Speeches by Reeves.

“I am delighted to hear about the falling waiting lists in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Waiting lists are indeed falling. Last month we announced that we had met our first step pledge to deliver 2 million additional NHS appointments seven months early. We are determined to keep up the pace of delivering our plan for c…”

“The Prime Minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office, unlike the previous Government. That is why decisive action has been taken. This is a Government in the service of working people, and we will not hesitate to take action against any Minister who fails to meet those high standards.”

“We have strengthened the ministerial code, but we do not need to take any advice from the Conservatives. What we have seen from this Prime Minister is decisive action to uphold ministerial standards. Compare that with the record of the previous Government where the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Wi…”

“The Cabinet Secretary may be asked by the Prime Minister to advise on any matter supporting the smooth running of government, including ministerial appointments. There is no written or published guidance on such matters.”

“The Government regularly evaluate the effectiveness of all communication channels, including social media, to ensure that they are delivering and providing value for money for taxpayers, and that Government messaging appears in appropriate environments.”

“I thank the hon. Member for that important question. She is absolutely right to highlight the barriers to politics that women in rural areas can face. We want more women in rural areas and around the country to be elected to local government and to Parliament. We should be proud that this House now has its highest ever…”

“I would urge some caution about conflating attack ads with intimidation outside people’s houses and offices, and harassment on the street. I understand the point that is being made, but I am not sure that they are quite the same thing.”

“In my own constituency, there was nothing markedly different, other than my changed behaviour. For example, I did not do any hustings, because I felt that the security issues would have outweighed the benefit of doing hustings. That does then impact how you reach and communicate with your electorate. Certainly, experie…”

“I think that abuse took place in a range of different places. For example, we heard of rallies—if you like—outside MPs’ and candidates’ offices, and harassment on the street. Of course, now, people have mobile phones and can start recording everything as well, which increases the intimidatory nature of it a little bit.…”

“I do not know that that is something I have necessarily thought about. I think it probably was because of social media and direct targeting. There was high recognition of candidates, particularly in target battleground areas. I do not know whether that led to more intimidation or less. It would be interesting to look a…”

“I also think that there was not necessarily consistency between different police forces and how they dealt with some of these issues, with some being markedly better than others.”

“Similarly, I would not go campaigning on my own; I would make sure there was someone always with me, travelling around as well. You just would not put yourself in that situation. I think that is a shift as well.”

“The Labour party also has codes of conduct in the rulebook that members of the party have to abide by, and they face disciplinary action if they do not. That includes codes of conduct on social media usage and on bullying and harassment, and a pledge around treating others with dignity and respect. There are then highe…”

“Are you talking about a code of conduct between parties about campaigning?”

“I would urge some caution about conflating attack ads with intimidation outside people’s houses and offices, and harassment on the street. I understand the point that is being made, but I am not sure that they are quite the same thing.”

“We provided guidance, training, briefings and materials on security and dealing with abuse and intimidation. We also had to advocate on behalf of candidates. There was a big job of work, in some cases, in having to advocate to local authorities and to the police. A number of our candidates ended up having to have close…”

“The party was involved a huge amount in that positive advocacy. I do not know of any candidates who just, of their own initiative, ended up getting a close protection officer, for example, because of representations that they had made. That came through the party, and it was something that the party was able to get put…”

“Similarly in the Labour party, we have a disciplinary and disputes committee that deals with such issues.”

“Most of the templates would be centrally produced. There will be advice on what sort of things should go into the leaflets, depending on the constituency. Leaflets should also go through our regional offices for sign-off. For example, all my literature would go to the regional director to make sure that they are happy …”

“Similarly, we have independent processes. We have the national executive committee, the national constitutional committee and regional boards, and we can convene panels to deal with any of these sorts of issues, so we have robust processes in place.”