Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the procedures for investigating and responding to breaches of the Ministerial Code; and if he will make a statement.

The Ministerial Code makes clear the high standards of behaviour that Ministers are expected to maintain. Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Ministerial Code and for justifying their actions and conduct to Parliament and the public to whom they are ultimately accountable. As Prime Minister I take any allegations about misconduct seriously and, as the ultimate arbiter of conduct under the Code, can follow the process set out in paragraph 1.4 of the Code.