Thank you.

Indeed.

Mr Brendan Gilmour, please.

Understood.

Yes.

As I understand it, once the information is shared with those individuals, as was always the case with ministers, they will have advisers to assist them, and as I understand it, as it were, rather more behind the scenes, that confidentiality circle can be dealt with, as can the ability ...

My Lord, can I just add one more thing?

And the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

My Lord, perhaps I should make it clear, now that list has been read out, the point that I made in writing, which is to emphasise, as it were, the basis on which the application is made on their behalf. It's not made ...

The Home Secretary.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.

Yes, he is. The Secretary of State for Education.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Deputy Prime Minister.

My Lord, the Prime Minister.

Yes. We're very grateful. We, as you know, have taken serious steps to ensure the independence of those statements so that's helpful.

We're very grateful for that indication.

Of people we ask to be core participants.

We have.

My Lord, I should perhaps tell you, on the basis that it's people who are being named, who those people are, but we can perhaps come to that at the end.

My Lord, that's entirely a view for you. I'm not going to try and draw a distinction between a minister and Mr Jay.

If you indicate to me that that is your view, I'm instructed that they are prepared to sign that.

My Lord, I can. You've seen from our written submissions that the suggestion that we had made in writing, and I've made it clear I've taken some instructions anticipating that my Lord might raise this with me, but the position that we've taken in our written ...

My Lord, yes. I don't have formal instructions on the extent to which they could or would be prepared to engage in that process, but that is precisely what I had in mind by my second basis, that the Inquiry might well be assisted in that way, as has ...

I'm grateful.

My Lord, I don't want to say anything more than is in writing. You've seen from the written submissions -- and it may be that if others haven't seen the written submissions I ought to briefly summarise them -- that we put the application on two bases.

Firstly, that ...

Which is why we cast the thing in reverse in the written argument, because once those are satisfied, then it may just be a question, if the alternative is named people, of us identifying the named people and then, I think it sounds a bit as though it's going ...

My Lord, my instructions are that if my Lord is, as it were, if I can put it this way, not enamoured of the prospect of finding the government is a person, then I'm instructed not to push that point. The important thing, as you know from the written ...

My Lord, yes, or possibly not on the basis that most of the caselaw in other contexts makes it tolerably clear, as I hope in fairness we pointed out in the skeleton submissions in writing, that government does not actually have a separate legal personality itself; it acts through a ...

My Lord, yes. I think you're referring to the issue as to whether or not the core participant which requires, in order to comply with the rules, a core participant to be a person, whether or not that concept can be applied to government more generally.

My Lord, yes. My Lord, first of all I'm very, very grateful that you've agreed to sit at such short notice on a Friday afternoon. That's made lives very much easier. You're aware, I think, of the nature of the application that we're making?