Historical Forced Adoption

Julian Smith Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for what she has done on this and on so many other issues. She is absolutely right that this cannot simply be a backward-looking exercise; we have to carry the principles that sit behind this apology into all the other instances when there is disrespect and a lack of regard for people’s dignity. If we commit to that, it will make the apology more meaningful, I am sure.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

May I thank the Prime Minister for the incredibly powerful statement? I was lucky enough to bring forward legislation for victims of institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland. As part of that legislation, there was an apology. Those people, like the victims in this case, waited decades for people in important positions to properly listen to them, and I think what the Prime Minister has done today is a massive step forward. Even when the apology took place in Northern Ireland, though, the churches could not bring themselves to move away from the script provided by their lawyers, so I urge every institution that has been involved in these horrendous crimes to properly say sorry. We have heard about the processes that will follow this statement, but may I urge the Prime Minister to use the considerable power that he will have as a former Prime Minister to stay involved in this issue?

[The Prime Minister]

First, I assure the right hon. Gentleman that I will stay involved in this issue; it is a deep injustice. Secondly, I thank him for his work in Northern Ireland, because it was a really important moment. He is absolutely right about the way others address these issues—he gave the example of the churches. If you say that you see someone and you hear someone, you have to see them and you have to hear them. You cannot give an apology that is just lawyer’s script. You have to listen, you have to take it in, you have to try and understand—though you cannot completely because you have not been through what they have been through.

In that regard, I would like, if I may, to thank the Secretary of State and her team for the way that they have gone about preparing this. I know that they have tried their level best to make sure that they have reflected seeing and hearing those who have been affected. It does make a difference, because an apology can be a formal form of words or it can be something that is heartfelt and meaningful. I hope beyond hope that today is received as something heartfelt and meaningful, and I extend thanks to the team in Government who have done so much work to try to ensure that that is the way that today is received.

Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address

Julian Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

Let me reassert: I really do not think Members are advocating that the raw information collected as part of national security screening interviews with people who are becoming public servants ought to be shared with Parliament. The summary of those recommendations and the advice put to Departments should be and have been shared, and I think that is the appropriate way to handle that. The hon. Gentleman asks me specifically when after the Whitsun recess the document will be published. We stand ready to do so as soon as we are able to secure the time in the House.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

This is a deeply unhappy and unacceptable situation. It is completely unacceptable, after writing and raising questions informally with officials and the Minister himself, for the Chair and members of the ISC to have to come to this House to pose an urgent question. Will the Minister confirm that if there are any changes to permissions, he will come to this House and seek approval from the House for those changes?

[Darren Jones]

I think I am right in saying that the right hon. and learned Member for Kenilworth and Southam, who secured the urgent question, made the point that the Committee was in some agreement in relation to the Government’s argument about sharing raw data. I do not think that is the issue in dispute, so I am not sure that any suggestion of withholding information against the will of the motion is in contention. The right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Sir Julian Smith) asks me about compliance with the motion more generally; I refer him to my previous answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Hilary Benn]

The provisions relating to a border poll are clearly set out in the Good Friday agreement. There is one criterion that governs such a decision, and at the moment there is no evidence that there is a majority for a constitutional change in Northern Ireland. I commit to the House, as I have done before, that I will uphold in letter and in spirit that bit of the Good Friday agreement.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

May I add to the tributes paid to the Table Clerk? Among all the advice he has given in the last 40 years, he gave particularly good advice on the meaningful vote, which left many of us traumatised, but he developed great expertise in that.

As we celebrate the Good Friday agreement, may I urge the Secretary of State to be crystal clear to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland politicians that there will be less money coming from GB, so there needs to be revenue raising and a sole focus on economic growth for the next Session of the Northern Ireland Assembly?

Lord Mandelson: Response to Humble Address Motion

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

As the House knows from previous statements on this issue, we want to ensure that where people break the rules, there are consequences for that behaviour. One of the areas where that was not the case was the appointment of life peer in the other place, as there were no provisions for taking a peerage from somebody in any circumstance. That has been a problem in the past in relation to criminal convictions and other disreputable behaviour. It is right, therefore, that the Government are working with the other place to bring forward legislation to give the authority and powers for that to happen in future, and we will come forward with those proposals in due course.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

Two Global Counsel clients benefited from direct Government defence awards and Global Counsel staff flew to Washington parties to join Peter Mandelson. Will the Minister confirm that, either in this bundle or in future documents, there will be a rigorous report to Parliament of the background to those awards and to all the parties, with guest lists, so that Parliament can see what happened and how we improve things and make sure it never happens again?

[Darren Jones]

I confirm that all other documents that are in scope of the Humble Address that are not being published today will be, subject to the Metropolitan police and clearance from the Intelligence and Security Committee, published in the next tranche.

Lord Mandelson

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

Humble Addresses are very difficult for the Government of the day and for Chief Whips. The Minister for the Cabinet Office, who has just left the Chamber, tabled many Humble Address motions that I dealt with. They are difficult from a legal point of view, and from the position of protecting the rights of the Executive to have independent advice. As the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) said, sometimes those judgments are handled in a way that, retrospectively, might have been different.

The national security element is obviously extremely important, and I pay tribute to all our intelligence services for the protection they give our country, but I believe that this Humble Address is quite different from any other that has been put before Parliament. This Humble Address is about corruption at the very heart of our democracy. In my view, the corruption does not relate to the current Government, although there are obviously differing views on their judgment and so forth. For me, this Humble Address is the route by which we will start to get to the bottom of what looks like a level of corruption that we have not seen in this Parliament in recent times. How we handle that and move forward is critical to all of us, and it is vital for public trust.

[Mr Paul Foster (South Ribble) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Sir Julian Smith]

I am not going to give away.

We heard earlier about a discussion between members of the ISC and the Government, and I know that conversations are taking place via the usual channels, but I say to Government Front Benchers that what I have heard from the House today is that it wants the Government to cede control of the relevant documents to either the House or the ISC, regardless of whether those documents relate to national security or foreign policy. I have also heard that the House is very cognisant of the fact that this place will not see all the documents. The ISC may see many of those documents and we will not see them, but the issue for the Government is whether they can make the next step to cede control of those documents to this House and the ISC.

[Alicia Kearns]

I thank my right hon. Friend for making that point. From my perspective—I wonder if he agrees with me—if the amendment had said that anything that was secret or top secret needed to be withheld, that would be a very different argument. However, the use of the very vague terminology of “national security”—which has never been used in a previous Humble Address by the Opposition, as I made clear in a point of order after Prime Minister’s questions—is a nonsense, and the idea of “international relations” is completely vague.

[Sir Julian Smith]

I agree with my hon. Friend on that point. I am aware that one of our Five Eyes allies gave a warning about Peter Mandelson. I do not know whether that is true, but I know that as a humble Back Bencher. The House now needs to know, because this is a House matter. If we do not deal with it satisfactorily, we will all be condemned by what has gone on. I urge Ministers to ensure that, in the next hour or so, the discussions focus on not just ISC involvement, but ISC oversight of all sensitive diplomatic or security-related documents.

My second point is about the nature of the Humble Address itself. It is very tempting for the Government of the day to take a narrow view of what the Opposition have asked them, but as we heard from Opposition Front Benchers, there is evidence, or at least there are allegations, about Peter Mandelson’s time in Washington. That relates to who attended embassy parties and how UK Government contracts came about last year. In my view, we should now address all these issues and get them out in the open, so that we can fully understand not just what happened and the judgment of the Government, but what was behind the threats and what our allies were worrying about, which included China, Russia and many more things than just the corrupt act itself.

This Humble Address should be regarded by the House, and particularly by the Government, as a vehicle. It is a vehicle for protecting our democracy, and for beginning to unpick exactly what happened, on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Ward]

I thank the right and learned Member for his speech earlier and for his point. Absolutely, yes; I completely recognise the point he is making. A lot of documents are covered by this motion—that is not a complaint; it is an observation. The ISC has the authority and respect of this House, and it would need resources to go with this task. If that is agreed, we will ensure that it gets those resources in the usual way.

[Sir Julian Smith]

Could the Minister confirm on the Floor of the House that the Government will also include details of how they managed conflicts of interest between Peter Mandelson’s shareholding in Global Counsel and his activities as ambassador? Specifically, could he look at the background and come back to the House about two contracts, one to Anduril technologies and one to Palantir? Those were direct-award contracts, and at least one of those companies was a client of Global Counsel.

[Chris Ward]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that and, as I mentioned at the beginning, for the way that he went about his speech. That will all be within the scope of the Humble Address. If there are specific further points regarding direct procurements which the Cabinet Office needs to look into, I will write to him and come back to him on them, because that is a fair point.

US Department of Justice Release of Files

Julian Smith Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

My hon. Friend is right to raise those concerns. As I confirmed to the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Cabinet Secretary did respond to Gordon Brown’s request to search for documents in the Government archive in relation to the sale of RBS assets to JP Morgan at the time. The review concluded that those documents did not exist in the Government archive. It is now evident from the release of documents by the US Department of Justice that the emails we have all seen account for what took place at the time. That is why the Cabinet Secretary is reviewing the archive again, not just in respect of that particular question but in the round during the time that Peter Mandelson was a Labour Minister. The Cabinet Secretary will report to the Prime Minister as soon as he has been able to do that.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

With the cash for questions scandal or the recent sexual harassment cases in Westminster, the police were called by the Government, proactively. Why, in this case, are the Government conducting an inquiry without informing the Met police? If they are not conducting their own inquiry, will they get on with calling the police straightaway, because it is inevitably going to happen?

[Darren Jones]

As I have said, the Cabinet Secretary is currently looking at the Government archives to see what documents are available and will advise the Prime Minister accordingly. If the Government can be of assistance to any investigations in due course, they of course will be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Apparently the leader of Reform is in the “lounge”. I know that he likes an early getaway at Christmas to get to his place in France. He lobbied for economic sanctions against his own country when he was in the United States, with no thought for British workers and zero patriotism. The difference is that our US deal secured the best deal for the car industry, providing certainty for the workforce at JLR—and there is more good news for the car industry this week, because Nissan is now building its new electric Leaf in Sunderland. That is the difference that a Labour Government make.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

Q8. May I compliment the Prime Minister on the work that he has done on Ukraine, and wish him well over Christmas on that topic? Pubs are at the centre of rural communities in areas such as North Yorkshire, but they are under more pressure than ever before. May I urge the Prime Minister and the Government to look again at the rates issue, and to look at how to relax transitional relief for those pubs, many of which will otherwise close?

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I know just how important that school is to parents and children in his constituency, and share his determination to fix the broken SEND system. That is why we have boosted investment in SEND to £12 billion, to put new facilities and tailored support in place for children who have long been failed. We want decisions to be taken swiftly, and I will ask the schools Minister to update my hon. Friend about that particular school.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

Q2. Those on family farms in North Yorkshire and across the UK are increasingly worried about the tax changes coming up next year. We really need the next generation of family farms to keep farming for our national food security. The Centre for the Analysis of Taxation has produced an excellent, detailed academic report proposing a number of compromise amendments and changes that would both deliver for the Government and protect the family farm. I realise that the Prime Minister cannot comment on the Budget, but will he and the Chancellor look at that report as they prepare for the end-of-November Budget?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that food security is national security. I believe that our reforms strike the right balance, enabling investment in the public services that rural communities rely on. I thank him for drawing my attention to that report; he is right to do so. What really matters is increasing the year-on-year profitability of our farmers, which is why the former president of the National Farmers Union is leading a review of farm profitability for us. We are also delivering a 25-year farming road map and boosting export opportunities through the EU and US trade deals. That is backed by the £11.8 billion in the Budget for farming.

Middle East

Julian Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Tom Fletcher is leading our work in relation to this, and we have been clear throughout that aid cannot get in at the scale and volume that is needed without the UN. That is why we have always championed and said that the UN should be part of that distribution.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

It is fitting that this statement is followed by one on Northern Ireland. The UK has world-leading experience in sustaining peace, whether it is security, intelligence or military, and whether it is decommissioning, policing or political institutions. Could I urge the Prime Minister to do an audit of the generations of civil servants and, dare I say, special advisers who have experience in this area and put them on offer, to sustain this peace deal?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Member for that suggestion. I also want to acknowledge his role in Northern Ireland. He was rightly held in high respect in Northern Ireland and across this House and continues to be, because of what he did and the way in which he went about it; that should be a model for so many more of us in this House. The idea of reaching into the expertise we have across different parties and different Governments is one that I will take up, so I thank him for that suggestion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I do not have in front of me the exact data that my hon. Friend has requested—I am not entirely sure that exact data exists—but what I can say, based on decades of experience, is that women and girls in our country are far more at risk from people who know our names, and whose names we know, and who we work among and live alongside. The idea of “stranger danger” is one that most women do not recognise; the people they fear are people they know.

[Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

The Parole Board is extremely concerned about the impact on domestic abuse victims of the Sentencing Bill that is now before the House. I urge her to keep in close discussion with members of the Parole Board and with the Justice Secretary as the Bill progresses.

[Jess Phillips]

I absolutely make that commitment here today. Throughout the progress of any such sentencing changes, the Home Office, the Minister with responsibility for victims and I have been heavily involved, and we will continue to be ensure that, despite the difficult situation that we were left, every possible safeguard is in place.