Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Allegations of Impropriety in Public Life

Wednesday 28 June 2023 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Christian Wakeford asked the Secretary of State for an assessment of the implications for Department policies on strengthening the Union due to allegations of impropriety in public life.
  • The Secretary of State stated that the Union is stronger than ever and emphasized the importance of high standards of propriety for those in public life.
  • Chris Elmore questioned why the Secretary of State did not vote for the Privileges Committee's recommendations despite the committee's conclusions that the former Prime Minister misled the House and attempted to intimidate the committee.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Christian Wakeford Lab Bury South
Ukraine Democracy & Elections Standards & Ethics
Context

The question arises from concerns about the impact of recent allegations of standards breaches by public figures on the strengthening of the Union.

Question

What assessment has he made of the potential implications for his Department's policies on strengthening the Union of allegations of standards of impropriety in public life?

Answer from Alister Jack

The United Kingdom is the most successful political and economic union in the world—the foundation on which all our businesses and citizens are able to thrive. When we work collaboratively as one United Kingdom, we are safer, stronger and more prosperous; we are better able to draw on the institutions that unite us, such as the health service, the armed forces and our world-class education system; and we are better able to respond to challenges, such as supporting families with the cost of living and leading the international response to Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

Not addressed: The question was about implications of impropriety on Union policies. The answer did not address these implications.

How: Changed Subject

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Q2 Christian Wakeford Lab Bury South
Democracy & Elections Standards & Ethics
Context

Concerns have been raised about how recent actions by the former Prime Minister, who was fined and found to be misleading regarding his conduct, affected public trust in political figures.

Question

Does the Secretary of State think that the former Prime Minister, who was fined by the police and subsequently found to have knowingly lied to the late Queen, this House and therefore the public, strengthened or weakened the Union?

Answer from Alister Jack

The Union has never been stronger, and this Prime Minister has said that those in public life should aspire to the highest standards of propriety.

Not addressed: Did not provide opinion on whether actions strengthened or weakened the Union.

How: Changed Subject

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Q3 David Duguid Con
Scotland
Context

A recent video by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary made false claims regarding UK Government's stance on devolution.

Question

I think we can all agree about the importance of politicians telling the truth. In that context, has my right hon. Friend seen the video released by the Scottish Government in which Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson makes a range of spurious claims about devolution being under attack by the UK Government? If so, what does he think of it?

Answer from Alister Jack

I did see Angus Robertson's video clip, and I think I counted 16 false claims in the space of one minute and 40 seconds. That is a false claim every six seconds—pretty impressive, even by his standards. As usual, the nationalists are desperate to invent a grievance, but the reality is that the UK Government respect devolution, support it and strengthen it. The only people who want to destroy devolution are the ones who want to rip us out of the United Kingdom.

Answered
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Q4 Chris Elmore Lab Bridgend
Parliamentary Procedure
Context

The Privileges Committee concluded that the former Prime Minister misled the House and tried to intimidate it.

Question

The Privileges Committee's conclusions are crystal clear that the former Prime Minister knowingly misled this House and subsequently tried to intimidate the very Committee carrying out the inquiry he set up. Why did the Secretary of State not set an example and vote for the Privileges Committee's report?

Answer from Alister Jack

As I said to the media when this question was raised in an interview last week, it was simply because I felt the report was too excessive in its conclusions.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not explain why he did not vote for the report.

How: Hedging Language

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