Barry Gardiner

Barry Gardiner

Labour — Brent West

Speaking in the House of Commons on 20 April 2026

Debate

Security Vetting

Contribution

The Prime Minister has the right to expect that his senior civil servants will always tell him the truth and the whole truth. He will recall that Mrs Thatcher used to say of Lord Young that she liked David because he always brought her solutions and not problems, while her other Ministers brought her problems. Does he believe that there is a problem within the civil service that promotion and advancement is on the back of not giving your Ministers problems and that on this occasion the senior official at the FCDO knew that if he did tell the Prime Minister what he ought to have told the Prime Minister, he was bringing him a problem?

More from Barry Gardiner

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

For Barry Gardiner's full parliamentary record including voting history, expenses and all other contributions, see the Barry Gardiner report card.

Partner sites