Speeches by Anderson.

“Okay. Which part of the process do you think went wrong the most? We went through the different parts—the due diligence, the security vetting, the additional vetting, no fireside chat and the reliance on someone having to disclose after that—so which part needs to be changed the most?”

“You say “us”. Who was it that carried that out?”

“Was it you? Who did it?”

“I have a final question on that part of the process. Would it have been up to Lord Mandelson in that interview to declare anything, or would you have gone to that interview having done some work on what was in the public domain that you could question him about?”

“Yes.”

“Sir Chris, process 2 is the standard process for developed vetting, which I understand is the level of clearance that a senior ambassador, such as the ambassador to the USA, would have. Could you give us some information about that process?”

“Where in that process is the conversation about what someone’s interests are beyond that—the personal interests, where Epstein would have come up in the vetting process? There were a couple of investigations at the end of that list: is that likely to be where the conversation would come up? Also, what is the end produc…”

“For this appointment specifically, Sir Olly, the Cabinet Secretary said that “a thorough process to understand and consider” Lord Mandelson’s “private interests” was carried out as part of “the usual ambassadorial appointments process”. There wasn’t a panel interview so who carried out that assessment? Having done so, …”

“In the interview for Lord Mandelson, was he given the opportunity? Was he asked, however it was worded: “Could you tell us anything that would bring the Government into disrepute?””

“So that offer was there. In the letter to Simon Hoare—”

“For Lord Mandelson’s appointment, was it the same situation—he already had the security clearance and so did not need to be vetted? Was there any difference from the normal process for his appointment?”

“When in that process does the security vetting take place, normally?”

“I am delighted to speak in this Committee, having campaigned for this legislation for four years. In the UK, over 11 billion wet wipes are used annually—that is probably a conservative estimate; actually, far more are used—and wet wipes cause 93% of sewer blockages and fatbergs. Anyone who has seen a fatberg will not f…”

“I welcome this important debate and thank the hon. Member for Reigate (Rebecca Paul) very much on behalf of the many constituents who come to my surgeries, who write to me, and who I meet when I am out and about in the many developments across Putney, Southfields, Roehampton and Wandsworth town. I speak today on behalf…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The water companies need to invest in new ways of stopping sewage going out of their systems and in cleaning up our rivers, and not having to spend so much money coming out to clear up the blockages. That is down to wet wipes, so my hon. Friend is exactly right. The third reason …”

“This is a whole-of-society campaign. I think it is equivalent to when we reduced the use of plastic bags. There had to be some Government regulation, but there also had to be a change of attitude among the people using plastic bags—we need that here. We need Government regulation to push it through faster, otherwise th…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of banning plastic in wet wipes. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank colleagues across the House who have supported my campaign to ban plastic in wet wipes. I am also grateful to: the Marine Conservation Society; Thames21;…”

“The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has put his finger on the button, because this is about not flushing wet wipes, no matter what they are made from. Banning plastic in wet wipes is one step forward, but we need to do more. This is a UK-wide issue; no part of the UK is unaffected. What is the problem? Why am …”

“Do you partner with the Open University? I did my Open University exams in the British Council buildings in Nairobi, so I know that there is some commercial office space. You said that you were going to grow online, and we have the Open University, which is excellent at providing those services. Do you have those kinds…”

“You have talked a lot about areas in which you have had to make cuts. In your 2024 strategy, you set out targets for growth—for example, the number of English tests, opening coding hubs, and partnering with civil society groups, which I saw for myself in the west bank, where I saw some work being done with Palestinian …”