David Cameron to be summoned to Commons - but he'll have to stand by doorway

24 January 2024 , 00:01

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The Foreign Secretary should be forced to appear in the Commons chamber, MPs say (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

David Cameron must be forced to come to the House of Commons chamber to answer questions from an obscure spot, MPs have demanded.

The Procedure Committee, which has a majority of Tory MPs, said in a report the Foreign Secretary should be summoned to the chamber. The ex-PM's political career was resurrected last year after Rishi Sunak appointed him Foreign Secretary in a shock reshuffle.

Lord Cameron, who is no longer an MP, was also handed a life peerage in the House of Lords in order to do the £104,360-a-year job. But in their report, the group of MPs said it was "unusual" for a peer to be serving in such a high-profile role in the Cabinet.

The MPs said inviting Lords to appear at the despatch box, from where MPs address the Commons, would "risk blurring the boundaries between the two Houses". Instead, they said Lord Cameron should appear at the "bar" - the white line boundary on the Commons floor where visitors must not pass while Parliament is sitting. It comes at a time with huge tensions in global affairs with the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, and the recent UK-US air strikes in Yemen.

The Bar of the House - the white line at the bottom of the picture - marks the point which vistiors can not pass when the Commons is sitting

Tory chairwoman of the Committee Dame Karen Bradley said: “As elected representatives, Members of the House of Commons have a duty to question the Foreign Secretary. This is especially pressing in light of the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine." The former Cabinet minister added: "The committee has considered various mechanisms of scrutiny and taken the views of Members, while bearing in mind the practicalities of each proposal.

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"We have ultimately concluded that all MPs should be afforded the opportunity to question Secretaries of State who sit in the House of Lords, with the Commons Chamber providing the best forum to do so. We hope the Government implements our proposals as quickly as possible, so that MPs can best scrutinise all Secretaries of States on behalf of their constituents.”

Labour's shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell said: "This weak and chaotic Government is running scared of Parliament failing to allow MPs to scrutinise the Foreign Secretary. This welcome report from the Procedure Committee must be enacted quickly. The Tories have given up on governing, tainting politics with chaos and sleaze." A Government spokesman said: "We will carefully consider the committee's report and will respond in due course."

Since being appointed Foreign Secretary last year Lord Cameron has faced questions on China after hailing a "golden era" of relations while he was PM. His work lobbying ministers for the collapsed firm Greensill Capital during the pandemic has also come under the spotlight. Earlier this month he repeatedly refused to say how much he earned at the bank because he was a "private citizen" before rejoining the government.

Ashley Cowburn