Minister says government ‘working at pace’ on legislation to remove Andrew from line of successionpublished at 15:51 GMT
15:51 GMT
Just before MPs passed the motion, Bryant took a moment to “praise the work of our present trade envoys”, who he said are “all accountable through the minister of trade and through the department”.
Pivoting to calls for Andrew to be removed from the line of succession, Bryant said the government is “working at pace on this and we intend to be able to bring forward legislation when we can” – but said he wasn’t able to commit to a specific date.
The minister said this situation “wasn’t about power, this was about influence and influence can be just as pernicious”.
“I would dearly, dearly love to be able to stand at this despatch box and say that it will never happen again,” he said, “but I would bet my bottom dollar that there are young people today who are being abused by rich, wealthy, arrogant, entitled people and it will continue”.
He added: “We must do everything in our power to make sure that the deference, influence and complicity does not allow that to happen. But in the end, the only recourse we have is the court of law.”