Speeches by Anderson.

“For Lord Mandelson’s appointment, was it the same situation—he already had the security clearance and so did not need to be vetted? Was there any difference from the normal process for his appointment?”

“When in that process does the security vetting take place, normally?”

“We agree with you as a Committee that our thoughts are with the Epstein victims in all of this, as the background. Sir Olly, could you set out the normal process that the FCDO uses to appoint an ambassador?”

“Okay. Which part of the process do you think went wrong the most? We went through the different parts—the due diligence, the security vetting, the additional vetting, no fireside chat and the reliance on someone having to disclose after that—so which part needs to be changed the most?”

“I think we can all conclude that the system failed, so we are now trying to look at whether we can trust the system in future, considering the changes and what went wrong along the way. The part of the system I want to look at, one last time, is the part between the appointment and starting work, and then everything be…”

“Did the fireside chat part of it come up in Lord Mandelson’s appointment, and if it did, what part did it happen in?”

“It is hard, having read the new document, to see what the changes are because I have not read the old document, but there is a process in here for a fireside chat. In a direct ministerial appointment in tier 1, if at a certain stage concerns are raised, there is the provision that “In reaching a decision, the Minister,…”

“Is that decision taken by Sir Olly or by you? As you hand over the report, do you have the recommendation, and then Sir Olly says yes?”

“In general, what is the end product of all that vetting? Does it all get put into one report? Who receives that report?”

“But in general.”

“So in that detailed interview—and in the one with the referees as well, I presume. That could be where it came out, too.”

“In general, in which part of those processes would the personal associations come up?”

“Where in that process is the conversation about what someone’s interests are beyond that—the personal interests, where Epstein would have come up in the vetting process? There were a couple of investigations at the end of that list: is that likely to be where the conversation would come up? Also, what is the end produc…”

“Sir Chris, process 2 is the standard process for developed vetting, which I understand is the level of clearance that a senior ambassador, such as the ambassador to the USA, would have. Could you give us some information about that process?”

“I welcome this important debate and thank the hon. Member for Reigate (Rebecca Paul) very much on behalf of the many constituents who come to my surgeries, who write to me, and who I meet when I am out and about in the many developments across Putney, Southfields, Roehampton and Wandsworth town. I speak today on behalf…”

“This is a whole-of-society campaign. I think it is equivalent to when we reduced the use of plastic bags. There had to be some Government regulation, but there also had to be a change of attitude among the people using plastic bags—we need that here. We need Government regulation to push it through faster, otherwise th…”

“The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has put his finger on the button, because this is about not flushing wet wipes, no matter what they are made from. Banning plastic in wet wipes is one step forward, but we need to do more. This is a UK-wide issue; no part of the UK is unaffected. What is the problem? Why am …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of banning plastic in wet wipes. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank colleagues across the House who have supported my campaign to ban plastic in wet wipes. I am also grateful to: the Marine Conservation Society; Thames21;…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The water companies need to invest in new ways of stopping sewage going out of their systems and in cleaning up our rivers, and not having to spend so much money coming out to clear up the blockages. That is down to wet wipes, so my hon. Friend is exactly right. The third reason …”

“Do you partner with the Open University? I did my Open University exams in the British Council buildings in Nairobi, so I know that there is some commercial office space. You said that you were going to grow online, and we have the Open University, which is excellent at providing those services. Do you have those kinds…”