THE new chairman of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee has scolded Number 10 over its failed attempt to seize control of the security watchdog.
MP Julian Lewis, making his first statement since being expelled from the parliamentary Conservative Party, denounced Downing Street for trying to intall its "preferred candidate" as committee chair.
Lewis said he did not respond to a call to vote for former cabinet minister Chris Grayling as he considered it to be an "improper request".
Lewis had the whip removed yesterday after securing the prestigious ISC chairmanship with the support of opposition members.
READ MORE: Tory decision to remove whip from Julian Lewis 'utter absurdity'
In a statement, the sacked MP said that the 2013 Justice and Security Act explicitly removed the right of the Prime Minister to choose the ISC chairman and gave it to the committee members.
Lewis commented: “Because the ISC is a special committee, I feel constrained in what I can say. However, the following points are relevant:
“1. The 2013 Justice and Security Act explicitly removed the right of the prime minister to choose the ISC chairman and gave it to the committee members. I remember this well, as I served on the committee from 2010 to 2015 and took part of the legislation through the Commons myself on behalf of the committee. There is no other Conservative MP in the House of Commons with any past experience of working on the ISC.
“2. It was only yesterday afternoon that I received a text asking me to confirm that I would be voting for the prime minister’s preferred candidate for the ISC chair. I did not reply as I considered it an improper request. At no earlier stage did I give any undertaking to vote for any particular candidate.
“3. In recent days, the official No 10 spokesman explicitly denied that the government was seeking to ‘parachute’ a preferred candidate in to the chair, stating that it was a matter for the senior parliamentarians on the committee to decide.
“It is therefore strange to have the whip removed for failing to vote for the government’s preferred candidate.”
Number 10 had previously denied interfering in the independent committee’s matters.
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