Speeches by Campbell.

“The right hon. Gentleman was a very distinguished Chief Whip, but I fear that he is looking back at when he served in that role with rose-tinted spectacles. I remember both what we did to his party, and what it did to us. Opposition days are not set in stone, in the way that he is suggesting. Had we known what the moti…”

“The right hon. Gentleman might have raised it in the Daily Mail, but he did not raise it in the business statement yesterday, unlike others across the House. As for his suggestion that there should be a statement tomorrow, I remind him that if the business tomorrow was as he asks for it to be, there would be no stateme…”

“I am not seeking to usurp that. What I am saying is that I have also been in this place for the past 25 years, to jog the hon. Gentleman’s memory, and it has happened. It does happen on occasion. [Hon. Members: “When?”] Look, I cannot give the hon. Gentleman the dates off the top of my head, but I am absolutely confide…”

“I will not get into the disdain that the hon. Gentleman’s Government, of whom he was a firm supporter, showed for this House, because we simply do not have time. As I have said, when the new Prime Minister is in place, he will come to this House and set out his plans for the future. I will not try to speak for the hon.…”

“The right hon. Gentleman is a very distinguished Member of this House, but I do think that the Opposition are talking lightly about what is unfolding in the middle east. This Government have brought statements and debates about Iran to the Floor of the House, but the Opposition are suggesting that nothing that is happe…”

“I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for informing those on the Government Benches what the other topic was going to be for the Opposition day debate. [Interruption.] I am standing at the Dispatch Box, and Mr Speaker knows the importance I put on Ministers telling the absolute truth when they stand here. I was tot…”

“I absolutely welcome many of the Conservative hon. and right hon. Gentlemen who are present, because we do not often see them in this place. Mr Speaker, it tells you something about the state of the modern-day Conservative party when its Members can turn out en masse for this statement, but not for debate on some of th…”

“The reality is that if a new Administration is formed on Monday, it will take some time to get that Administration into place. As I said yesterday, there are no plans to change the recess dates; those dates were set for the convenience of Members, to enable them to plan ahead. The work of the Government will continue t…”

“I just point out gently to the hon. Lady that I have already said that the Government will continue during the recess. I expect that decisions and announcements will be made, and there was never going to be an opportunity for every new or existing Secretary of State to be brought to this House to answer questions. That…”

“I am sure that when the Prime Minister is in place, he will be coming to this House at the earliest opportunity following recess, and he will set that out. [Interruption.] Let me just answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question. I expect that when Ministers get up tomorrow to open or to respond to the debate they will s…”

“I am not sure that it is in the right hon. Lady’s interest for us to debate her time as Chief Whip. I agree that this is unusual, and it is not a decision that has been taken lightly, but I point out to her and to Opposition Members that the situation in the middle east is unusual. We could well be in the midst of a gr…”

“As I have said before, and I say again, when the new Prime Minister is in place he will come and make a statement to the House, and set out his plans on those and other matters. The hon. Gentleman has raised the issue of taxation—[Interruption.] Hon. Members might want to listen to this, because it answers a question t…”

“That is because on the day the Opposition were suggesting my right hon. Friend should come here and make that statement he will be putting together a new Administration—presumably appointing a new Cabinet, and then a new Administration. He will be setting out—[Interruption.] If Members want to scrutinise an Administrat…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for reminding us what tomorrow was going to be about, because we did not know. [Interruption.] Well, we might have known tomorrow, but we certainly did not know today. [Interruption.] That is the point, actually, because if the Opposition wanted to set up something that the hon. Lady says is so im…”

“The hon. Gentleman’s first point was that it happened to us, or we did it. I understand, because I would have been angry at the time. I can assure the House that I would have been very angry, and I understand the anger on the Opposition Benches. What I am saying, however, is that the decision is a choice between an iss…”

“I am slightly alarmed by the constant references to the respect in which I am held. I think today may constitute a seminal moment in that regard. This is not a binary issue. It is about deciding, with a relative shortness of time given that the House has voted for the recess to start on Thursday, what we believe should…”

“Again, the work of the Government will continue through the recess. The Prime Minister will make a statement to the House at the earliest opportunity. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman did not mean to do so, but he must not downplay what is happening in and around Iran. If he wants to talk about embarrassing performan…”

“As I recall, Boris Johnson was appointed before the summer recess, and there was time for him to make a statement. If I am incorrect, I apologise, but I am confident that was the case. The right hon. Lady raises an interesting question about whether tomorrow not being an Opposition day creates space for statements. I w…”

“No, we did not. The decision was therefore taken to go with the situation in Iran, rather than hang around and wait for what the Opposition might come up with. [Interruption.]”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I just want to thank the hon. Gentleman for making my point for me. He said—[Interruption.] No, he said that the Opposition have until the House rises to put down the—[Interruption.] I have not disputed that; he is simply confirming that when we made this decision, that was n…”