John McDonnell

John McDonnell

Labour — Hayes and Harlington

Speaking in the House of Commons on 23 February 2026

Debate

Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review

Contribution

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not want to delay matters, but it is now being reported in the media that the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons), has accidentally messaged details of his case to a mass WhatsApp group of the 2024 intake of Labour MPs, in which he said: “Jonny rang, PM will ask Laurie to look in to it. Aim is to move fast. But PET did find I had not broken the code.” I take it that Jonny is the Chief Whip and Laurie is the independent adviser. PET is the propriety and ethics team. However, the PET cannot determine whether or not a Minister has broken the code. A Government spokesperson has said: “This was an accidental post and clearly meant for a more private conversation. It’s right that the independent adviser takes this away now.” Could I have your assurance, Mr Speaker, that whatever has been provided to this Member from the propriety and ethics team will be published immediately, and that there will be openness and transparency on this matter?

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