Speeches by Whittingdale.

“Just as a quick follow-up to the questions that Fleur has been asking, you have said that all the documentation around the appointment itself has now been included in the first batch of published documents, and that you have been very rigorous to make sure that it covers that. Why is there no formal record of the actua…”

“And the former permanent secretary’s view.”

“It is about the actual minute of the meeting at which the Prime Minister said, “Right, here’s the due diligence,” and he is advised about all the various other aspects, and he said, “Yes, I want it to be Peter Mandelson. Set that in motion.””

“Wouldn’t you expect to see further information around this?”

“So you are continuing to push.”

“I want to look at three aspects. First, we now know that the then Cabinet Secretary sent a note saying that Peter Mandelson should complete his developed vetting procedure before an announcement was made. We also know that Philip Barton essentially expressed the same view and Sir Olly Robbins also told us that it was s…”

“So why was there such a long gap between you and the Cabinet Secretary discovering this, and your going to tell the Prime Minister?”

“Are you asking why there isn’t a further document setting out a record of that meeting?”

“I am afraid that Madam Deputy Speaker is coughing at me, so I will not give way. I fear that there is still more to come. I hope that I can say on behalf of the Foreign Affairs Committee that we will continue to pursue this matter.”

“I completely agree with the hon. Lady. It is somehow being suggested by Labour Members that this was about people advising the Prime Minister—I think one speaker earlier said that the Prime Minister had been persuaded to appoint Peter Mandelson. Well, I worked for a Prime Minister, and she coined a phrase: “Advisers ad…”

“Thank you very much, Chair. Colleagues, I am going to move on to other aspects, but I just want to probe a little bit further on one or two of the answers you have already given, Sir Oliver. You have described to us the situation when you arrived in post and the extent to which various steps had already been completed,…”

“And who told you not to tell the Foreign Secretary?”

“I said to you, “You were not aware that the red box saying ‘clearance denied’ had a tick in it.””

“So you think it should have been obtained before those steps were taken.”

“This morning’s Foreign Affairs Committee session lasted for two-and-a-half hours. It was certainly one of the more remarkable sessions that I have attended, and I have been involved in a number of quite controversial Select Committee hearings over the years. It showed the Select Committee system at its best, and Member…”

“But are you aware of any documents that would be highly relevant to this matter that have not been released?”

“But even if you hadn’t seen the sheet, you didn’t know that the clear recommendation—final decision—of UKSV was “clearance denied”.”

“I said to you, “You were not aware that the red box saying ‘clearance denied’ had a tick in it.””

“And who told you not to tell the Foreign Secretary?”

“But even if you hadn’t seen the sheet, you didn’t know that the clear recommendation—final decision—of UKSV was “clearance denied”.”