Speeches by Gemmell.

“Yesterday in the House, the Prime Minister said that “officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold information” on Mandelson’s vetting “from the most senior Ministers in our system”. Is that how you see it?”

“You have been at the centre of Government for many years and spent many years of your career promoting and defending our country’s national security. With the benefit of hindsight, having heard the Committee’s questions today on notes, on seeking advice, on how the Foreign Office took this decision, and on how it ended…”

“Do you have concerns about the amount of information we have now shared about our developed vetting system, in relation to what our adversaries know about us?”

“In those conversations, were you able to set out how the Foreign Office does vetting? Do you think people understood these distinctions that you have been making today?”

“Yes, in the last few days.”

“Once the problem that No. 10 had identified became apparent, what conversations did you have with the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or the Cabinet Secretary that you would be able to share with us today?”

“Yesterday in the House, the Prime Minister said that “officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold information” on Mandelson’s vetting “from the most senior Ministers in our system”. Is that how you see it?”

“Thank you for your time today, Sir Olly. I want to take us to the last couple of days and weeks. The Cabinet Office obtained the vetting file on 25 March. Had you been resisting sharing that, or been part of some push to stop the Prime Minister from seeing relevant information, potentially as part of some cover up?”

“Thank you for your time today, Sir Olly. I want to take us to the last couple of days and weeks. The Cabinet Office obtained the vetting file on 25 March. Had you been resisting sharing that, or been part of some push to stop the Prime Minister from seeing relevant information, potentially as part of some cover up?”

“Thank you for joining us, Chief Minister. What has caused the continued delay in the negotiation and publication of the UK-Gibraltar concordat? Is it just bandwidth issues at the FCDO, or are there substantive issues that you are still dealing with?”

“Are you ready to publish now, or are those negotiations ongoing?”

“Are you ready to publish now, or are those negotiations ongoing?”

“If Gibraltar asked the UK to take steps under the treaty to initiate a dispute that would be detrimental to our relations with Spain or the EU, for example, how would the Government balance the demands from Gibraltar with the UK’s interests?”

“Have you received the commitment you wanted from the UK Government that it will terminate the treaty if so requested by the Government of Gibraltar, and that it will not terminate it against your wishes?”

“Have you had that commitment?”

“Thank you for joining us, Chief Minister. What has caused the continued delay in the negotiation and publication of the UK-Gibraltar concordat? Is it just bandwidth issues at the FCDO, or are there substantive issues that you are still dealing with?”

“Have you received the commitment you wanted from the UK Government that it will terminate the treaty if so requested by the Government of Gibraltar, and that it will not terminate it against your wishes?”

“Are there any areas where the Government should have gone further in giving you a role in overseeing the implementation of the treaty?”

“We heard from the Chief Minister about the impending UK-Gibraltar concordat. Can you update us on the state of play on the UK Government’s side?”

“Have you had that commitment?”