Speeches by Gemmell.

“Thanks for your time, Morgan. I think you said earlier that you thought that the DV process might also pick up untruths or misrepresentations by Peter Mandelson. Do you know if the answers that he gave you on the Epstein follow-up or the due diligence report were sent to the DV system—the officers—to use as evidence to…”

“Sir Philip, was the correct process followed in the dismissal of Olly Robbins?”

“In her follow-up to her evidence to the Committee, Cat Little confirmed that there was no Cabinet Office advice ahead of the decision that Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle should follow up questions with Peter Mandelson about Epstein. Have you any views about whether they were the right people to do that? Would someo…”

“Thank you. I want to ask about the due diligence report, but does anyone else want to come in?”

“Just for the record, I attended a dinner at Roger Liddle’s with Peter Mandelson, I believe after he was appointed ambassador.”

“No.”

“But in your cases, you would probably see someone suspended as an investigation took place, or for some there would have been summary dismissal, as we have seen.”

“Sir Philip, I should put it on record that you and I worked briefly together when you were high commissioner to India and I was Her Majesty’s then trade commissioner, a job for which I had to get DV.”

“Nice to see you, too. The issue we are struggling with, in part, is judgment. One of the main problems is that the initial judgment to appoint Peter Mandelson was flawed. Some are trying to say that the FCDO process, the vetting process, could have corrected that flawed initial decision. Is it fair to say, when you loo…”

“Thank you.”

“In particular, I was wondering about this discrepancy between what he says he was briefed at and what the form said. Did you pick up within your Foreign Office conversations any other evidence about concerns in the system about that?”

“As much as you can tell us about those inquiries, did you pick up concerns from the Foreign Office system about how this had come about? Were people worried about the way the decision had been taken or the information had been conveyed? Can you share any of that with us?”

“When you sought the legal policy and PIT advice, did you speak to anyone in the Foreign Office in the decision-making chain—Olly, or any of the people below Olly—who may have seen the documentation, to try and get an understanding of what they did?”

“I would be very grateful if you did that.”

“Would it be possible for us to see that and to come to our own conclusions about whether the actions of Sir Olly were in line with that guidance, if it were to exist?”

“Is there FCDO guidance on how it takes vetting decisions? If so, have you seen that?”

“Can you tell us who did or what sort of advice he received in advance of that? Do you know?”

“Thank you. On the dismissal of Sir Olly, did you provide any advice to the Prime Minister about the decision to dismiss him?”

“Would you mind checking ahead of our session?”

“The Committee is seeing Morgan McSweeney next week. Is there any Cabinet Office advice in relation to the decision to use him and others to have follow-up questions to Peter Mandelson about the Epstein issues?”