Speeches by Morello.

“I want to return to the original questions at the opening. You talked about the timeline and that, in meetings with Simon Case prior to coming into Government, the Prime Minister was already minded to make a political appointment. According to what you have said, at that point no names were being discussed, but why was…”

“Did that conversation happen at a point at which he had read the report? There is a difference between receiving the report and reading it, I guess.”

“So you were informed on the 15th that the Prime Minister wanted to appoint Peter Mandelson?”

“Well obviously, in his evidence, Sir Olly Robbins said that he was asked or that another name was floated to him, Matthew Doyle. Not only that, but he was asked to keep that information from the Foreign Secretary. If not during the conversation on the 15th, at any subsequent point, were any other names floated to you f…”

“In any conversations with No. 10 were you ever asked to withhold information from the Foreign Secretary?”

“Okay. Did he express any reservations at that point about the appointment of Peter Mandelson?”

“I appreciate that. You said that you were not involved in the decision-making process around Peter Mandelson because it was a political appointment. Was the Foreign Secretary involved in the decision making?”

“Okay. I mentioned already you served under four Prime Ministers. A search through the records, and you can correct me on this, suggests that the only other political appointment that happened during your tenure as permanent secretary was Sir George Hollingbery, the former Member of Parliament for Meon Valley, who was a…”

“Much of this seems to hinge on how much the Prime Minister knew when he was making a decision to appoint Peter Mandelson—and the briefing that he may or may not have got.”

“It does, thank you. More broadly in terms of the process, you have already mentioned that you have never seen the now infamous traffic-light boxes. Apparently, according to the letter we received last night, the departmental head of security had also never seen the traffic-light boxes and was not aware of them. Sir Oll…”

“So that was unique. Given that you never had cause to see the traffic-light system, should we read anything into the fact that Sir Olly, when he had that meeting, was not shown it?”

“I suppose we should ask if that operates the other way. A lot of this seems to come down to what the Prime Minister was told and when. How frequently are people being asked to withhold information from the Prime Minister? Has that happened as well?”

“Twenty-eight-year-old Benedict Solly was killed on the A37, near Cerne Abbas, at a notorious accident hotspot. Local residents had been calling for interventions to make that junction safe, but part of the problem is that the decision on whether to make an intervention at the junction is based on historical data, which…”

“Do you want me to narrow it down?”

“Do you have a view on the accuracy of the statement?”

“I think this follows on from what Alex was asking you, Sir Philip. You are requesting to see the due diligence report; you are flagging to the Foreign Secretary that you have concerns. In his evidence, Sir Olly told us that this was the only time in which the security department requested to see him on whether to grant…”

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate. May I thank Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service for its response to the fire at Newell House in Sherborne the other night? I am in awe of the bravery of its firefighters, who were on the scene within eight minutes. The hon. Member talks about the particular iss…”

“Twenty-eight-year-old Benedict Solly was killed on the A37, near Cerne Abbas, at a notorious accident hotspot. Local residents had been calling for interventions to make that junction safe, but part of the problem is that the decision on whether to make an intervention at the junction is based on historical data, which…”

“Sorry—I probably should have formed the question better in my head before I put my hand up.”

“I would not ask you to opine on this anyway, but let us put aside for a moment whether or not Sir Olly Robbins was the decision maker, although ultimately accountable for the decision to grant security access to Peter Mandelson, and whether or not that was the right decision. Given your understanding of the FCDO’s proc…”