How official positions change on the record

Correcting a statement to Parliament

The UK Ministerial Code, in the version updated on 29 June 2026, says it is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity ¹. The Code says the most important announcements of government policy should be made first in Parliament when it is sitting ¹.

Written ministerial statements are one record of such announcements. They are published online shortly after Parliament receives them and are reproduced in Hansard ⁹.

Dropping or withdrawing a parliamentary assurance

In India, an assurance must be fulfilled within three months ⁴. A department that cannot implement it must ask the Committee on Government Assurances to drop it, through the Online Assurances Monitoring System, normally within a week and with the prior approval of the minister ⁴. In one review adopted on 25 July 2023, the Lok Sabha committee recorded 13 assurances of one department as dropped with its consent ⁴.

The committee does not have to agree. Its Eighteenth Report of the 17th Lok Sabha, dated February 2021, listed requests for dropping that it did not accede to ⁵. In Uganda, Rule 186 of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament deals with withdrawal of an assurance ⁸.

Adjusting or leaving a climate commitment

Article 4.11 of the Paris Agreement says a party may at any time adjust its existing NDC with a view to raising its level of ambition ². Article 4.3 says each new NDC will represent a progression beyond the current one ².

Article 28 lets a party withdraw by written notification to the Depositary after three years from entry into force for that party ². The withdrawal takes effect one year after the notice is received, or later if the notice says so ². Depositary notification C.N.71.2025.TREATIES-XXVII.7.d, dated 27 January 2025, said the withdrawal of the United States would take effect on 27 January 2026 ³.

Companies changing a forecast

Section 78u-5(d) of Title 15 of the US Code says nothing in the safe harbor section imposes a duty to update a forward-looking statement ⁶. The safe harbor protects a forward-looking statement that is identified as such and accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements ⁶.

Under the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation, Article 17(1) says an issuer shall inform the public as soon as possible of inside information which directly concerns it ⁷. Delay is allowed only if immediate disclosure is likely to prejudice the issuer's legitimate interests, delay is not likely to mislead the public and confidentiality can be kept ⁷.

Reading a change of position

• Find the original record: a Hansard entry, an assurance number, a registry entry or a filing ^9,42.
• Find the formal change: a correction, a drop request, a new NDC or a withdrawal notice ^1,43.
• Check who decided: a minister, a committee, a party to a treaty or the issuer ^1,52,7.
• Check the date the change takes effect, which may differ from the date it was announced ^2,3.