Labour is today pledging to use its next available Opposition Day
to table an Humble Address that will force the government to
share the relevant government security and risk assessments
regarding the Home Secretary’s leaks and security lapses, and the
information given to the Prime Minister before her reappointment
with Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee.
The party has repeatedly raised concerns about reappointing as Home Secretary and
questioned her fitness for office in the wake of a series of
alleged leaks.
Labour has demanded on several occasions that the Home Secretary
comes to parliament and answer questions on the security lapses
that resulted in her firing, but she has repeatedly refused.
The government is currently running scared of giving Labour any
parliamentary time for an Opposition Day following the fracking
vote. But the party has already consulted with clerks and is
drafting a motion ready to table when time is allocated.
Labour previously used a similar motion that required the
government to publish redacted documents about the appointment of
Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords.
The motion would be binding and if passed the government would be
forced to send the relevant documents.
Labour will also be pressing for the release of all the
government documents that have been shared by the Home Secretary
with , and a list of the government
leak inquiries involving .
MP, Shadow Home
Secretary, said:
" and cannot keep running away
from these questions. It is far too serious for that, and raises
serious doubts about the Prime Minister’s judgement.
People need to know they can trust the Home Secretary with highly
sensitive information and our national security. Rishi Sunak’s
decision to reappoint was deeply irresponsible.
Labour will use every parliamentary mechanism open to force
government to come clean over her reappointment, to get answers
and to require detailed documents to be released to the
Intelligence & Security Committee.
Our country’s security is too important for this Tory chaos”
Ends
Notes
Previous motion in reference to Evgeny Lebedev
That, given the concerns raised about the appropriateness of, and
process for, appointing as a member of the House of
Lords and the role of the Prime Minister in that process, an
humble Address be presented to Her Majesty that she will be
graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before
this House, no later than 28 April,
(a) any document held by the Cabinet Office or the Prime
Minister’s Office containing or relating to advice from, or
provided to, the House of Lords Appointments Commission
concerning the appointment of Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev as a
Member of the House of Lords; and
(b) the minutes of, submissions relevant to and electronic
communications relating to, any meeting within the Cabinet Office
or the Prime Minister’s Office at which the appointment of , or advice relating to that
appointment, was discussed in a form which may contain
redactions, but such redactions shall be solely for the purposes
of national security.
