DOCSLIB.ORG

The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip Eighth Report of Session 2012–13 Report and appendix, together with formal minutes Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 15 January 2013 HC 864-I Published on 21 January 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) The Public Administration Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by civil service departments, and other matters relating to the civil service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative, Dover) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West) Priti Patel MP (Conservative, Witham) Mr Steve Reed MP (Labour, Croydon North) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 146. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at http://www.parliament.uk/pasc Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Emily Commander and Catherine Tyack (Joint Clerks), Rebecca Short (Second Clerk), Alexandra Meakin (Committee Specialist), Paul Simpkin (Senior Committee Assistant) and Su Panchanathan (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Public Administration Select Committee, Committee Office, First Floor, 7 Millbank, House of Commons, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5730; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip 1 Contents Report Page Report 3 Appendix 8 Annex: Timeline of events 12 Formal Minutes 14 Witness 15 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 16 The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip 3 Report 1. The content and status of the Ministerial Code, and the structures for investigating alleged breaches of the Code, have been a recurring concern for the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) in the 1997–2001, 2001–2005 and 2005–2010 Parliaments and in the last session of this Parliament. We are concerned that the events which led to the resignation of the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP as Government Chief Whip in October 2012 demonstrate that the structures for investigating alleged breaches of the Code are not appropriate or working effectively. 2. Under the current system, the Ministerial Code states that It is not the role of the Cabinet Secretary or other officials to enforce the Code. If there is an allegation about a breach of the Code, and the Prime Minister, having consulted the Cabinet Secretary, feels that it warrants further investigation, he will refer the matter to the Independent Adviser on Ministers' interests.1 3. In our report The Prime Minister’s Adviser on Ministers’ interests: independent or not?, published in March 2012, we recommended that the Adviser “should be empowered to instigate his own investigations”.2 This conclusion was agreed by the House in its resolution of 17 July 2012.3 No aspect of the events preceding Andrew Mitchell’s resignation was investigated by the Prime Minister’s Adviser. This is regrettable. 4. The fact that the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, did look into the matter, but failed to resolve the questions arising from the discrepancies in the accounts of the events, further supports our assertion that the Cabinet Secretary is not the appropriate figure to investigate such issues. The Cabinet Secretary’s role in this matter is limited; there is already intense pressure on his time and attention; and his role as impartial investigator may conflict with his primary role, which is to support the daily work of the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole. The Adviser, currently Sir Alex Allan, is appointed for the very purpose of conducting such inquires; he therefore can apply his full time and attention to the task; and he can exercise a degree of independence in this role. 5. For these reasons, if this matter had been referred to him, or better still, if he was vested with the power to instigate investigations on his own initiative, as recommended by PASC and as agreed by Resolution of the House, this inquiry would have been more likely to have been effective and to have commanded public confidence in its eventual outcome. In particular, Sir Alex’s background and previous experience would suggest he has many of the skills which make him well qualified to conduct such inquiries. 1 Cabinet Office, Ministerial Code, May 2010, para 1.3 2 Public Administration Select Committee, Twenty Second Report of Session 2010-12, The Prime Minister’s adviser on Ministers’ interests: independent or not?, HC 1761, para 44 3 The resolution read: That this House calls on the Government to implement the recommendation made by the Public Administration Select Committee in paragraph 44 of its Twenty-second Report of Session 2010-12, The Prime Minister’s Adviser on Ministers’ Interests: independent or not?, that the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests ‘should be empowered to instigate his own investigations’; and notes that this motion has been agreed by the Public Administration Select Committee. HC Deb, 17 July 2012, col 876 4 The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip 6. The purpose of our cross-examination of the Cabinet Secretary was to establish what wider lessons this case has for the handling of allegations of ministerial misconduct. The Chairman of this Committee therefore wrote to Sir Jeremy on 20 December 2012. Sir Jeremy replied on 24 December 2012.4 He then gave oral evidence to the Committee on 10 January 2013. 7. The events of Wednesday 19 September 2012 have been extensively rehearsed in the media since that date. There are certain facts of the matter which are agreed by all parties. On that day, at around 7:30 p.m., Andrew Mitchell left 9 Downing Street on his bicycle. He cycled up to the main gate at the end of Downing Street and asked for the gate to be opened to allow him to cycle through. He was directed by a police officer through the pedestrian gate. Andrew Mitchell objected to being redirected to the pedestrian gate on the basis that he had been allowed through the main gate on previous occasions and he swore in the course of raising his objections. 8. “As soon as [Number 10] became aware of the incident”, the Number 10 Head of Security and the Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary had a conversation with the police officer concerned.5 A note was made of this conversation. Andrew Mitchell subsequently apologised to the police for his inappropriate behaviour and the apology was accepted. The police agreed to take no further action and Andrew Mitchell remained in post. 9. On the day after the incident, Thursday 20 September, a constituent of the Government Deputy Chief Whip, Rt Hon John Randall MP, e-mailed him stating that he had been a witness to the event. The e-mail appeared to corroborate the police’s story. On Friday 21 September, The Sun published allegations that Andrew Mitchell had “launched a tirade against the police”. On Monday 24 September, The Daily Telegraph published what purported to be the police account of what happened, which was described as “the police log”. There is in fact no such thing as a “police log” but there may be a document which was written up from notes recorded by the officer concerned in his notebook. No such notes have reached the public domain. It is not clear whether the version of the “log” published in the press did represent the information recorded in the officer’s notebook. Andrew Mitchell has consistently disputed the account given in the “police log” of the words he used, stating that he only swore onceunder his breath rather than as a direct insult at a police officerand did not use most of the phrases attributed to him. 10. Sir Jeremy Heywood first became aware of the e-mail from John Randall’s constituent on Monday 24 September. Andrew Mitchell told The Sunday Times on 23 December that, when the Prime Minister saw this e-mail, he telephoned him to say that he must resign on that day. Andrew Mitchell insisted that he did not say what was alleged. Following receipt of a second e-mail and confirmation from John Randall, the Prime Minister asked Sir Jeremy “to look into whether this MP’s constituency correspondence changed his [the Prime Minister’s] original assessment of the then Chief Whip’s conduct”.6 Some days later, Sir Jeremy concluded that the e-mails “did not provide conclusive or reliable evidence” and 4 See appendix 5 Letter from Cabinet Secretary to Yvette Cooper of 24 September 2012 – see appendix. See also uncorrected transcript of oral evidence taken before the Public Administration Select Committee on 10 January 2013, HC (2012-13) 864-i, Q 95 6 See appendix The Role of the Cabinet Secretary and the Resignation of the Chief Whip 5 that, therefore, there was no reason for the Prime Minister to change his original assessment that Andrew Mitchell should stay in post.7 11.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hansard Report Is for Information Purposes Only
    June 23, 2020 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 1 PARLIAMENT OF KENYA THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THE HANSARD Tuesday, 23rd June, 2020 The House met at 10.00 a.m. [The Deputy Speaker (Hon. Moses Cheboi) in the Chair] PRAYERS Hon. Deputy Speaker: Hon. Members, you know it is not very easy now to confirm the quorum. That is because we also have to know the number of Members who are in other holding areas. So, we will allow a few more members to come in and then we can make the final confirmation. Order Members, it is now confirmed that we have the required quorum and, therefore, business will begin. COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR CHANGES IN THE MAJORITY PARTY LEADERSHIP Hon. Members, Standing Order 19(1) provides leeway for the largest party or coalition of parties in the National Assembly to elect a Member of the party or coalition of parties to serve as the Leader of the Majority Party. Further, Standing Order 19(3) outlines the procedure for removal of a Leader of the Majority Party. In this regard, Hon. Members, and pursuant to the provision of Standing Order 19(4), I wish to inform the House that I have received a letter from the Majority Party Chief Whip communicating that the Jubilee Coalition held a Parliamentary Group meeting on June 22nd, 2020 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). The letter also conveys that, the Meeting, which comprised of Members of the Coalition in the National Assembly and chaired by the Party Leader, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces – (i) removed Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • Cabinet Office – Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21
    Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 HC 391 Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 (for period ended 31 March 2021) Accounts presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 6 (4) of the government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 Annual Report presented to the House of Commons by Command of Her Majesty Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 15 July 2021 HC 391 This is part of a series of departmental publications which, along with the Main Estimates 2021-22 and the document Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 2019, present the government’s outturn for 2020-21 and planned expenditure for 2021-22. © Crown copyright 2021 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-Government-licence/version/3 Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at: www.gov.uk/official-documents Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: [email protected] ISBN – 978-1-5286-2550-0 CCS – CCS0421468362 07/21 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Contents Directors’ Report 7 Foreword 8 Ministers and Board Members 10 Permanent Secretary’s perspective on performance 14 Cabinet Office Lead Non-Executive’s Report 17 Performance Report 19 Cabinet Office Overview 20 Long Term Expenditure Trends 24 Supporting the Government response to COVID-19 27 Strategic Objectives 32 Governance Report 55 Statement of Accounting Officer’s responsibilities 56 Governance Statement 58 Accountability Report 75 Remuneration and staff report 76 1.
    [Show full text]
  • THE 422 Mps WHO BACKED the MOTION Conservative 1. Bim
    THE 422 MPs WHO BACKED THE MOTION Conservative 1. Bim Afolami 2. Peter Aldous 3. Edward Argar 4. Victoria Atkins 5. Harriett Baldwin 6. Steve Barclay 7. Henry Bellingham 8. Guto Bebb 9. Richard Benyon 10. Paul Beresford 11. Peter Bottomley 12. Andrew Bowie 13. Karen Bradley 14. Steve Brine 15. James Brokenshire 16. Robert Buckland 17. Alex Burghart 18. Alistair Burt 19. Alun Cairns 20. James Cartlidge 21. Alex Chalk 22. Jo Churchill 23. Greg Clark 24. Colin Clark 25. Ken Clarke 26. James Cleverly 27. Thérèse Coffey 28. Alberto Costa 29. Glyn Davies 30. Jonathan Djanogly 31. Leo Docherty 32. Oliver Dowden 33. David Duguid 34. Alan Duncan 35. Philip Dunne 36. Michael Ellis 37. Tobias Ellwood 38. Mark Field 39. Vicky Ford 40. Kevin Foster 41. Lucy Frazer 42. George Freeman 43. Mike Freer 44. Mark Garnier 45. David Gauke 46. Nick Gibb 47. John Glen 48. Robert Goodwill 49. Michael Gove 50. Luke Graham 51. Richard Graham 52. Bill Grant 53. Helen Grant 54. Damian Green 55. Justine Greening 56. Dominic Grieve 57. Sam Gyimah 58. Kirstene Hair 59. Luke Hall 60. Philip Hammond 61. Stephen Hammond 62. Matt Hancock 63. Richard Harrington 64. Simon Hart 65. Oliver Heald 66. Peter Heaton-Jones 67. Damian Hinds 68. Simon Hoare 69. George Hollingbery 70. Kevin Hollinrake 71. Nigel Huddleston 72. Jeremy Hunt 73. Nick Hurd 74. Alister Jack (Teller) 75. Margot James 76. Sajid Javid 77. Robert Jenrick 78. Jo Johnson 79. Andrew Jones 80. Gillian Keegan 81. Seema Kennedy 82. Stephen Kerr 83. Mark Lancaster 84.
    [Show full text]
  • FDN-274688 Disclosure
    FDN-274688 Disclosure MP Total Adam Afriyie 5 Adam Holloway 4 Adrian Bailey 7 Alan Campbell 3 Alan Duncan 2 Alan Haselhurst 5 Alan Johnson 5 Alan Meale 2 Alan Whitehead 1 Alasdair McDonnell 1 Albert Owen 5 Alberto Costa 7 Alec Shelbrooke 3 Alex Chalk 6 Alex Cunningham 1 Alex Salmond 2 Alison McGovern 2 Alison Thewliss 1 Alistair Burt 6 Alistair Carmichael 1 Alok Sharma 4 Alun Cairns 3 Amanda Solloway 1 Amber Rudd 10 Andrea Jenkyns 9 Andrea Leadsom 3 Andrew Bingham 6 Andrew Bridgen 1 Andrew Griffiths 4 Andrew Gwynne 2 Andrew Jones 1 Andrew Mitchell 9 Andrew Murrison 4 Andrew Percy 4 Andrew Rosindell 4 Andrew Selous 10 Andrew Smith 5 Andrew Stephenson 4 Andrew Turner 3 Andrew Tyrie 8 Andy Burnham 1 Andy McDonald 2 Andy Slaughter 8 FDN-274688 Disclosure Angela Crawley 3 Angela Eagle 3 Angela Rayner 7 Angela Smith 3 Angela Watkinson 1 Angus MacNeil 1 Ann Clwyd 3 Ann Coffey 5 Anna Soubry 1 Anna Turley 6 Anne Main 4 Anne McLaughlin 3 Anne Milton 4 Anne-Marie Morris 1 Anne-Marie Trevelyan 3 Antoinette Sandbach 1 Barry Gardiner 9 Barry Sheerman 3 Ben Bradshaw 6 Ben Gummer 3 Ben Howlett 2 Ben Wallace 8 Bernard Jenkin 45 Bill Wiggin 4 Bob Blackman 3 Bob Stewart 4 Boris Johnson 5 Brandon Lewis 1 Brendan O'Hara 5 Bridget Phillipson 2 Byron Davies 1 Callum McCaig 6 Calum Kerr 3 Carol Monaghan 6 Caroline Ansell 4 Caroline Dinenage 4 Caroline Flint 2 Caroline Johnson 4 Caroline Lucas 7 Caroline Nokes 2 Caroline Spelman 3 Carolyn Harris 3 Cat Smith 4 Catherine McKinnell 1 FDN-274688 Disclosure Catherine West 7 Charles Walker 8 Charlie Elphicke 7 Charlotte
    [Show full text]
  • The Power of the Prime Minister
    Research Paper Research The Power of the Prime Minister 50 Years On George Jones THE POWER OF THE PRIME MINISTER 50 YEARS ON George Jones Emeritus Professor of Government London School of Economics & Political Science for The Constitution Society Based on a lecture for the Institute of Contemporary British History, King’s College, London, 8 February 2016 First published in Great Britain in 2016 by The Constitution Society Top Floor, 61 Petty France London SW1H 9EU www.consoc.org.uk © The Constitution Society ISBN: 978-0-9954703-1-6 © George Jones 2016. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. THE POWER OF THE PRIME MINISTER 3 Contents About the Author 4 Foreword 5 Introduction 9 Contingencies and Resource Dependency 11 The Formal Remit and Amorphous Convention 13 Key Stages in the Historical Development of the Premiership 15 Biographies of Prime Ministers are Not Enough 16 Harold Wilson 17 Tony Blair – almost a PM’s Department 19 David Cameron – with a department in all but name 21 Hung Parliament and Coalition Government 22 Fixed-term Parliaments Act, 2011 25 Party Dynamics 26 Wilson and Cameron Compared 29 Enhancing the Prime Minister 37 Between Wilson and Cameron 38 Conclusions 39 4 THE POWER OF THE PRIME MINISTER About the Author George Jones has from 2003 been Emeritus Professor of Government at LSE where he was Professor of Government between 1976 and 2003.
    [Show full text]
  • Domestic Terrorism in Africa
    DOMESTIC TERRORISM IN AFRICA: DOMESTIC TERRORISM IN AFRICA: DEFINING, ADDRESSING AND UNDERSTANDING ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN SECURITY DEFINING, ADDRESSING AND UNDERSTANDING ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN SECURITY Terrorism Studies & Research Program ISS Head Offi ce Block D, Brooklyn Court, VealVeale Street New Muckleneuk,, PrPretoria Tel: (27-12) 346 9500 Fax:Fa (27-12) 346 9570 E-mail: iss@[email protected] ISS AdAddis Ababa Offi ce FirsFirst Floor, Ki-Ab Building, Alexander Pushkin Street, Pushkin Square, Addis Ababa Tell:(: (251-1111)3) 37272-1154/5/6 Fax:(: (251-1111)3) 372 5954 E-mail: addisababa@is@ safrica.orgg ISS Cape Town Offi ce 67 Roeland Square, Drury Lane Gardens Cape Town 8001 South Africa TTel:(: (27-27 21) 46171 7211 Fax: (27-2121)4) 461 7213 E-mail: [email protected] ISS Nairobi Offi ce 5h5th Flloooor, LanddmarkPk Pllaza Argwings Kodhekek RRoad, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254 -20) 300 5726/8 FaxFax: (254-20) 271 2902 E-mail: [email protected] ISS Pretoria Offi ce Block C, Brooklyn Court, Veale Street New Muckleneuk, Pretoria Tel: (27-12) 346 9500 Fax: (27-12) 460 0998 Edited by Wafula Okumu and Anneli Botha E-mail: [email protected] Wafula Okumu and Anneli Botha www.issafrica.org 5 and 6 November 2007 This publication was made possible through funding provided by the ISBN 978-1-920114-80-0 Norwegian Government. In addition, general Institute funding is provided by the Governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. 9 781920 114800 Terrorism Studies & Research Program As a leading African human security research institution, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) works towards a stable and peaceful Africa characterised by sustainable development, human rights, the rule of law, democracy, collaborative security and gender mainstreaming.
    [Show full text]
  • Lord Cecil Parkinson 1
    Lord Cecil Parkinson 1 Trade minister in Margaret Thatcher's first government in 1979, Cecil Parkinson went on to become Conservative Party chairman. He was instrumental in privatizing Britain's state-owned enterprises, particularly electricity. In this interview, Parkinson discusses the rethink of the British Conservative Party in the 1970s, Margaret Thatcher's leadership in the Falklands War, the coal miners' strike, and the privatization of state-owned industries. Rethinking the Conservative Party, and the Role of Keith Joseph INTERVIEWER: Let's talk about Margaret Thatcher during the '70s. After the defeat of [Prime Minister Ted] Heath, Margaret Thatcher almost goes back to school. She and Keith Joseph go to Ralph Harris [at the Institute for Economic Affairs] and say, "Give us a reading list." What's going on here? What's Margaret really doing? LORD CECIL PARKINSON: I think Margaret was very happy with the Heath manifesto. If you look at the Heath manifesto, it was almost a mirror image of her 1979 manifesto. All the things—cutting back the role of the state, getting rid of the nationalized industries, curbing the train unions, cutting of taxes, controlling public expenditure—it's all there. It's a very, very good manifesto. And I've heard her recently compliment him on the 1970 manifesto, which was a slightly sort of backhanded compliment, really. What troubled her was that we could be bounced out of it. We could be moved from doing the things which we knew were right and doing things which we secretly knew were wrong because of circumstances, and I think instinctively she felt this was wrong, but she didn't have the sort of intellectual backup, she felt, to back up her instincts.
    [Show full text]
  • Senior and Junior Government Ministers
    WMID Mapping tables: Senior and junior government ministers Coverage for data collection Q4 2009 Country Senior ministers Junior ministers Belgium Prime Minister State Secretaries Deputy Prime Ministers Ministers Bulgaria Prime Minister Deputy Ministers Deputy Prime Ministers Chairpersons of State Agencies Ministers Deputy Chairpersons of State Agencies Czech Republic Prime Minister Not applicable Deputy Prime Ministers Ministers Chairman of Legislative Council of Government Denmark Prime Minister Not applicable Ministers Germany Federal Chancellor Parliamentary State Secretaries Federal Ministers Ministers of State Head of Federal Chancellery Estonia Prime Minister Not applicable Ministers Ireland Prime Minister Chief Whip Deputy Prime Minister Ministers of State Ministers Greece Prime Minister Deputy Ministers Ministers State Minister Spain President of the Government State Secretaries Deputy Prime Ministers Ministers France Prime Minister Not applicable Minister of State Ministers State Secretaries High Commissioner Italy President of Council Under-Secretaries of State Deputy Presidents of Council Deputy Ministers Ministers Cyprus Prime Minister Not applicable Ministers Latvia Prime Minister Parliamentary Secretaries Ministers Lithuania Prime Minister Vice Ministers Ministers Luxembourg Prime Minister Not applicable Deputy Prime Minister Ministers Hungary Prime Minister Not applicable Ministers Malta Prime Minister Parliamentary Secretaries Deputy Prime Minister Ministers The Netherlands Prime Minister State Secretaries Deputy Prime
    [Show full text]
  • P HUSBAND EPISODE ONE 28.03.12.Fdx
    THE POLITICIAN'S HUSBAND by Paula Milne EPISODE ONE "The Body Politic" REVISED 28.03.2012 (minor revisions only) Executive Producer David Aukin Producer Hal Vogel DAYBREAK PICTURES “Corruptio Optimi Pessima” Corruption of the best is the worst of all. THE POLITICIAN'S HUSBAND PART ONE 28.03 2012 2 1 EXT. HOYNES HOME - CARLINGWORTH - DAWN 1 A dawn blistered sky - a frail DAWN CHORUS - We’re somewhere indistinguishable in ENGLAND -an Edwardian semi-detached house - homely rather than ostentatious - 2 INT. MASTER BEDROOM - HOYNES HOME - DAWN 2 Dawn light filtered through shuttered curtains. CAMERA is tracing a tremulous crack in a ceiling - it’s in the shape of A QUESTION MARK - A MAN lies in bed gazing up at it - he’s not noticed the crack before - AIDEN HOYNES - early forties - dynamic and driven but a man not disenfranchised from his own humanity - His ALARM bleeps - startling him. He stabs it off - his wife FREYA rouses. He draws her to him - kisses her forehead - FREYA ...Is it time? He assents - his gaze drifts up to the QUESTION MARK again - it disconcerts him without knowing why - BBC TV REPORTER (O.S.) Surprise resignation today of Aiden Hoynes - 3 EXT. COLLEGE GREEN - PALACE OF WESTMINSTER - DAY 3 The neo Gothic spires of Westminster - BBC TV REPORTER (O.S.) - Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and regarded as one of the high flyers in the cabinet - CUT BACK; CAMERA tilts down over to COLLEGE GREEN - an array of TELEVISION JOURNALISTS address respective CAMERAS - focus on A BBC REPORTER - THE POLITICIAN'S HUSBAND PART ONE 28.03 2012 3 BBC TV REPORTER (cont’d) - For weeks Westminster been rife with rumours about his growing discontent with current Government policy - yet in his letter to the Prime Minister while he doesn’t actually use the cliché that he’s resigning to “spend more time with his family” but that’s the essence of it - 5 INT/EXT.
    [Show full text]
  • Holders of Ministerial Office in the Conservative Governments 1979-1997
    Holders of Ministerial Office in the Conservative Governments 1979-1997 Parliamentary Information List Standard Note: SN/PC/04657 Last updated: 11 March 2008 Author: Department of Information Services All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this data. Nevertheless the complexity of Ministerial appointments, changes in the machinery of government and the very large number of Ministerial changes between 1979 and 1997 mean that there may be some omissions from this list. Where an individual was a Minister at the time of the May 1997 general election the end of his/her term of office has been given as 2 May. Finally, where possible the exact dates of service have been given although when this information was unavailable only the month is given. The Parliamentary Information List series covers various topics relating to Parliament; they include Bills, Committees, Constitution, Debates, Divisions, The House of Commons, Parliament and procedure. Also available: Research papers – impartial briefings on major bills and other topics of public and parliamentary concern, available as printed documents and on the Intranet and Internet. Standard notes – a selection of less formal briefings, often produced in response to frequently asked questions, are accessible via the Internet. Guides to Parliament – The House of Commons Information Office answers enquiries on the work, history and membership of the House of Commons. It also produces a range of publications about the House which are available for free in hard copy on request Education web site – a web site for children and schools with information and activities about Parliament. Any comments or corrections to the lists would be gratefully received and should be sent to: Parliamentary Information Lists Editor, Parliament & Constitution Centre, House of Commons, London SW1A OAA.
    [Show full text]
  • National Interests and the Paradox of Foreign Aid Under Austerity: Conservative Governments and the Domestic Politics of International Development Since 2010
    National interests and the paradox of foreign aid under austerity: Conservative governments and the domestic politics of international development since 2010 Keywords: foreign aid: DfID; Conservatives; austerity; Brexit; national interest Acknowledgments: the ideas underpinning this paper have been informally discussed with a wide variety of colleagues, and I am grateful for their insights, although none are implicated in the final product. I would particularly like to thank the organisers (Nadia Molenaers, Joerg Faust and Jeroen Joly) and participants at ‘The Domestic Dimensions of Development Cooperation’, a conference at the Institute of Development Policy and Management University of Antwerp, Belgium October 24–25, 2016 Abstract Since 2010, successive Conservative-led Coalition and Conservative governments in the UK have imposed domestic austerity while maintaining foreign aid commitments. They have done so in the teeth of considerable hostility from influential sections of the media, many Conservative MPs and party members, and large sections of the voting public. This paper explains this apparently paradoxical position by analysing these governments’ increasingly explicit stance that aid serves ‘the national interest’ in a variety of ways. While not a new message from donors, post-2010 Conservative governments have significantly strengthened this narrative, with the (uncertain) intent of legitimising foreign aid expenditure. Introduction In 2010 a Conservative-led coalition with the Liberal Democrats displaced ‘New Labour’ from government in the United Kingdom after 13 years in power. In 2014, the Conservative Party achieved a narrow electoral majority to become the sole party of government. In 2016, following the Brexit referendum, a new Conservative government was formed under Prime Minister Theresa May.
    [Show full text]
  • Sajid Javid MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Thursday 13Th
    Sajid Javid MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Thursday 13th June 2019 Dear Sajid Javid MP, Congratulations on your candidacy to be Leader of the Conservative Party and consequently Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. We are a group of the leading human rights, migrant, HIV and LGBTQI+ organisations in the UK, and we are writing to ask you to pledge your support for the growing cross-party consensus in favour of a strict statutory time limit on immigration detention. We acknowledge that if you are successful in your campaign for the leadership, you will be facing a large number of pressing issues and demands on your time. We believe, however, that indefinite immigration detention represents one of the most egregious injustices in the UK today, and benefits no-one, certainly not the taxpayer. Indefinite detention has been described in the higher courts as a “dramatic constitutional innovation” which is “unprecedented in peacetime”1. This year, both the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC)2 and the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR)3 have called for significant reform of the immigration detention system, including the introduction of a 28 day time limit and automatic judicial oversight of decisions to detain. We would like to draw your attention to the progress of the Immigration and Social Security Co- ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, and to ask you to add your support to amendment clauses NC 1-44. If passed, these clauses would introduce external scrutiny over decisions to detain through automatic bail hearings after 96 hours and a 28 day time limit.
    [Show full text]