🙏 Point of Order

• Sarah Champion raised a point of order about the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, not fulfilling his commitment to provide oral evidence to the International Development Committee, despite repeated requests.

• Madam Deputy Speaker acknowledged the issue but clarified that she has no control over ministerial appearances before Select Committees. She suggested that the Foreign Secretary might respond directly.

• Foreign Secretary David Lammy responded, stating he had already appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee and was scheduled to appear before the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee. He mentioned that another representative, Baroness Chapman, would appear before the International Development Committee soon. Lammy committed to appearing before Champion’s committee by the end of summer or during the September recess.

The disagreement level in this parliamentary session is rated as 2 out of 5 because, while there is a clear point of contention regarding the Foreign Secretary’s engagement with the International Development Committee, the disagreement is handled with a level of procedural politeness and an assurance of future action, rather than escalating into a more confrontational exchange. Sarah Champion expresses frustration about the Foreign Secretary’s absence from the committee despite repeated requests, indicating a disagreement on the urgency and priority of the Foreign Secretary’s appearance. However, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, responds directly to the point of order by outlining his recent and future engagements, which includes a promise to appear before the mentioned committee in the near future. This response somewhat mitigates the disagreement by addressing the concern and committing to a resolution, thus reducing the intensity of the disagreement. The session remains focused on procedural matters and future commitments rather than devolving into a more heated debate or personal attacks, which justifies the moderate disagreement rating.