans in this area, and more announcements will be made soon.