Speeches by Gemmell.

“I thank the Minister for his statement. I am proud to be part of the Labour Government who took the historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine. However, the prospect of a single, unified Palestinian state is now under enormous pressure from the expansion of illegal settlements. Does the Minister agree that a…”

“I put on record my support and recognition of the bold and principled speech by my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) earlier today. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for his support of the Government’s defence agenda. Does he share my deep disappoin…”

“Thank you. I want to ask about the due diligence report, but does anyone else want to come in?”

“No.”

“But in your cases, you would probably see someone suspended as an investigation took place, or for some there would have been summary dismissal, as we have seen.”

“In her follow-up to her evidence to the Committee, Cat Little confirmed that there was no Cabinet Office advice ahead of the decision that Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle should follow up questions with Peter Mandelson about Epstein. Have you any views about whether they were the right people to do that? Would someo…”

“Nice to see you, too. The issue we are struggling with, in part, is judgment. One of the main problems is that the initial judgment to appoint Peter Mandelson was flawed. Some are trying to say that the FCDO process, the vetting process, could have corrected that flawed initial decision. Is it fair to say, when you loo…”

“Thanks for your time, Morgan. I think you said earlier that you thought that the DV process might also pick up untruths or misrepresentations by Peter Mandelson. Do you know if the answers that he gave you on the Epstein follow-up or the due diligence report were sent to the DV system—the officers—to use as evidence to…”

“Just for the record, I attended a dinner at Roger Liddle’s with Peter Mandelson, I believe after he was appointed ambassador.”

“Sir Philip, was the correct process followed in the dismissal of Olly Robbins?”

“Sir Philip, I should put it on record that you and I worked briefly together when you were high commissioner to India and I was Her Majesty’s then trade commissioner, a job for which I had to get DV.”

“Nice to see you, too. The issue we are struggling with, in part, is judgment. One of the main problems is that the initial judgment to appoint Peter Mandelson was flawed. Some are trying to say that the FCDO process, the vetting process, could have corrected that flawed initial decision. Is it fair to say, when you loo…”

“Thank you. I want to ask about the due diligence report, but does anyone else want to come in?”

“In her follow-up to her evidence to the Committee, Cat Little confirmed that there was no Cabinet Office advice ahead of the decision that Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle should follow up questions with Peter Mandelson about Epstein. Have you any views about whether they were the right people to do that? Would someo…”

“But in your cases, you would probably see someone suspended as an investigation took place, or for some there would have been summary dismissal, as we have seen.”

“Just for the record, I attended a dinner at Roger Liddle’s with Peter Mandelson, I believe after he was appointed ambassador.”

“No.”

“Sir Philip, I should put it on record that you and I worked briefly together when you were high commissioner to India and I was Her Majesty’s then trade commissioner, a job for which I had to get DV.”

“Sir Philip, was the correct process followed in the dismissal of Olly Robbins?”

“Thanks for your time, Morgan. I think you said earlier that you thought that the DV process might also pick up untruths or misrepresentations by Peter Mandelson. Do you know if the answers that he gave you on the Epstein follow-up or the due diligence report were sent to the DV system—the officers—to use as evidence to…”