David Cameron could be forced to come to Commons chamber to answer questions from MPs as new Foreign Secretary

David Cameron may face the humiliation of being summoned to face earlier than MPs within the Commons chamber to reply questions as the brand new Overseas Secretary.

Senior MPs are contemplating invoking the historic process of calling Lord Cameron earlier than the Bar of the Home to make sure that he’s absolutely accountable to the elected Commons.

The extraordinary transfer was mooted amid fury from many MPs that he would in any other case reply solely to the unelected Home of Lords – not the Commons.

Embarrassingly for the previous Prime Minister, summoning somebody to the Bar of the Home – a white line which marks the formal boundary of the Commons chamber which non-MPs can’t cross – has been deployed to situation reprimands.

It was final utilized in 1957 when newspaper editor Sir John Junor was pressured to apologise for publishing an article suggesting that MPs have been getting greater than their truthful of petrol throughout rationing.

Nonetheless, final night time, The Mail on Sunday was instructed that such was the anger that the Overseas Secretary would perform his essential Cupboard job from the Lords that the rarely-used measure might be invoked. 

The plan emerged amid claims that Overseas Workplace Minister and Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, the following most senior Minister within the division, had demanded the formal title of Deputy Overseas Secretary as he’ll deputise for Lord Cameron within the Commons.

A supply stated: ‘Everybody is looking him DFS, not after the couch retailer however for Deputy Overseas Secretary.’

Mr Mitchell denied that, saying: ‘I’ve not requested that – it was the BBC which referred to me as that. I made clear within the Commons that I’ve been requested to talk for the Overseas Secretary there.’

Many MPs have been furious at Rishi Sunak’s shock resolution final week to recall the ex-PM, who left the Commons in 2016, to function Overseas Secretary by giving him a seat within the Lords.

Inside hours of the appointment, the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle instructed MPs that he had ‘commissioned recommendation from the Clerks about doable choices’ to ensure the Overseas Secretary was accountable to the Commons.

And final night time, a senior MP near the Commons’ Process Committee – which is now anticipated to look into the problem – stated utilizing the facility to summon Lord Cameron might be the reply. 

The difficulty of requiring friends who have been Ministers to return to the Commons was final thought-about when ex-Labour MP Peter Mandelson entered the Lords in 2008 and given key Cupboard jobs by Gordon Brown. 

The senior MP added: ‘Anybody might be referred to as earlier than the Bar of the Home – it is fairly doable that might be a suggestion to cope with this new scenario.’

Different measures being thought-about are understood to be the much less drastic possibility of fixing Commons guidelines to permit Lord Cameron to talk from the Dispatch Field or just query him within the Westminster Corridor venue shared by the Lords and Commons.

It’s understood that as a peer, he may technically reject a Commons summons however MPs stated it could be a ‘horrible look’ if he did so.

Final night time, insiders stated that he was already conscious of the specter of a summons and was dreading it, with oneally saying he would look ‘just like the accused within the dock’.

Nonetheless, Tory MP and former Commons Chief Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg stated that to keep away from the previous PM having to face, ‘we would supply him a chair to make it a bit of extra snug’.

Sir Jacob additionally harassed that there was precedent within the nineteenth Century for a peer to provide proof from the Bar of the Commons chamber.

The Overseas Workplace harassed that Mr Mitchell had already promised to ‘observe the precedent’ set by earlier Governments and deputise for Lord Cameron within the Commons.