Speeches by Hoare.

“Would my right hon. Friend forgive me if I do not? A lot of Members want to speak, so I want to make a little progress. The third compelling point is that Labour Whips and Ministers will have deployed an argument about the local elections, and elections in Wales and Scotland; they will say, “This will not do Labour any…”

“My right hon. Friend has many skills; one that I have just learned of is that he is able to read the left-handed scrawl of my notes, even when he is sitting next to me, because that is the point that I am just about to come to. The hon. Member for South Shields wondered, as have one or two other Members, whether this m…”

“There has been a common theme in the remarks made by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome)—it is a pleasure to follow her—and the hon. Member for South Shields (Emma Lewell). I do not really know what wings of the Labour party they are on, or wha…”

“My hon. Friend is right. The same was true, of course, when the Privileges Committee looked at Boris Johnson’s behaviour; the majority of MPs on the Committee were Tory, and the Committee was still able to come to a judgment on the facts and the evidence.”

“May I, through the right hon. Gentleman, thank the officials in the Cabinet Office who have assisted me in the work that I have been doing in this area as Chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee? He will know that not all Government communications are carried on Government devices. Wi…”

“For several months now, including when the Secretary of State has appeared before the Select Committee, he has in all good faith promised these amendments. Does he understand that his case this evening would be assisted if the House were to see those amendments? The motion effectively asks us to sign a blank cheque on …”

“The Prime Minister has spoken about process, the reviews, and trying to put that which went wrong right. That is to be supported, but he is asking the House and the country to believe that notwithstanding a front-page media splash saying that Peter Mandelson had failed the vetting process, there was nobody in No. 10 or…”

“I have two questions to the Minister, if I may. I welcome the retreat from this Bill and this deal, which ill served the taxpayer and our national interest. First, are the Government now officially withdrawing the Bill, rather than merely pausing its passage through Parliament? Secondly, the Minister was very clear ear…”

“Yes, please.”

““Moderate” goes up because the vigilance is not there to keep it at “moderate”. “Moderate” does not happen by accident.”

“It is a no.”

“Just in the interests of time, I just want to explore this point. Has there been a time when an application for ASF has been made and 100% of the request has not been awarded? You may need to write to us on this.”

“Chief Constable, Sir George Hamilton described the allocation of additional security funding when he gave evidence to us as being both “untidy” and “disjointed”. It requires regular business cases being made back to Treasury to ensure funding is continued. The Committee would be interested to hear about your experience…”

“Yes, I take your point.”

“I take that point, but it is a no.”

“Maybe a note on that would be helpful, Chair. You will probably see where I am trying to land my question. This is an annual thing; it is not an extraordinary once-in-a-decade event. Surely, there has to be a better way of doing it to release your time, your colleagues’ time and indeed the time of those at Treasury fro…”

“As a former elections policy Minister and member of the defending democracy taskforce, may I thank the Secretary of State for launching this inquiry? I also thank Philip Rycroft for his work; it was a pleasure to give evidence to him during that process. I welcome the spirit in which the Secretary of State has brought …”

“Although it is a tick-box exercise in many respects, can you give us a handle on how long it takes you to prepare the business case? How long does it take the Treasury to analyse it before they pick up the telephone and go, “Ka-ching, you have got X”?”

“I appreciate the need to sustain it, but, in your assessment, is it sufficient?”

“I will come on to that directly.”