Did the foreign secretary cite a ‘made-up reference’ to the ministerial code?

In response to a question in the House of Commons on Monday about whether the UK would support the US in the event of a retaliatory strike by Iran, foreign secretary David Lammy referred to “paragraph 2.13 of the ministerial code”.

Yet in a point of order raised later in the day, Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty—who had asked Mr Lammy the original question—said: “In the current version of the ministerial code, published on 6 November 2024, there is no 2.13; chapter 2 finishes at 2.7.” He went on to accuse Mr Lammy of “misleading the House by quoting made-up references to the ministerial code to avoid scrutiny”.

It’s convention for a new prime minister to publish their own version of the ministerial code, and it is true that the current version of the ministerial code, published in November last year, does not contain a paragraph 2.13.

When we asked the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office what Mr Lammy was referring to, it pointed to Erskine May—the guide to parliamentary procedure and practice—which states in its online version: “By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code.”

This appears to refer to the previous ministerial code, published under the Sunak administration, paragraph 2.13 of which does indeed state: “The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority.”

The same sentence also appears under paragraph 2.13 in previous versions of the ministerial code, beginning with the version published under Gordon Brown in 2007. Similar guidance appeared in different parts of the code in versions published under Tony Blair.

However, this paragraph appears under 5.14 of the current ministerial code—so Mr Lammy did cite the wrong paragraph number.

We contacted the House of Commons, who told us that a new version of Erskine May is currently being prepared for publication, and that the reference to the previous ministerial code would be updated as part of that process. We’ve also contacted Mr Lammy’s office to ask if he will correct the record in Hansard.