Defence written question – answered at on 20 December 2011.
Caroline Lucas
Leader of the Green Party
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the pre-posting briefing meeting held in the Ministry of Defence in September 2010 for Mr Matthew Gould as HM Ambassador Designate to Israel with his predecessor and Mr Adam Werritty, referred to at paragraph 6, page 2 of the report by the Cabinet Secretary on allegations against right hon. Dr Liam Fox MP was held in a private official room; which departmental officials were present at that meeting; whether official notes of the meeting were taken; and if he will make a statement.
Philip Hammond
The Secretary of State for Defence
holding answer
As the Cabinet Secretary’s report states
“I understand that this was a general discussion on international defence and security matters to enable Mr Gould better to understand MOD’s perspective of the security situation in the Middle East.”
The meeting was held in the Defence Secretary’s office. Mr Gould was present as Her Majesty’s Ambassador Designate. It was a general discussion; no officials from the Ministry of Defence were present, therefore no official record or notes were taken.
Yes1 person thinks so
No2 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
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Parliamentary questions are conventionally answered within seven days of being lodged, or on a particular day for so-called "Named Day" questions. (Source: House of Commons Information Office, Factsheet P1, "Parliamentary Questions")
A holding answer may be issued by a Minister if, for whatever reason, a substantive or final answer to the question cannot be provided in the time available.
