Putney MP Presses Government on Party Controversy
Fleur Anderson asks if PM will resign if he has misled Parliament
Fleur Anderson asking her questions in parliament this week
Putney MP Fleur Anderson has added to the growing pressure on the government over the issue of alleged Christmas parties by raising a number of questions in the House of Commons.
This Thursday (9 December) she was granted permission to ask an urgent question by the Speaker. Her question was address to Steve Barclay, the Minister for the Cabinet Office who she is shadowing and asked if he will make a statement on the details of the Downing Street Christmas Parties.
She said, “At this critical stage of the pandemic, public trust and confidence in the Government and Prime Minister is vital to ensure compliance and cooperation with any regulations or behavioural changes required to mitigate the effects of a possible fourth wave.”
She then told the house of a letter she received from a constituent called Sophie who told her that her mother had died on Christmas Day last year. On the 18 December when the alleged party was being held at Downing Street, Sophie’s mother was in an isolation ward with her family unable to visit her.
Ms Anderson continued, “The Prime Minster said yesterday: ‘I have been repeatedly assured that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken but I have asked the Cabinet Secretary to establish the facts’.
“This raises far more questions than it answers.
“Who gave these repeated assurances? If there was no party, why did Allegra Stratton feel the need to resign? Was she just thrown under the bus to protect Boris Johnson?
“And most importantly, if this investigation finds that the Prime Minister has misled the House, will he resign?”
The Prime Minister had announced the previous day that he will be asking the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, to lead an investigation into the reports of a party at Number 10 Downing Street on December 18 2020.
Fleur Anderson said, “I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement that he asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct an investigation. But the question has to be asked: is this a serious investigation or is this just to push it into the long grass?
“The party happened in Boris Johnson’s house, so the fact he needs an investigation at all makes me more than a little suspicious.”
She also asked for assurances that Simon Case and any of the team charged with running the investigation were not at any of the alleged parties and that the investigation should be widened to include all events around this time period withing Downing Street that may have been in breach of Covid-19 rules.
She demanded that the investigation takes place immediately and that MPs must be given the opportunity to hear and to scrutinise the details, including the terms of reference and anticipated timetable.
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December 10, 2021