Speeches by Powell.

“Absolutely, that is part of where the balance needs to be struck. We do not want a House of Commons of—I say this, although I am often categorised as one myself—career politicians, or people who have always been on that sort of route. We live in a more febrile political context. We have seen a huge change in this elect…”

“The whole point of it is not to get into the specifics, because in a sense, that is what a principles-based approach gives you. The Commissioner has outlined some very helpful starting points for principles, but I would very much welcome this Committee considering whether those principles are the right ones, how they m…”

“To your first point, it is not a full-time job; it is a way of life. We are office holders. This is a commitment to our constituents, to our country, that there are no boundaries to. We all know that. I am never not a Member of Parliament; I am never not at work, really. I arrived here pregnant and I always remember wh…”

“Well, this goes back to the question of whether we think the House as a whole benefits from having a range of expertise in it, and people with a range of previous experience—and in some cases, current experience—of the things that we are looking at. I personally think that the House does benefit from that and we do not…”

“I am sorry; I will be shorter.”

“To your first point, I think that is a really important question and one that this Committee has considered on a number of occasions—and will, I am sure, continue to do so. The role of the Commissioner and his—but it may at some point in the future be “her”—relationship with this Committee is obviously a matter for thi…”

“Look, we are not talking about a principle that is like the one you just described; we are talking about specific principles, as advised by the Commissioner himself, who therefore felt that they would be policeable and enforceable—because, absolutely, they have to be. Do all members of the Committee have a copy of that…”

“I think that is probably the hardest of the three to say that we would do—because of those reasons—but the second and third principles are really clear, understandable and what I would hope you would focus on as a Committee. The second of them is about potential conflict of interest, which is a well-understood principl…”

“Exactly. I think the conflict of attention potentially does lead to the prohibition of everything and—”

“Of course.”

“This is in addition to the rules, by the way—not to replace the current code, but to overlay it with further advice. To be clear, I am not talking about throwing away all the current rules and replacing them with principles. As I say, you have to be careful not to design the rules around particular cases or around tryi…”

“I think probably there were a couple.”

“I do not want to talk about specific cases.”

“You make a good point. Obviously, there is work that people might do as volunteers or for charity or other things, but I have focused what I am proposing on the conflict of interest and on monetising your role as an MP as the things that I think are most problematic. Things that we do in a voluntary capacity can add to…”

“As I said, that is why that one is challenging. As Gareth was saying, does me having three children detract from me being an effective MP? I would argue obviously not, but we all have things in our life—caring responsibilities or other challenges—that we have to juggle. This is not quite related to your point, but we a…”

“Of course. There are obviously already clear rules about the nature of paid work, declaring it and being fully transparent about it. Overlaying that, there are some further principles, of which these three are examples. I was giving an example under the third principle: whether a reasonable observer might think that yo…”

“As the Member of Parliament with the highest number of pubs in their constituency, I strongly echo the hon. Member’s support for the hospitality sector and the vital role it plays in keeping our high streets, town centres and city centres vibrant, with all the employment, joy and everything else that they bring. It has…”

“Absolutely. I am really sorry to hear of the death of my hon. Friend’s cousin John from mental health issues. He is absolutely right to raise this, especially at this time of year when we have dark nights and cold weather. It is after Christmas, and many people do not feel as optimistic at the start of the new year as …”

“May I, too, wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the whole House a very happy new year? I send all our sympathies to the residents of Los Angeles who are being hit by wildfires—the situation unfolding there is very concerning indeed. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate a fellow northerner, Luke Littler, on …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important matter, which I know is of wide interest in this House; it has been raised many times over the years that I have been a Member of Parliament. I understand the concern about the imminent deadline, so I will ensure that either she has a discussion with a Minister or a Min…”