Speeches by Morello.

“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…”

“The 18th.”

“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?”

“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.”

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

“Apologies if we are going over the same point here, but for the point of clarity, the due diligence report is produced by the Cabinet Office. You received that. Did the Prime Minister receive the full unredacted due diligence report, or did you summarise it, or did you brief him orally? What did the Prime Minister rece…”

“Did he raise any reservations with you during that discussion?”

“He received the full report. Did you discuss the contents of the report with him?”

“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 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?”

“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?”

“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…”

“You wrote some clarification emails to Peter Mandelson and received those replies. Did those responses go to the Prime Minister?”

“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.”

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

“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…”

“No, you wouldn’t have because he would have been sitting there thinking, “Well, if I want the job I am definitely going to get it because the Prime Minister got Peter Mandelson one.””

“That is not what Sir Olly Robbins told us. Sir Olly Robbins told us that Matthew Doyle’s name was another one floated as a political appointee. Given that when the Prime Minister politically appointed Mandelson it was a lock, it would be fair to assume, if you are Matthew Doyle, that effectively a similar guarantee was…”

“Well, we should put on record that you have served under four different Prime Ministers. At any point during your tenure as perm sec, were you asked by a No. 10 organisation to withhold information from the Foreign Secretary? How usual is that request?”

“Do you want me to narrow it down?”