David Cameron was very grumpy with Labour’s Chris Bryant at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, sniping that as Bryant hadn’t apologised to him for speaking in the Commons about embargoed information, he wouldn’t answer his question. Bryant and his colleague Harriet Harman have made a bit of a stink about this, and today the Prime Minister wrote back to Labour’s deputy leader saying the following:
Dear Harriet,
Thank you for your letter of 17 October about my evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.
As you will be aware, on 25 April, Chris Bryant made a point of order in the House in which he suggested that I had misled the House. In making this statement, based on confidential information obtained as a Core Participant to the Leveson Inquiry, he broke an Order made under the Inquiries Act 2005. The information he used was inaccurate and therefore the suggestion that I had misled the House was not correct. Chris Bryant has apologised to Lord Justice Leveson for his actions and he has apologised to the House for misleading it. However, he has not yet apologised to me.
I am, however, happy to respond to your questions in full. As you know, I set up the Leveson Inquiry. I have co-operated fully with the Inquiry and given them all the material that they have asked for.
I am placing a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
(Signed David Cameron)
Although the PM is stressing here that he has co-operated fully with Leveson, he’s also answering Bryant’s question via Harman, which makes the whole exchange seem a little like a row at primary school. He also points out again that the shadow Home Office minister still hasn’t apologised to him, and hence he’s not speaking to him, ner-ner-ni-ner-ner, or swapping his packed lunch for a football sticker. Bryant probably won’t be expecting to be invited to Cameron’s birthday party any time soon.
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