Speeches by Taylor.

“Yes, thank you. The timeline is fairly clear, and it is very helpful to see in our pack the outline of that process. Apologies for dwelling on this again, but you mentioned that the check was only done after the process had been conducted. Surely the guideline and the process is that those checks are done at the outset…”

“Or just declare them.”

“A mess from beginning to end.”

“Can you remember examples? It is not completely unprecedented.”

“Again you have said it is not typical. How often do Ministers not appoint from an application process where there have been appointable candidates?”

“The appointment saw three candidates go through the whole appointment process and be found appointable, but instead of making an appointment from those three the Secretary of State actively sought a means to appoint someone else. What message does that send about having open and fair competitions?”

“Again I will return to a question earlier, about the credibility of the explanation. When many people look at politics and they are told that someone could not remember multiple £1,400 donations to an individual’s campaign, do you find that credible?”

“It is the very fact that they were such a well-known and generous donor, which also was not declared.”

“The donations to the Secretary of State’s leadership campaign that became the problem around the appointment in the end were well below the Electoral Commission threshold, which is the threshold referred to in the governance code. Should a lower threshold be established, and if so at what level should it be set?”

“We understand then from the report that you were not consulted at various stages when you should have been. What actions have you taken or will you take or do you usually take to track and monitor public appointment processes so that you are taking a more active role in understanding how processes are proceeding?”

“You say it is the worst you have seen and I assume that when you compare it and you look at other appointments processes this was the worst in class example of the art?”

“While Hanlon’s razor invites us to be charitable over the intent of mistakes made, I think many of us would question the credibility of somebody saying they could not remember such a significant donation to their individual campaign. Did you find the explanations credible?”

“I absolutely could.”

“I would like to turn now to a specific example, which has consumed some parliamentary time recently, the investigation into the appointment of the Independent Football Regulator. Setting aside the specific breaches of the code that I am sure we will come on to, what is your assessment of the overall process for the Ind…”

“The feedback from the local police force in Sutton, which is part of the trial, is that they find them incredibly helpful. There is a ringing endorsement for the orders and we look forward to seeing them rolled out more broadly.”

“On that point, will the Minister give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing this important debate and sharing her tragic experiences for the benefit of others. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) on launching the APPG for the s…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this important and timely debate. Like so many of my constituents, I was delighted to hear last week that Hong Kong BNO passport holders will keep their five-year route to settlement. The Libera…”

“It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, I offer broad support for the draft regulations. It is welcome that the CAA has lengthened the transition period in response to the consultation—the consultation seems to have been fairly well responded to. Thi…”

“It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. The text of the petition makes specific reference to “posts on social media”, as if this modern medium is somehow separate from every form of speech that came before. Social media posts take seconds to write and publish, and then they are everywhere…”