With the confirmation, reported in The Times, that Nadine Dorries is in line for House of Lords selection as part of Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, the actions of the former secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, as well as Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire are pulled into focus.
Dorries has come in for heavy criticism from thedDigital, culture, media and sport committee. It was specifically over comments she made to them regarding verbal evidence she had provided on her participation in the Channel 4 documentary, ‘Tower Block of Commons’ which was filmed in 2010.
Special Report
It was on 15 May 2022 when, as part of a regular scrutiny session conducted by the committee, Dorries made her comments, to an audible reaction to those present.
The report stated that she told the committee:
“The parents of some of the boys in that programme contacted me and came here to have lunch to tell me that the boys were in acting school. They were not really living in a flat — they were not real. They were actually actors… If you remember, there was a pharmacist I went to see who prepared food; she was also a paid actor as well.”
It should be noted that when a person is giving evidence to a committee, their evidence is afforded the protection of parliamentary privilege and cannot be used against them in a court of law. In effect, you cannot be sued for slander.
In response Rena Spaine, one of the parents identified, told Sky News: “It was a blatant lie and she knew. I don’t know where she is getting that rubbish from.”
By saying what she did, protected by privilege, the minister for digital, culture, media and sport, had accused Channel 4 of a serious breach of editorial practice and gross misrepresentation.
As a result Channel 4, along with the production company, ‘Love Productions’, launched an independent investigation, overseen by external lawyers. That investigation included interviewing the crew and those involved in the production, as well as watching over 80 hours of raw footage filmed for the series.
Two months later, on 15 July, Channel 4 issued a statement to the effect that they could not find any evidence to support the claims made by the secretary of state.
Ministerial Code
Meanwhile, on 1 July the committee wrote to the secretary of state, reminding her that the ministerial code applied in committee meetings as well as in the house of commons itself, and gave her the opportunity to correct the record.
Dorries replied: “I set out my experiences on taking part in the programme in my comments during the Select Committee and stand by those remarks. I do not wish to add anything further at this time.”
A few days later, the then prime minister Boris Johnson, resigned. There then followed speculation that Dorries would be appointed to the House of Lords as part of his resignation honours list.
In September the committee wrote to Dorries again, with a second opportunity to correct the record with the chair person asking her to reconsider “your claims about the programme and acknowledge that your recollection may have been wrong or to provide evidence that you are correct”.
Dorries responded, saying that the person claiming to be the actor was a totally different person, not the people she had previously mentioned in committee, and that this person, whose name she could not remember, was portrayed as being homeless on the programme. Dorries has never repeated the accusations outside of parliament.
Conclusion
The committee were not impressed with either her original statements or her attempts to correct the record. The committee stated: “We are concerned Ms Dorries appears to have taken an opportunity, under the protection of privilege, to traduce the reputation of Channel 4.”
They also made it clear that had she remained as secretary of state, they would have referred her to the privileges committee. Instead they published the report to allow the ‘House and its members to draw their own conclusion’.
These findings have led to some seeking to block Nadine Dorries’ path to the House of Lords. Approval comes first from the House of Lords appointments commission, the prime minister and then the King. It remains to be seen whether she makes it through the gauntlet.
