Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP has pressed the Government to ensure full transparency around contracts awarded to companies linked to former US ambassador Peter Mandelson's consultancy Global Counsel.
During a Ministerial Statement responding to Parliament’s Humble Address motion, Julian asked the Government to confirm that Parliament would receive a full account of how companies connected to Global Counsel, co-founded by Mandelson, benefited from government defence contracts.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Julian highlighted reports that companies linked to the firm received direct government defence awards and that Global Counsel staff attended events in Washington with Mandelson.
Julian asked if future document releases would include details of the background to those awards and the attendees at the events in question, so that Parliament could properly scrutinise what happened and ensure stronger safeguards in future.
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, confirmed that further documents within the scope of the Humble Address would be published once they had been reviewed by the Metropolitan Police and cleared by the Intelligence and Security Committee.
You can watch a video of Julian's question and the Minister's response here.
In February, Julian challenged the Government in the House of Commons to provide clarity and transparency over the process leading up to major defence procurement decisions, including contracts awarded to Palantir and Anduril Technologies.
