Urgent Debates Declined — Overseas Trusts Review—Appointment of John Shewan

I have received a letter from Andrew Little seeking to debate under Standing Order 389 the Government’s decision to appoint John Shewan to investigate the revelations from the Panama Papers. The Government’s appointment of a person to conduct some inquiry is a particular case of recent occurrence involving ministerial responsibility. The test for whether a particular case requires the immediate attention of the House is a high one. Not every ministerial announcement of an appointment will give sufficient grounds for an urgent debate to be held. There must be an element of urgency or substantive policy change for the matter to take precedence over other business. I am not convinced that the appointment of a person to conduct an inquiry warrants an urgent debate. The application is therefore declined.