Speeches by Morello.

“Before the right hon. Member leaves his first point, which I absolutely agree with, I want to pay tribute to the 6th Battalion the Rifles in Dorchester, the only infantry reserve in the south-west. Their proud track record includes service in Mali, Cyprus and elsewhere with British forces. The issue of growing numbers …”

“To what role?”

“I want to clarify the conversation that happened in the meeting. Presumably, your chief of security comes to you and explains the concerns raised, but also the mitigation that he believes the Department can put in place. At that point, is it a recommendation to you or is it your judgment on whether or not those mitigat…”

“You have made clear the exceptional circumstances surrounding the appointment of Sir Peter, the amount of stuff that had happened before the security vetting process had been completed, and that it was highly unusual and not the best practice for the way that the Foreign Office likes to run things. Were there other pol…”

“Thank you.”

“But they had already made the decision to push ahead in the absence of the UKSV having completed its process. The idea that you can say, “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known the results of the UKSV,” while at the same time imposing a process in which the UKSV could never have been completed in time for him to take up …”

“Did Sir Philip raise any similar incidents during his tenure? Did he warn you to expect this kind of behaviour from No. 10?”

“I accept that.”

“Thank you.”

“I totally accept that, but I just want to be clear that the advice you were given in that meeting—that conversation—was, “We understand these risks, we believe we can mitigate against them, and therefore you should be comfortable making the decision to grant it,” or, “It’s our decision that it can be granted given that…”

“Okay. You have already outlined the extreme levels of political pressure that you were under to complete this process. Is there any suggestion that that pressure filtered down to the Department that ultimately was making the recommendations to you? Were you satisfied in that meeting that the options that were proposed …”

“Did Sir Philip raise any similar incidents during his tenure? Did he warn you to expect this kind of behaviour from No. 10?”

“To what role?”

“I want to clarify the conversation that happened in the meeting. Presumably, your chief of security comes to you and explains the concerns raised, but also the mitigation that he believes the Department can put in place. At that point, is it a recommendation to you or is it your judgment on whether or not those mitigat…”

“This morning, Sir Olly Robbins appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee. What I saw was a dedicated public servant who, over 25 years, has held some of the most senior roles in the civil service. The Prime Minister would like us to believe that he was let down by officials such as Sir Olly, but in truth it was the…”

“I want to link up the questions that Uma has been asking you and something you said earlier, which was that, in relation to Matthew Doyle, you had been ordered by No. 10 not to tell the Foreign Secretary. Then, when you went to the Cabinet Office to seek permission to look at the UKSV report, you were told, “No, you ca…”

“I accept that.”

“I want to link up the questions that Uma has been asking you and something you said earlier, which was that, in relation to Matthew Doyle, you had been ordered by No. 10 not to tell the Foreign Secretary. Then, when you went to the Cabinet Office to seek permission to look at the UKSV report, you were told, “No, you ca…”

“I totally accept that, but I just want to be clear that the advice you were given in that meeting—that conversation—was, “We understand these risks, we believe we can mitigate against them, and therefore you should be comfortable making the decision to grant it,” or, “It’s our decision that it can be granted given that…”

“To that point, the Prime Minister in his statement yesterday to the House, said: “Let me be very clear: the recommendation in the Peter Mandelson case could and should have been shared with me before he took up his post. Let me make a second point: if I had known before Peter Mandelson took up his post that the UKSV re…”