Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, provides update to House of Commons in wake of latest scandals
The government has provided an update on its ongoing efforts to improve standards in public life, following last week’s revelations about the extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein, as revealed in documents released by the United States Department of Justice.
Photo by Marcin Nowak / Unsplash
Last year, Lord Mandelson was sacked from his job as US ambassador after details emerged about the relationship. The disclosure of further details led to Mandelson resigning from the Labour party earlier this month, while Morgan McSweeney also resigned as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, told MPs yesterday that the government will introduce new legislation to enable peerages to be stripped from disgraced peers, such as Lord Mandelson, who will also be removed from the list of Privy Councillors.
The process of making direct ministerial appointments is also being revised, including politically appointed diplomatic roles. The aim is to ensure that where the role requires access to classified material, the candidate must successfully undergo national security vetting.
The government is also committed to working with the new Ethics and Integrity Commission, and will look again at the current system for declaring financial interests of ministers and senior officials. Transparency around lobbying and the use of non-corporate communication channels – such as officials using private email accounts for government-related work – will also be considered.
The Committee on Standards is already looking at the issue of politicians’ second jobs, while the Public Office (Accountability) Bill introduced last autumn would introduce a duty of candour for public bodies and staff.
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