Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will publish all emails from the Department's Permanent Secretary to departmental staff informing them of the appointment of a new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The Permanent Secretary for the Northern Ireland Office issued the following email to Northern Ireland Office staff on Thursday 7 July, at 12:39, informing them of a new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:

“Colleagues

You will have seen the news that we have a new Secretary of State.

I am delighted to welcome back to the Department Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire. He will be a familiar face to some, having served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department in early 2018, before taking up the post of Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office from July 2018 until November 2018.

He has held a number of other ministerial positions including at the MoJ, DWP and HMT.

I know you will all join me in welcoming our new Secretary of State to our offices later today and support him as he gets back up to speed with our work.

Madeleine”