Urgent Debates Declined — GCSB—Resignation of Director

I have received a letter from the Rt Hon Winston Peters seeking to debate under Standing Order 389 the resignation of Ian Fletcher as Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

Although the resignation was announced on 13 January 2015, today is the first opportunity on which an urgent debate application can be considered, despite the House sitting yesterday. It is therefore a case of recent occurrence and it does involve ministerial responsibility. The resignation of a senior public servant may warrant an urgent debate, but there would need to be something exceptional or urgent about the case when the House has before it such a wide-ranging debate as that on the Prime Minister’s statement. This provides ample opportunity for members to debate the GCSB if they wish to do so. In these circumstances, I am not convinced that the business of the House should be set aside today. The application is therefore declined.