Speeches by Whittingdale.

“When you were told that a decision had been reached and it was Peter Mandelson, did you express any concerns about that?”

“So until 15 December you had no information that any discussion had taken place, and certainly that a decision had been reached.”

“Directly to the Prime Minister—“I want the job”?”

“On 4 February, Parliament passed a motion requiring the divulgence of all communications relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson. On 25 March, you reported that your telephone had been stolen. The Metropolitan police have released the transcript of the call you made relating to the theft of your mobile phone. Yo…”

“Sorry.”

“On Belgrave Road.”

“Not DV.”

“One would assume, given the sensitivity of the material on this phone—maybe all sorts of things besides Peter Mandelson—that there would be quite a robust effort to recover it. Has there been any news as to whether it has been found?”

“On 15 December.”

“When were you first told that it was likely to be a political appointment?”

“A meeting took place, which led to the private secretary writing to say that that was the decision. Is there a record of that meeting?”

“You will be aware that a number of very senior former civil servants have spoken about how damaging this episode has been for the civil service. As a former very experienced permanent secretary and head of the diplomatic service, what is your assessment of how this has affected the civil service, and in particular the …”

“So the decision was that he required DV. That was your view and it was the view of the Foreign Office security department, yet we know that prior to him obtaining DV clearance, he was given access to information that would usually require DV to have been completed. How did that come about?”

“Coming back to the answer you gave the Chair about you leaving your post, you said that David Lammy told you that he wanted to make a change because of the transformation programme. Do you believe that your concerns about the way in which Peter Mandelson was appointed had any influence on the decision to ask you to lea…”

“You have set out why you think he was well qualified to do the job, but you have also known him for a very long time. You would have also been fully aware of the fact that he had twice had to resign from the Cabinet; that he had business interests with China; that he had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein; and tha…”

“I will follow up on one or two of the questions from the Chair. You said that the process had been under way for an internal competition but come the general election it was frozen. Once the new Government had been elected, was the process not then recommenced?”

“You say that your discovery of the closeness of his relationship was like a knife to the heart, but the box note says that you discussed with Peter Mandelson his relationship with Epstein, and that you then discovered, as a result of that conversation, for instance, the fact that he stayed in the flat belonging to Jeff…”

“You will be aware that a number of very senior former civil servants have spoken about how damaging this episode has been for the civil service. As a former very experienced permanent secretary and head of the diplomatic service, what is your assessment of how this has affected the civil service, and in particular the …”

“Can I just be clear? The Prime Minister had decided that he wished to make a political appointment. Was it you who first said, “Prime Minister, I have the perfect candidate: Peter Mandelson”?”

“Directly to the Prime Minister—“I want the job”?”