MPs considering using arcane measure to allow Cameron to take Commons questions

MPs are considering whether to use an arcane procedure to allow Lord David Cameron to face questions in the Commons.

The measure said to be favoured by the Procedure Select Committee involves calling the Foreign Secretary to the Bar of the House of Commons, in a move that allows people who have not been elected to be quizzed.

It was previously utilised in 1814 to allow the Duke of Wellington to update Parliament on the Napoleonic Wars but it has not been deployed for almost 70 years, according to evidence given to the committee.

According to a report by The New Statesman magazine, the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Dame Karen Bradley, is set to recommend the Commons adopt the measure to allow Lord Cameron to be scrutinised in person by the whole House.

If correct, that recommendation would come despite reservations being raised by the Labour Party and a warning by a Government minister that it could have the “unintended effect” of allowing a future prime minister to come from the Lords.

A committee spokesman said: “The Procedure Committee has undertaken an inquiry into how members of the House of Commons can scrutinise secretaries of states in the Lords.

“The committee will report back with its proposals shortly.”

Downing Street said it would consider any recommendations made.

The cross-party committee opened an inquiry in November looking into how the accountability of Cabinet ministers in the House of Lords could be improved following the former prime minister’s return to front line politics.

Lord Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a Cabinet reshuffle last year.

Traditionally, only MPs are permitted to sit on the green Commons benches and, if they are appointed ministers, to give evidence from the despatch box.

But the appointment of Lord Cameron — who quit as prime minister after the 2016 Brexit result and resigned as an MP three months later — into a senior position in Government has raised questions about accountability for ministers in the upper house.

Currently, the Foreign Secretary gives statements in the Lords, with a junior Foreign Office minister repeating it in the Commons.

Lord Cameron has also appeared before committees since his return to Westminster, including giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee this month.

After Lord Cameron’s appointment, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he wanted to see proposals from the Government “on how the Foreign Secretary will be properly accountable to this House.”

According to the Institute for Government, following the appointment of Lord Mandelson as business secretary in 2008 by former prime minister Gordon Brown, there was debate over whether the Commons should adapt its procedures to allow MPs to directly scrutinise secretaries of state who sit in the Commons.

But the think tank said changes were never introduced.

Taking questions from the Procedure Committee last month about the prospect of Lord Cameron speaking from the Bar, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said her front bench colleague was “keen to accommodate what the Commons’ optimal solution is” for improving opportunities for MPs to hold him to account.

Lucy Powell, Labour’s shadow Commons leader, told the panel’s inquiry on December 18 that having Lord Cameron answer questions from the Bar of the House was “not the optimal option”.

She instead suggested that a large committee room in Parliament could be used to act as a Grand Committee during which the senior Tory could face questions from elected representatives.

The inquiry was told by Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart that the Commons regularly invited non-MPs to speak to the chamber in the 19th century.

He said the Duke of Wellington in 1814 asked to come to the Bar of the House to thank the Commons for its support after the Peninsula War in Spain.

The minister said the procedure was last used in 1957 when journalist Sir John Junor was called to the bar to be reprimanded for contempt of Parliament.

Mr Burghart said the committee should be aware that any recommendation for Lord Cameron to take questions in the Commons could have “unintended effects”.

He said: “Starting to have secretaries of state in the Lords and them coming to the Commons to give evidence would probably lead over time to more secretaries of state being in the Lords.

“It might, over time, lead to prime ministers being in the Lords. That is not inevitable, but it is something that the committee might wish to bear in mind.”

Nadine Dorries, an ex-MP and an ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, recently floated the idea of a potential return for Lord Cameron as Tory Party leader.

The former No 10 incumbent laughed off the suggestion, however, telling Times Radio: “Well, she’s always been a much better novelist than a political forecaster. I think I’ll leave it at that.”

A Number 10 spokeswoman, asked about the suggestion Lord Cameron could be called to the Commons bar, said: “The Foreign Secretary provides evidence to select committees and takes questions in the House of Lords.

“He is also represented by a minister of state in the Commons answering questions, so in that respect he is fully accountable to Parliament.

“But I think any recommendations or reports coming through from various committees would be looked at in the usual way…

“We are confident we have the right arrangements in place to ensure that the Government is held to account and scrutinised in both Houses.”

Lord Cameron has been approached for comment.