Sir Alan Campbell

I join the hon. Gentleman in sending our condolences to the friends and family of Martin Chivers, and our best wishes to Kevin Keegan for what we hope will be a swift recovery. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his work and the work of the Backbench Business Committee, and for updating the House on Backbench Business debates going forward. He is right that I did not announce the business for 22 January and I have listened to what he said. I will do everything that I can to ensure that we find time for the debate which I was disappointed was postponed on Monday, and we will see if we can accommodate that. On the serious matter that he raised about Met police recruitment, the Home Secretary has launched an investigation into the Met’s recruitment and vetting processes, which will be led by the police watchdog, His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services. Abandoning vetting checks on police officers was a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe. The public rightly expect officers to undergo robust checks so that the brightest and best, not the criminals, are the ones policing our streets. On updating the House on what action needs to be taken and whether the issue goes beyond the Metropolitan police, I am sure that when the Home Secretary has the findings of that investigation she will, of course, want to update the House.