Darren Jones MP: speeches

Speeches

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  Cabinet Ministers have received instructions from the Cabinet Office about the declaration of the information that they hold on either corporate or personal communications channels, and they have all complied with that direction.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right. There is a whole series of processes that this Government inherited as the status quo, including the due process from the previous Administration that was used in the past for other political appointments and direct ministerial appointments. This episode has shown that those processes needed to be updated, and the Government are working on modernising those rules and will bring those reforms to the House in due course.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  In the first instance, officials make those judgments and refer those requests to the Intelligence and Security Committee, where parliamentarians take a view.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  I am not quite clear what the question was in relation to the Humble Address. In relation to the Committee of Privileges motion before the House tomorrow, I refer to my previous answer.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  The Cabinet Office has now processed all the documents ready for the second tranche. In relation to the Intelligence and Security Committee, those final documents have been sent or will be sent today. In relation to who decides whether a document is referred to the Committee, that is based on officials screening each document to see whether they engage international relations or national security, and whether they warrant a redaction request.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  The tranche of documents will be published in the normal way to ensure that parliamentary privilege is attached to those documents and any debate that we subsequently have in relation to them. The hon. Gentleman asked me questions about personal devices and personal communications channels, which we refer to as “non-corporate communications channels” or “NCCCs” in the documents that we have published. I confirm that all relevant stakeholders who had to consider submissions to the Humble Address process have been told that that includes their personal devices and personal channels as well as any Government-owned devices and Government channels. I thank him again for his work and confirm to the House that he, as Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, kindly agreed to look at documents given to the Metropolitan police in relation to the police investigation so that we had a way—albeit a closed way—of showing due process and transparency to the House in relation to the Humble Address.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my previous answer.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  I can confirm that the Government’s agreed process with the Committee stands.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Lord Mandelson Humble Address: Government Response Update · Hansard source

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  I am happy to reconfirm that all redactions are in black in the documents that are being published in the Humble Address tranches. All documents that the Government hold in relation to that period of time have been published in the first tranche. Of course, decisions are communicated sometimes orally and sometimes in writing. The hon. Gentleman also asked me specifically about Simon Case’s advice and the process that was followed subsequently. I refer him to the letter published this afternoon from the previous Cabinet Secretary, who confirmed to the Prime Minister that due process had been followed.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent question. I can confirm that the Foreign Office is part of our contingency planning work at the centre of Government. On all issues, we look at the international data available to us, and the Foreign Office will keep that in consideration when trying to support allies and partners, as well as ensuring security and resilience for the UK.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  May I begin by wishing the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith), a happy birthday, and noting the generosity and co-ordination of the House in not submitting a single question for him to answer today? I encourage Members to submit particularly difficult questions for him in future. I will update the House on some of the work that I am leading in response to the war in the middle east. As part of our work with the new middle east response committee, I am chairing a new contingency planning ministerial group. It will focus on preparing for and mitigating, where possible, any impact on our economy and domestic security as a result of the conflict. I am convening relevant Secretaries of State twice a week, with their permanent secretaries, to scrutinise plans and ensure that we are prepared for different outcomes across major and relevant UK supply chains. The conflict in the middle east is not our war, and while we do not know how long it will last, we are acting now to protect the British people. I look forward to keeping the House updated on this work in the coming weeks and months.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The House will understand that I am not at liberty to comment on a potential ongoing employment dispute.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  As I have said from the Dispatch Box, the victims of Jeffrey Epstein want to see justice. A criminal investigation by the police is under way, and it is right that the House does not interfere with that process and works with the Metropolitan police to allow them to undertake their work.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I can confirm that we take this matter deeply seriously and, as I say, we reserve the right to do so once the facts have been established through the inquiry.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  As I confirmed to the House, I think, a day or so ago, a leak inquiry has begun. When further facts are established, we reserve the right to do so.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We are working in co-operation with the Metropolitan police. As the hon. Member would expect, and as I am sure the House would agree, we do not want to do anything that would interfere with the police process.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I do not have that information to hand.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I think any constituency MP would find those circumstances utterly unacceptable. If the hon. Member writes to me, I will ensure that I pass the information to colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to see what we can do.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend will recognise that appointments to the civil service are made on the basis of employment law, which is different from the situation for Ministers and Members of this House, but it is right that the Government have changed the rules to ensure that disgraced politicians do not receive payouts for wrongdoing, which is what happened under the last Conservative Administration.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  It is not the view of the Prime Minister or the Government that the Prime Minister needs to do so.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  I think the difference between the words “that” and “any” is not of material relevance to the question that the shadow Minister is putting to the House. The Prime Minister has not misled the House. The testimony of the Prime Minister and of Sir Olly Robbins is very clearly on the record, and that makes the case.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  Good morning, Mr Speaker. It is nice to be back in the Chamber. [ Laughter. ] Since coming into office, the Prime Minister has published a new and strengthened ministerial code that places emphasis on the importance of public service and new principles on gifts and hospitality, and includes strengthened powers for the independent adviser on ministerial standards. The Prime Minister has also introduced new rules on severance. Ministers who leave office after having been found to have seriously breached the code are expected to forgo their severance pay, and former Ministers who are found to have seriously breached the business appointment rules are expected to repay any severance too. Colleagues across the House will remember the spectacle of former Tory Minister after former Tory Minister receiving it during the last Parliament, but that has now ended under this Labour Government.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  I reassure the hon. Member and the House that the ultimate accountability for the Prime Minister is both to this House and to the public at a general election.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Ministerial Code · Hansard source

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  The Prime Minister has spent very many hours at the Dispatch Box this week being held to account and answering questions on a whole range of issues. In respect of the particulars of the hon. Lady’s question, I refer her to the Prime Minister’s words of only yesterday.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Cross-departmental Working · Hansard source

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  In January I announced that I was giving Government Departments more freedom, hand in hand with greater accountability, to take the initiative to move fast and fix things. Project Reset went live this month, slashing the number of central approval processes to streamline decision making across Government. We will also shortly announce the first delivery taskforces to break down departmental silos and accelerate delivery of the Prime Minister’s priorities.